USE OF THE INSTITUTION OF ADMONITION BY PROFESSIONAL PROBATION OFFICERS

In Poland, probation officers have the power to issue admonitions to convicted offenders. The prerequisite for its use is the fulfilment of the conditions referred to in Article 173 § 3 of the Polish Criminal Executive Code. According to the intention of the framers, it was supposed to discipline the convicted person so that they would observe the law in force and, in the period of probation, submit to the obligations imposed on them. Since this legal institution has been in force for almost 10 years, it has been decided to have a look at how it functions in practice. For that purpose, research was carried out, in which an attempt was made to establish how court probation officers apply the institution of admonition to convicted offenders and whether it is an effective tool in influencing their behaviour. The research included 151 cases in which probation officers applied admonition in 2015-2017. The research was carried out on the basis of an analysis of probation files. As a result, it was established, among other things, that in some of the cases a change in the convicted person’s (offender’s) behaviour can be observed after the admonition was given. It was also noted that the effectiveness of an admonition is affected by the manner in which it is given.