Sentencing disparities are widely covered in the literature on common law countries. In comparison, the literature on sentencing disparities in civil law countries is less extensive, and the literature is even more scarce in post-communist countries. Nevertheless, sentencing disparities exist in all of these countries. One of the goals of the 2015 criminal law reform in Poland was to limit sentencing disparities. This study compares trial outcomes from before and after the reform. We examine files from district courts in 13 cities in Poland for two offences: drug possession and drunk driving. Our findings demonstrate that there are significant differences in sentencing across courts, even in courts that are situated in the same city. The reform has changed the structure of the punishments but has not radically reduced sentencing disparities.

Countries that have judicial discretion in their legal system usually struggle with sentencing disparities. This is no different in Poland. The current study examined whether extralegal factors such as age, sex, education, marital status, number of children, and having a job impact sentencing disparities. We examined court files from 13 district courts in Poland for two offenses: drug possession and drunk driving. Our findings show that sex, age, and number of children have no or little effect on outcomes, whilst marital status and employment status have small to medium effects on sentencing. The clearest result pattern to emerge from our analyses is that defendants with tertiary education are treated more leniently than those with primary or lower secondary education.