Amendment to the Criminal Code – October 2023
9 July 2025 • Autor: Kancelaria Brysiewicz Bokina i Wspólnicy
Much has been said in recent months about the amendment to the Criminal Code tightening penalties for the most serious crimes. The groundbreaking amendment to the Criminal Code was signed by the President of Poland in early December 2022, but most of its provisions came into force in October 2023, and in the part concerning the forfeiture of vehicles, the entry into force was even postponed until March 2024.
Amendment of the Penal Code, or greater judicial discretion in sentencing.
The government, which is the author of the project, is claiming that the amendment to the penal law in Poland will finally bring about a fundamental change in penal policy towards the most dangerous offenders. Representatives of the Ministry of Justice emphasise that Polish courts are among the mildest in Europe, handing down the lowest possible penalties for crimes committed. As proof of the above, they point out that for homicide as much as 23 per cent of sentences in Poland are sentences of up to eight years, and as much as over 44 per cent of all sentences in criminal cases are suspended sentences.
What changes to the Penal Code are introduced by the Amendment?
According to the new act, among other things, the upper limit of term imprisonment has been raised from 15 to 30 years, the so-called absolute life imprisonment has been introduced, penalties for paedophilia, rape and a number of other offences have been increased. The institution of confiscation of cars for drunk drivers has also appeared.
Representatives of the Ministry of Justice point out that the change in the law will increase the judge’s discretion in sentencing. Until now, a judge, for serious offences, had to impose a sentence of up to 15 years’ imprisonment or a separate sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment or life imprisonment – he or she could not impose sentences ‘in between’ these thresholds. The amendment to the Penal Code is intended to introduce flexibility: the upper threshold is henceforth to be simply 30 years or, alternatively, life imprisonment.
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