Aggregated penalties; the Polish Penal Code K 14/17
Ref. No. <link s k-1417 _blank>K 14/17
JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
Warsaw, 18 April 2019
The Constitutional Tribunal, composed of:
Stanisław Rymar – Presiding Judge
Leon Kieres
Małgorzata Pyziak-Szafnicka – Judge Rapporteur
Piotr Tuleja
Sławomira Wronkowska-Jaśkiewicz,
Recording Clerk – Grażyna Szałygo,
having considered, at a hearing on 18 April 2019 – in the presence of the applicant, the Sejm and the Public Prosecutor-General – the Ombudsman’s application lodged with the Tribunal to consider the conformity of:
Article 86(4) of the Penal Code of 6 June 1997 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2016 item 1137, as amended) – insofar as it differentiates between the situations of persons on whom an aggregated penalty has been imposed before and persons on whom an aggregated penalty has not yet been imposed, in the way that, with regard to the first group of persons, it permits raising the minimum level of an aggregated penalty as well as imposing a more severe type of penalty, i.e. the deprivation of liberty for 25 years – to Article 32(1) of the Constitution.
adjudicates as follows:
Article 86(4) of the Penal Code of 6 June 1997 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2018 item 1600, as amended) – insofar as it differentiates between the situations of persons on whom an aggregated penalty has been imposed before and persons on whom an aggregated penalty has not yet been imposed, in the way that, with regard to the first group of persons, it permits raising the minimum level of an aggregated penalty as well as imposing a more severe type of penalty, i.e. the deprivation of liberty for 25 years – is inconsistent with Article 32(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
The ruling was unanimous.
Stanisław Rymar
Leon Kieres
Małgorzata Pyziak-Szafnicka
Piotr Tuleja
Sławomira Wronkowska-Jaśkiewicz