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Slander is one of four offences codified in Chapter XXVII of the Polish Criminal Code – ‘Offences against Honour and Personal Inviolability’ in Article 212. This is one of the few crimes where prosecution is initiated by private motion. The aggrieved party must submit and support an indictment in the capacity of a private prosecutor and collect all possible evidence necessary to proceed in instituting criminal proceedings. While convicted perpetrators are liable to a fine or restriction of liberty, current legisla...

The offence of false testimony is codified in Chapter XXX Article 233 of the Polish Criminal Code: “Offences against the Administration of Justice”. This liability is dependent on the person taking the testimony, while acting within his or her authorisation, must have warned the person testifying about the criminal liability for giving false testimony, or must have obtained a relevant oath. Prior to 2016, the perpetrator of this crime was liable to imprisonment for between six months and three years, but the 2016 ...

Penalties for the offence of stalking have a short history in Polish law. Article 190a was added to the penal code in 2011, and Section 190a §1 states: “Anyone who, through the persistent harassment of another person or another person's next of kin, creates a justified sense of danger or significantly violates the person's privacy, is subject to imprisonment for up to three years”. There was difficulty counteracting this offence prior to the 2011 Criminal Code amendment because previous rules did not always provid...

Some offences under Polish law are codified in Acts other than the Criminal Code. For example, Criminal Liability is regulate in the 14th chapter of the Act of 4th February 1994 “Law on Copyright and Related Rights”. The most important offences legislated are acts of plagiarism and copyright piracy. The first offence is codified in Article 115 and the second in Articles 116 and 117. Plagiarism is prosecuted ex officio, with maximum penalty up to 3 years imprisonment, and Copyright piracy is prosecuted on a complai...