Petty Offences in Poland Between Criminal Law and Administrative Law

Abstract

This paper provides a commentary on the evolution and position of petty offence law in the Polish legal system. For the sake of order, it should be noted that the nature of petty offences is ambiguous and not one-dimensional. Their status and role depend on the assumptions of the legislator, who may emphasise their various aspects. A petty offence may be an element of criminal law in the broad sense, as a “small crime” or an administrative tort. More-over, the development of Polish petty offence law and the arguments supporting the choice of specific legal solutions are presented. The probable future of Polish petty offence law was also indicated, aiming at the conclusion that the most serious petty offences would become crimes, and the rest would become administrative torts.