Welcome to the issue 3(44)/2025 of the „Archiwum Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej” entitled Communist Crimes in Court: Law, Justice, and Memory in Post-Communist Europe, ed. M. Łaszewska-Hellriegel, Christoph-Eric Mecke. The texts are available here.
Evaluation of the protests in Radom in 1976 from the perspective of Law & Economics
Dr Kajetan Górny
University of Zielona Góra
English abstract: The subject of the article is an attempt to evaluate the events that took place in Radom in 1976 from the perspective of the tools used by Law & Economics. The basic aim of the article is to attempt to answer the question whether, if the legislator had used the Law & Economics assumptions in the lawmaking process during the communist period, there would have been social unrest in Radom and other parts of the country. Unrest, during which the personal interests of their participants were violated, and, simply put, crimes were committed against the people who participated in them. An additional objective of the article is to present the basic assumptions of the Law & Economics theory and its main currents.
Keywords: protests in Radom in 1976, Law & Economics (economic analysis of law), philosophy of law, social philosophy
Language: Polish
Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 156-166.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.156
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Number of downloads: 41
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Finding legal approaches to dealing with the past after the fall of communism from the perspective of legal theory and comparative law
Dr hab. Christoph-Eric Mecke, prof. UZ
University of Zielona Góra
English abstract: The paper deals with the question of legal punishment of crimes, in particular crimes against life and freedom, which were committed in the former socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe in the name of the State or at least with its tacit approval. This question is discussed in the paper from the perspectives of legal theory and comparative law.
After clarifying the concept of “communist crimes”, which in countries such as Poland is even a legal concept of applicable law, the first part of the paper examines the legal-theoretical and legal-philosophical problems of criminal penalties for massive human rights violations committed under the laws of the socialist era. As legal-theoretical polar opposites in this regard, it presents the position of Gustav Radbruch with his two famous formulae and the position of Hans Kelsen’s legal positivism. It points out that in the case of communist crimes only the first of Radbruch’s two formulae, the “intolerability formula” can be applied.
The perspective of comparative law is the subject of the second part of the paper. It shows that the spectrum of criminal-law dealing with the communist past since 1989 ranges from a relatively systematic legal prosecution of at least the most serious human rights violation, for example in the cases of homicides at the former inner German border, to complete non-prosecution by the judiciary of Eastern European states such as Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Bulgaria or Croatia. Where criminal prosecution took place, the question arose not only of the statute of limitations, but also of the nulla poena sine lege principle. This principle, which is based on the rule of law, is not only important with respect to the validity of statutory law during the communist era, but also with regard to the different interpretative practices of courts in the former socialist states.
Keywords: legal reassessment of communist crimes, post-socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Kelsen’s legal positivism, Radbruch’s two formulae, rule of law, nulla poena sine lege
Language: English
Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 138-155.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.138
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Number of downloads: 57
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The forgotten genocide. Extermination of the Crimean Tatars
Prof. dr hab. Jacek Sobczak
VIZJA University
Dr hab. Ksenia Kakareko, prof. UW
University of Warsaw
Dr hab. Maria Gołda-Sobczak, prof. UAM
Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań
English abstract: The present study was motivated by the authors’ intention to analyse the actions of the USSR authorities in 1944 in Crimea against the local Tatar population. The central thesis of the study is that these actions can be classified as genocide. The study’s starting point is an analysis of the concept of R. Lemkin, who was the first to use the term “genocide”, describing its techniques, means, goals and causes. It is also noted that, in the subsequent period, there emerged a number of concepts related to extermination of populations, with the considerations of R. Lemkin being identified as the foundation for the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The contents of this Convention and the related achievements of the International Criminal Court are analysed. The formal-doctrinal legal method is the primary approach used in the research, both in relation to R. Lemkin’s arguments and in the context of interpreting the Convention, as well as in reporting on the views of the International Criminal Court. The linguistic analysis employs the hermeneutic method, albeit to a limited extent, while in the assessment of the operation of the USSR’s repression apparatus, the axiological method of examining law is utilized. The research findings allow for formulating the conclusion that the deportation of the Tatar population from Crimea in 1944 exhibited all the features of the crime of genocide.
Keywords: genocide, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Tatars, Crimea, deportation, extermination
Language: English
Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 119-137.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.119
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Number of downloads: 58
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Criminalization of communist propaganda in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of the Second Republic of Poland
Mgr Kamil Słomiński
University of Warsaw
English abstract: Combating totalitarian propaganda is a topic that continues to challenge the law, including criminal law dogmatics. The criminalization of totalitarian propaganda plays a special role in countries which have been affected by these regimes. Polish law currently criminalizes the propagation of communist ideology. It is worth presenting how this concept was shaped against the historical background of the regulations in force in the Second Republic of Poland. The article addresses the issue of criminalization of communist propaganda in the Second Republic of Poland. It analyses the rulings of the Supreme Court and scholars’ views concerning this issue from the period 1918–1939.
Keywords: criminalization, communism, propaganda, jurisprudence, Supreme Court
Language: English
Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 107-118.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.107
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Number of downloads: 54
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Denying communist crimes: Selected problems
Dr Marek Derlatka
University of Zielona Góra
English abstract: The offence described in Article 55 of the Act of 18 December 1998 on the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes Against the Polish Nation is commonly known as the Auschwitz lie, although it also includes the denial of communist crimes. The aim of my study is to analyze the basic matters relating to the offence known as hate speech in relation to “distortions of communism”. The truth about the Katyn massacre was preserved in Polish society despite Stalinist terror and communist fabrications. The right to historical truth, or the right to decree one acceptable vision of the past, the freedom of speech and the freedom of scientific research, can these values be reconciled? Answers to such questions are urgently sought, but, as is often the case in the area of conflict between different types of freedom, they may give rise to many controversies.
Keywords: communist crime, denial, right of memory, national identity
Language: Polish
Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 95-106.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.95
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Number of downloads: 58
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The notion of activities for the independent existence of the Polish State on the basis of the so-called February Act
Dr hab. Dominik Bierecki, prof. AP
Pomeranian University of Słupsk
English abstract: Under the Act of 23 February 1991, victims of repression during the communist era are entitled to claim compensation from the State Treasury. The condition is that they conducted activities for the independent existence of the Polish State. This concept is not defined by statutory law. The article aims to explain it. The research thesis of the article is that the phrase “activity for the independent existence of the Polish State” is of an indeterminate nature and examples from case law allow for determining its scope. The article specifies judicially developed conditions for recognizing activities as undertaken for the independent existence of the Polish State. The article was prepared using the doctrinal legal research method.
Keywords: independence activities, repression, liability of the State Treasury
Language: Polish
Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 80-94.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.80
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Number of downloads: 50
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Attempts to punish communist crimes throughout history: Failures and successes
Prof. dr hab. Adam Bosiacki
University of Warsaw
English abstract: The article contains a retrospective presentation of attempts to punish communist crimes committed by functionaries of the communist state apparatus since the civil war in Russia. Although there were many such attempts, they remain unknown to the general public. This applies to a lesser extent to people punished after the fall of the communist system in the countries of the Soviet Bloc and outside it (in Cambodia). Obviously, however, the extent and effectiveness of punishing communist crimes can hardly be considered satisfactory and will never be so.
Keywords: communist crime, Russia, USSR, Soviet Bloc, fall of communism, decommunization
Language: English
Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 70-79.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.70
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Number of downloads: 64
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The establishment of the Institute of National Remembrance as the authority responsible for prosecuting communist and Nazi crimes: An analysis of the efficiency of the IPN Act
Mgr Przemysław Pasierb
University of Zielona Góra
English abstract: The purpose of this article is to analyse the rationale behind the establishment of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) and to assess whether its original objectives have been achieved. It is important to note that, in a democratic state, a rational legislator must consider not only the intended outcomes of the enacted provisions but also their efficiency. Applying economic analysis of law, the study examines whether these considerations are reflected in the operation of the IPN Act.
The article employs the doctrinal legal research method to investigate the actual effect of the provisions. Additionally, it utilizes the empirical method to explore the rationale guiding the legislator during the legislative process. Based on available documentation, the fundamental assumptions that were binding on the drafters of the Act are identified. Legislative records indicate that the IPN Act was enacted to enhance the efficiency of proceedings related to prosecuting crimes against the Polish Nation, expand the definition of crimes from Stalinist to communist offences, and separate prosecutors within the IPN from the general prosecutorial system. However, the central research thesis of this study asserts that these goals have not been achieved in accordance with the principles of legal efficiency. The number of resolved cases is disproportionately low relative to the incurred costs. Furthermore, due to the passage of time, many proceedings are unlikely to be initiated or will be discontinued due to the death of suspects – a trend observed in recent years. It should be emphasized that this issue has not been addressed in existing legal scholarship, nor has it been examined through methods aimed at assessing the efficiency of legal provisions.
Keywords: Institute of National Remembrance, efficiency of law, effectiveness of law, Law & Economics (economic analysis of law)
Language: Polish
Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 55-69.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.55
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Number of downloads: 40
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On the threats to democracy and the rule of law: The philosophy of total states in the views of Szymon Rundstein and Maciej Starzewski
Dr hab. Sławomir Tkacz, prof. UŚ
Dr hab. Aleksandra Wentkowska, prof. UŚ
University of Silesia in Katowice
English abstract: One of the most important issues recently addressed in literature is the threats to democracy and the rule of law. It is pointed out that the need to verify the role and tasks of key political institutions, primarily the state, is determined by the nature and dynamics of changes in the modern world. The issue of threats to democracy and the crisis of the rule of law has frequently been discussed in Polish theoretical and doctrinal legal works produced after 1926. Authors such as Szymon Rundstein and Maciej Starzewski often raised concerns about the dangers associated with phenomena referred to as “anti-constitutional tendencies”. The studies they published addressed both internal threats and the dangers arising from the formation of fascist states and the Soviet state. The findings made back then remain highly relevant in the present day. Therefore, in the context of the challenges faced by legal practice and legal science today, it seems justified to recall the conclusions formulated nearly 100 years ago.
Keywords: Fascism, democracy, rule of law, total state, authoritarianism, civil rights, Nazi and Soviet totalisms
Language: English
Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 38-54.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.38
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Number of downloads: 108
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