The phenomenon of stalking had not been studied extensively and the real scale, its forms, and consequences had remained unknown. For this reason, in December 2009, the Minister of Justice requested the Institute of Justice to conduct a research concerning stalking. It was performed by TNS OBOP in December last year on a representative, random sample of households. Over 10 thousand respondents were questioned in computer assisted telephone interviews. This is ten times more than in typical public opinion polls which undoubtedly increases credibility of the results. Every tenth respondent (9,9%) appeared to have experience stalking. This is more than expected. It these results were to be extrapolated on the whole Polish population over 18 (and there are significant ground for such extrapolation as the sample was representative), it could be estimated that as much as 3 million of adult Poles have experienced stalking. In almost half of the cases, stalking happened repeatedly and 80% of victims experienced stalking within past five years. On the average, stalking lasted for less than a year, most often from a week to three months, but as much as 15% of victims were stalked for at least three years. Every fifth person declared they are still stalked at the moment. The most common methods of stalking were: spreading slander, lies and gossip (70% of responses), getting in touch with the aid of third parties (55%), threats or blackmail and “telephone persecution” (almost half of responses). Every third victim indicated also accosting or threatening family members, physical stalking (persistent following) and unwanted correspondence. It needs to be emphasised that stalking most often appeared in more than one form at a time (e.g. following – phone calls - getting in touch with the aid of third parties). As much as three quarters of victims regarded staling as serious, one third as very serious. These extremely high percentages prove that stalking is a considerable problem – almost a social one. This is confirmed by its effects declared by respondents. Almost 70% of victims experienced negative effects of stalking. More than a half reported psychological problems (depressed mood or depression, anxiety) every fourth physical ones (pains, aches, nausea, eating disorders). Because of these, 45% of the victims sought medical consultation which proves how serious the problems were. One third of the harmed declared financial or general consequences (cost of legal fees, need to change their lifestyle, change of telephone number, sometimes even change of residence). Although as expected most perpetrators were persons known by the victims (a current or ex-partner in every fourth case), a significant number of strangers needs to be reported (one quarter). Almost 40% of stalking victims asked for help, out of which only a half to prosecution organs – this is as little as 20%.

How can the courts ensure someone pays maintenance? What is a sufficient and just reaction to avoiding these obligations? Non-payment of maintenance is an offence in most, but not all, European countries. Due to an amendment in the Polish Penal Code of 23 March 2017, the scope of the criminalisation of this offence in Poland expanded significantly. This paper presents a statistical analysis on this specific type of crime 30 years before and 30 years after the socio-political transformation in Poland and discusses the methods and purpose of criminal justice responses to this issue.

Criminological analyses of fear of crime conducted to date have lead to formulating many various ways of defining this phenomenon and to concepts explaining its intensity and diversity. This article assumes that the most effective definition (by Sandra Walklate) is that fear of crime is partly rational and partly irrational state of anxiety or fear caused by belief that the individual is at risk of becoming a crime victim. Basic hypotheses regarding factors influencing level of fear concern such aspects as: victimization experiences and objective crime risk level; socio-demographic characteristics of individuals and psychological features which define their sensitivity to dangers and risks, features of environment where an individual lives, and in particular manifestations of social disorganization, size of local population, and presence of social ties, mutual trust, common goals and values among local residents; actions of persecution organs and the justice system and their social perception; macro-social factors (such as quality of social security) as well as media reports and politicians’ actions. Multi-dimensional models of fear of crime constructed by researchers integrate these hypotheses into complex system which offer much more explaining power and possibility of presentation of relations between particular variables in question. The conducted research presented in the article aimed to present the level of crime fear perceived in Poland and other European countries as well as to find social, demographic, and macro-social factors conditioning that fear. The research was based on secondary data analysis from several editions of International Victimisation Studies, Polish Crime Study, and last issue of European Social Survey. Analysis of the crime level in Poland revealed there has been a definite, almost twofold, decrease of percentage of persons declaring such fear during the past 20 years. In the beginning of 21st century, Poles perceived above-European average fear of crime. In 2010 it was lower than in most European countries. As a result of conducted two-dimensional analyses, it was established that crucial factors influencing perceived lack of security contributed to the following hypotheses: victimization, sensitivity to risks, disorganization and urbanization and those focusing on the action of prosecution and macro-social characteristics of inhabited locations. Used techniques of classification tree allowed for initial examination of joint influence of particular independent and dependent variables as well as for separation of many interesting groups of respondents regarding frequency of occurrence of fear of crime. Above-average fear of crime was characteristic of women from middle-sized and big cities who had been victims of crime against property and of men who had been victims of crime against property or as-sault and lived in areas where unemployment was below average.

The main purpose of this case file study concerning complaints about excessive length of judicial proceedings in which the courts confirmed the excessive length and granted monetary compensation was to determine the actual average amount awarded by the courts in each type of case for each year of excessive length. The analysis took into account the circumstances of each case, including: the duration of the proceedings, the degree of factual and legal complexity of the case, the particular importance of the case for the party of the proceedings, the applicant’s behaviour (in particular, their having contributing to lengthiness). The results of the analysis presented in this article could help determine whether – and, if so, to what extent – ordinary courts apply the provisions of the Complaint Act in accordance with convention standards.

In public debate the subject of penal policy often returns on the extent of sentences for particular crimes and petty offences. Questions are raised such as whether the Polish criminal law is effective, just and\or severe. The discussion focuses on the need to make the existing provisions stricter, especially those concerning the most frequent crimes. The general question of punishing perpetrators of offences is regularly undertaken in the media, especially with every subsequent criminal case that receives extensive coverage. One such occasions the same question is raised again: does the criminal law need amendments? Today we are witness to a crime drop and improvement of safety in Poland, nonetheless questions to do with penal policy remain the same. It is therefore worth checking what opinions Poles currently express about this very issue. This research is aimed at checking what Poles think of the criminal law currently in force and what the attitude is to increasing the severity of punitive provisions. For this purpose, in July and August 2018, on the commission of the Institute of Justice, three independent opinion surveys concerning penal policy were conducted. The following were chosen for this purpose: Kantar, CBOS and Ipsos. Every survey was conducted by means of the Omnibus Method, which guarantees the completion of research on a nationwide representative sample of Polish residents. In all the surveys discussed in this study, a clear majority of respondents were of the opinion that in order to limit crime and improve the safety of citizens it is necessary to make the provisions of the Penal Code stricter, with harsher punishments for offences. Over half of respondents in every survey took the position that punishments should be made more severe only in cases of serious offences. The remainder (approximately 30% in every survey) answered that was necessary to introduce more severe punishments for all crimes. In the light of a preference for tougher penal laws, of particular interest was Poles’ stance on the age from which juveniles might be held criminally liable just as adults. The majority of respondents were of the opinion that the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles (15 years) should not be changed, while those who thought otherwise most often suggested increasing this threshold.