Noncausative criminal liability as subject to penalty in light of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland (Article 42, item 1)

Abstract

The analysis focuses on three types of liability, that is ancillary liability (Article 24 and 25 of the Penal and Fiscal Code), pledge to return a financial gain (Article 53 of the Criminal Code and Article 24 § 5 of the Penal and Fiscal Code) and criminal liability of collective entities provided in Article 42 item 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which refers to direct criminal liability of a perpetrator. The approach to liability reflected in the Constitution has prompted to seek to determine whether or not Article 42, item 1 refers also to indirect criminal liability, provided for in the abovementioned legal provisions. The regulations incorporated in the analysed articles lead to a conclusion that convicting the perpetrator of a crime sets the grounds for prosecution under ancillary liability, for obligation to return a financial gain, or for prosecution of collective entities. Therefore, the imperative condition for the application of such measures, subject to the abovementioned types of liability, is to find a natural person associated with the entity guilty of a crime whose consequences affect this entity. In view of the above, prosecution under noncausative criminal liability remains closely related to causative liability, as provided for in Article 42, item 1 of Poland’s Constitution. Causative liability constitutes, as a matter of fact, the fundamental condition for prosecuting under noncausative liability, while noncausative liability constitutes, in a way, a consequence of prosecuting under causative criminal liability.