Crime and Criminal Justice in Poland

Abstract

Poland is not one of the countries that have a long-established criminological tradition. Although courses in criminology are taught at a number of law faculties in Poland, the discipline remains marginal in terms of both teaching and research. Despite the weakness of the infrastructure, several research projects materialized during the 1990s; most important, victimization surveys, but also descriptive studies on such issues as organized crime, drug prevention, and the context of particular types of offence. This post-communist period since 1989 has been characterized by profound changes in crime patterns. There was intensive debate about the nature and scope of the apparent growth in crime, with many critical analyses of official police data. The debate about criminal justice policy was equally intensive, as penal law reform efforts aiming to reduce the punitive character of criminal justice system inherited from the communist system were confronted with growing fear of crime and a new populist politics of law and order. The initial reforms after the fall of communism led to a major reduction of the prison population, which however remains high in comparison with neighbouring countries in western Europe. There is increasing pressure to make the system more punitive again.