The prosecution decided to waive criminal proceedings against a group of immigrants who illegally crossed the Polish border. This decision was taken on the basis of the designation that ‘the social harm of the act was negligible’. In its message of reasons, the Prosecutor's Office pointed to the "special determination" of immigrants who undertook to cross the border in order to "improve their surviving conditions".
Arresting immigrants at the Children's Summits
According to the writer Investigator Wojciech Sumliński on his Profilu in social media, the detention took place in the village of Szczyty Childrenowo, the municipality of Orla. Police officers detained a car for road control, in which six Syrian citizens resided: Najoua T., Khaleda Z., Rob Y., Shahada T., Badera E. and Mohammad A. At the time of the check, it turned out that foreigners did not have papers enabling them to enter and stay in Poland.
Prosecution decision
After examining the case, the D.A. concluded that there was no reason to bring the charges against the Syrian citizens of the offence under Article 264(2) of the Criminal Code. According to this article: "Whoever crosses the border of the Republic of Poland, utilizing violence, threats, deception or in cooperation with others, is subject to imprisonment until the age of 3". In the prosecution's assessment, "the social harm of the act is negligible", which justifies the decision to waive prosecution.
Justification for the prosecution
In its justification for its decision, the D.A. praised the "special determination" of immigrants in seeking to improve surviving conditions. "Regardless of whether Syrian citizens were liable for leaving the country for political or economical reasons, they took the hazard of travelling to Germany at hazard of their safety. They have broken the laws, but this may, on the another hand, indicate their determination to change the fates and surviving conditions for them and their families. Hence, their conduct is beneficial in seeking motivation worthy of peculiar condemnation. Neither does the nature of the breached good support the request to press charges against them," says the explanatory memorandum.
According to the doctrine of jurisprudence, the notion of "crossing the border" together with another persons utilized in Article 264(2) is not only that all persons illegally cross the borders, but besides that they besides do 1 and the others take action creating conditions for this, including, for example, providing papers or providing advice (SA judgement in Warsaw of 26 January 2016, II AKa 387/15, LEX No 2025493). However, according to the prosecutor's office, there is no basis for presenting to the Syrian citizens the charge of committing an offence pursuant to Article 264(2) kk.
The Code of Criminal Procedure in Article 17(1)(3) kpk states that criminal proceedings are terminated erstwhile the social harm of the act is negligible. This is the situation we are dealing with here.
Illegal crossing of the border in Podlasie
Since the beginning of 2024, the Border defender in the Podlasie area has recorded more than 22 500 attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border. Despite increased attempts at illegal excesses, the D.A.'s decision in this peculiar case shows that not all cases are treated equally and the assessment of each case depends on the circumstances and assessment of the social harm of the act.
Daniel Głogowski
Expert in his field – Publicist, author and social activist. The first articles were published in 1999 for global publishers. For more than 30 years, he has gained his experience through cooperation with the largest editorial offices. In his articles, he seeks to address controversial topics and present first viewpoints that allowed for a deeper knowing of the issues discussed.
Continued here:
"Small Harm of Action". The D.A. is dropping the investigation against immigrants for illegally crossing the border.
