Is criminal law going to solve conflicts with a child?

legalis.pl 3 weeks ago

Objectives and justification of the project

The main nonsubjective of the proposed law is to make effective mechanisms to prevent the obstruction of contact with and care for minors, which the project's authors consider to be a form of intellectual violence. Applicants argue that the current strategy based solely on civil-law monetary sanctions provided for in the NPC is ineffective, as the execution of the amounts awarded frequently proves unsuccessful and their accumulation does not change the attitude of the parent. The fresh rules are primarily intended to service as a deterrent and preventive function, forcing respect for judgments under severe penalties. Projectors emphasize the destructive impact of alienation on the improvement of the child, indicating that it generates loyalty conflicts and leads to long-term emotional problems specified as identity disorders or difficulties in interpersonal relationships. They mention to global standards and classifications of ICD-11, as well as patterns from another European countries (Bulgaria, France, the Czech Republic, Germany), in which obstruction of contacts is already penalised under criminal law.

In the justification of the project, the word "parentalization" was deliberately omitted in the Act, so that protection would include not only parents but besides grandparents.

Conditions of criminal liability and sanctions

The basis of liability is to infringe the obligations arising from the judgement of the court, court settlement or settlement concluded before the mediator. The task besides protects settlements not yet approved by the court, which is intended to prevent kid trauma during prolonged formal procedures.

For persistent evasion of the work to keep contacts, care of the insignificant or the related work to issue, a fine, restrictions on liberty or imprisonment up to 1 year will be punishable.

A fresh Article 106a KW is provided for cases of little weight or of an occasional nature. Any failure to comply with established contact or care arrangements shall be punishable by fines or reprimands. As in the case of a crime, the prosecution will be conducted at the request of the victim.

Opinions of the ultimate Court and the lawyer General

Both the ultimate Court ( OPINION of 06.02.2026) and the lawyer General ( OPINION of 02.03.2026) were negatively assessed.

The main reservations included:

Rule violation ultima ratio, according to which criminal law should be the last resort. According to SN, the existing tools in the KRO and the KPC are adequate erstwhile decently used.
The hazard of escalation of conflicts. The fresh rules can become a tool for the process between parents, which will ricochet the child's welfare.
No empirical data available. SN accused task promoters of not supporting the task with concrete information (statisticians) confirming the ineffectiveness of the current solutions.
The defective construction of the provision itself of Article 209a KK and its location in the systematics of the Criminal Code.
Reservations to protective measures and therapy. safety measures in Polish law are closely linked to insanity, personality disorder or sexual preferences. The provision of Article 209a of the KK allowing compulsory treatment without specified a uncovering puts the offender in a worse position than the perpetrators of major crimes, e.g. abuse (Article 207 KK).

Discussion in the Sejm

Many of the above arguments were reiterated during the parliamentary debate. At the same time, the discussion was full of examples of tragic household history, and Members have repeatedly stressed the request for peculiar protection for the youngest. Despite the compatibility with the seriousness of the problem, parliamentarians have remained profoundly divided on the question of what solutions truly service the welfare of the child. The dispute focused on the very definition of this good – the question was whether the penalization of parents' behaviour would not become an even stronger origin of trauma for the child, alternatively of the expected solution to the conflict.