How the Polish system of dealing with juvenile delinquency relates to the European Parliament Recommendations - legal and psychological considerations

• Author: Adam Grabowski - Monika Kotowska
• Pages: 491-496

491

ADAM GRABOWSKI* - MONIKA KOTOWSKA**

HOW THE POLISH SYSTEM OF DEALING WITH JUVENILE

DELINQUENCY RELATES TO THE EUROPEAN

PARLIAMENT RECOMMENDATIONS – LEGAL AND

PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

ABSTRACT

Having become a European Union member in the year 2004, Poland faced the necessity of

harmonising its legal system with that of the Integrated Europe. This paper aims to analyse how the

current Polish regulations concerning juvenile delinquency (the Juvenile Act of October the 26th,

1982) relate to international documents pertaining to the subject of juvenile delinquency, such as UN

resolutions as well as resolutions and recommendations of the European Parliament, particula rly the

Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers on new ways of dealing with juvenile

delinquency and the role of juvenile justice (2003) as well as the Opinion of the European

Economic and Social Committee on the prevention of juvenile delinquency (2006).

Some analysts have recently pointed to juvenile delinquency as the

field of major concern for European countries, especially as, firstly, the

phenomenon, as they stress, is clearly on the rise, and, secondly, the

offences concerned become more and more serious1. Other experts2,

however, emphasise that juvenile delinquency and crime are episodic,

usually of petty nature, and regularly disappear in early adulthood.

Therefore they appeal for a tolerant approach towards young offenders

and point to many European countries that have already introduced

special regulations for juvenile offenders which provide educational

measures and sanctions instead of imprisonment as responses to youth

criminality. Indeed, youth justice systems in Europe have experienced

considerable changes, particularly in the former socialist countries of

transition. In Poland, however, the juvenile legal liability is still regulated

with the Juvenile Act of 26 October 19823.

** Faculty of Law and Administration (Wydział Prawa i Administracji), University

of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland.

1 C. FOUSSARD, Supporting cooperation and information exchange: The

International Juvenile Justice Observatory, [in:] Juvenile justice systems in Europe –

current situation and reform developments, (eds.) F. DÜNKEL, J. GRZYWA, P. HORSEFIELD,

I. PRUIN, Mönchengladbach 2010, p. 23.

2 I. PRUIN, The scope of juvenile justice systems In Europe, [in:] Juvenile justice

systems in Europe - current situation and reform developments, (eds.) F. DÜNKEL, J.

GRZYWA, P. HORSEFIELD, I. PRUIN, Mönchengladbach, 2010, p. 1513.

3 ”Ustawa o postpowaniu w sprawach nieletnich”: Dz.U. Nr 35, poz. 228.; Dz.U.,

2002, Nr 11, poz. 109.