Inquisitorial Trial and Negotiated Justice: Factors Affecting the Decision to Enter Into Plea Agreement in Poland

• In Event: Understanding Prosecution in Federal and International Contexts

Abstract

In the context of Poland, introduction of formal plea agreements with the entry into force of the currently binding Code of Criminal Procedure 1997,has permanently changed the reality of the criminal justice system.While guilty pleas and plea bargaining have garnered extensive scientific interest in Western jurisdictions, research on factors affecting the use of consensual modes is virtually non-existent in Poland. The proposed paper presents the results of a research project carried out at the Department of Criminal Procedure,University of Gdansk, designed fill the existing empirical gap by exploring legal and extra-legal factors infuencing defendants decision to use existing consensual modes of Polish criminal procedurę. Employed methods involved combined qualitative and quantitative elements. Qualitative data was collected during courtroom observations and direct, semi-structured interviews with a sample of 41 defendants, whose cases were concluded on consensual basis in one of 8 chosen common court units within a country in the period from May 2021 to April 2023. This was further supplemented by the data obtained through the use of highly standardized questionnaire for interviewed respondents, designed primarily to obtain basic demographic information on the sample, as well as relevant procedural information related to the course of proceedings on the pre-trial stage.

Author

• Andrzej Lewna, University of Gdansk, Poland