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ChapterI.GeneralprinciplesofPolishcriminallaw
15
CriminalCodeof1997,oronlyspecificentities,forexample,apublic
ofcial)].Telawmustindicatewhattheprohibitedconductconsistsof.
Inaddition,thelawmustspecifythesubjectivesideoftheprohibitedact
(i.e.whetheraspecificbehaviouristobeintentionalormaybeuninten-
tional).ItisaprincipleofPolishcriminallawthatthebasicelementsof
prohibitedconductshouldbesetforthinthelawinsuchamannerthat
acitizencandistinguishbetweenpermissibleconductandprohibited
conductunderpenaltyandbetweencertainprohibitedconductandother
prohibitedconductunderpenalty.Ifthelawisvagueinthisrespectand
allowsforvariousinterpretations,aninterpretationthatisunfavourable
totheofenderisunacceptable.Insuchacase,itisnecessarytoadopt
theinterpretationthatismostfavourabletotheofender.Anexpansive
interpretationofaprovisionofcriminallawtothedisadvantageofthe
ofenderisprohibited.Tismeansthattheofendermustnotbeheld
criminallyliableforconductthatdoesnotfollowdirectlyfromthelaw
butwhichcouldbecoveredbytheapplicableprovisionofthecriminal
lawasaresultofitsexpansiveinterpretation.
TebasicsourceofPolishcriminallawistheActof6June1997—the
PenalCode.2
§2Nullapoenasinelegeprinciple
Tetypeofpenaltymustalsobespecifiedintheact.Teactshouldalso
specifyitscontent.Onthebasisofthelaw,itmustbepossibletorecon-
structthecontentofthepunishmentthatthecourtmayimpose.Itshould
alsobepossibletospecifythestatutorylevelofthepenalty(i.e.itsupper
andlowerlimits).However,thepenaltyshouldbedefinedbythelawin
suchawaythatitgivesthejudgethepossibilitytoadjustittothegravity
oftheactandtheindividualcharacteristicsoftheofender.Telawmust
thereforeleaveacertainmarginofappreciationforthepenalty.Onlyin
2OJ.2020,item1444.
