ZPP Report: Proposals of measures to end the abuse of pre-trial detention in Poland

Warsaw, 24^th June 2021

ZPP Report: Proposals of measures to end the abuse of pre-trial detention in Poland

In many countries, including Poland, the abuse of pre-trial detention is a severe problem. At any given moment, over 3 million people are held in pre-trial detention centres around the world. Disgracefully, in terms of the number of pre-trial detainees, Poland is among the leaders of this ranking. Per 100,000 citizens, there are 195 pre-trial detainees in Poland, while the EU average amounts to approximately 100. At the same time, there are three times as many people detained on a pre-trial basis in Poland than in Sweden, Finland or the Netherlands.

According to Cezary Kaźmierczak, President of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers: “Pre-trial detention should be limited to high-risk crimes involving violence only. Such a solution will bring great benefits to our society, and as the political struggle intensifies, this issue should also be in the interest of all politicians.”

The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) published a report dedicated to the analysis of the legal systems of six selected European countries. Therein, the Union proposes a number of recommendations that would put an end to the abuse of pre-trial detention in Poland. Amongst the most important recommendations, there are the idea to limit pre-trial detention to high-risk violent crimes and the introduction of a statutory limitation of the maximum duration of pre-trial detention, with various maximum periods for minor and major offenses.

“Following the example of Finland, we propose to introduce of a burdensome system of fines based on the income of a given person as well as the so-called “summary penal fee”, which allows you to convert the sentence of up to 6 months imprisonment for minor offenses into a pecuniary penalty,” adds Kamila Sotomska, Deputy Director of the Department of Law and Legislation at the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers.

The abuse of pre-trial detention violates fundamental rights and causes enormous harm to both the wrongful detainee and society as a whole. The proposed solutions will help curb this problem.

Find out more: 24.06.2021 Report by the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers: The abuse of pre-trial detention

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ZPP Report: Proposals of measures to end the abuse of pre-trial detention in Poland