Polish Nationalism and Acts Criminalised under Article 256 §§ 1 and 1a of the Criminal Code

This paper discusses the effects of amendments to Article 256 of the Criminal Code, in particular the addition of a provision prohibiting the public promotion of Nazi, communist or fascist ideology, or ideology inciting violence in order to influence political or social life. This amendment is a departure from previous criminal regulations, which, with the exception of the “Auschwitz lie” and incitement to hatred on national, ethnic, racial, and religious grounds (or lack of religious belief), did not interfere with freedom of expression. The author examines whether the new wording of Article 256 of the Criminal Code could lead to punishment for expressing nationalist views. To this end, the paper has been divided into two parts. The first part discusses the characteristics of Polish nationalist concepts (using a doctrinal and descriptive method). The second part examines the content of Article 256 of the Criminal Code (using dogmatic methods). As a result, the author argues that criminal liability will depend on whether a given “ideology” contains a component of consent to violence as a normal tool of political struggle, which, due to the need for specialist knowledge, will have to be entrusted to scientists.