Non-criminality of human trafficking in Poland through the prism of the Institute of Justice research

• In Event: Criminology of Mobility. Panel 7. Victims and perpetrators of trafficking in human beings

Abstract

In this paper, I would like to present the issue of the non-criminality of human trafficking victims through the lens of the Institute of Justice's research. It should be noted that the victims of human trafficking can be forced to commit crimes both willingly and unwillingly. Taking into account the circumstances of committing the mentioned crimes, it is reasonable not to punish the victim-perpetrators.

In Poland there is no separate legal provision containing the so-called non-criminality clause. Therefore, the issue was the subject of research by the Institute of Justice.
Eleonora Zielińska and Barbara Namysłowska-Gabrysiak concluded their research by stating that Poland only partially fulfilled the requirements resulting from international legal acts and that the law should be amended. They proposed to create a separate act on the issue of human trafficking (as well as the non-criminality clause). Alternatively - if the proposal to create a new legal act was rejected, the scholars suggested introducing a new provision into the Polish Penal Code.

Łukasz Buczek proposed to create a new provision of the Polish Penal Code, Article 31a, which contains the non-criminality clause.

Having presented the previous conclusion of the Institute of Justice reports, I would like to present another perspective on this matter. Despite the lack of an explicit provision excluding the liability of victim-perpetrators, it is possible not to punish them. In my opinion, the basis of non-liability of a victim-perpetrator is twofold. First, the act committed by him or her is culpable. Second, the social damage is negligible. Therefore, it is not necessary to introduce new legal regulations. However, if further research of case files reveals limitations in the application of such reasoning by courts, consideration should be given to amending the law as suggested by scholars.

Author

• Marcin Galinski, Jacob of Paradies University in Gorzow Wielkopolski/Institute of Justice