The formula for making judgments on forms, according to the model established by the Ministry of Justice, raises many doubts as they may be illegible not only for professional entities but also for procedural parties. In multi-thread cases, with a large degree of complexity, where witnesses testify extensively, and their testimony may be considered credible in part as well as unbelievable, the justification of the judgment may be completely illegible.
Act dated 19 July 2019 on the amendment of the Act – Code of Criminal Procedure and some other laws, the way in which justifications are drawn up in criminal matters has been changed.
According to Article 99a Code of Criminal Procedure Reason for the judgment first the instance, including the order and the combined judgment, and the judgment of the appeal court and the judgment given in the resumption proceedings shall be drawn up on a form in accordance with the model established.
By Regulation of the Minister of Justice dated 28 November 2019 on the model forms for the reasons for judgments and the manner in which they are fulfilled, the requirements to be met in any criminal case are laid down. This Regulation entered into force on the day 5 December 2019.
The form set by the Ministry does not give any reason why the defendant's explanation or witness testimony is credible or unreliable to the court. It is clear that the recipe Article 424 The Code of Criminal Procedure does not order the court to ‘explain’ from the assessment of the evidence, however, the inclusion of such considerations in the content of the statement of reasons makes it possible to understand the concept of the court and to draw up a logical plea in the appeal.
In the regulation, the legislator also established how to complete the justification form.
That act established 6 the types of model forms of justification, depending on the instance in which the justification is to be drawn up or the type of judgment to be taken.
Therefore, a separate form is for:
- • justification for the judgment of the court first instances, including a warrant,
- • justification for the judgment of the court first instance - judgment given in proceedings, for damages for wrongful conviction, temporary arrest or detention
- • justification for the judgment of the court first instances - total judgment,
- • justification for the judgment of the appeal court
- • Annex to the statement of reasons for the judgment of the appeal court
- • the reasons for the judgment given in the reopening proceedings
In any event, the Regulation stipulates that the justification should be concise (brief facts, brief evidence, brief reasons for not taking into account the evidence).
Such a solution should be considered to be too far-reaching a simplification when the criminal procedure standardises the principles of conduct in which the most important rights of the person's subject, which is to consider him guilty of committing and imprisonment.
Author: Hanna Żołnierkiewicz
Lawyer in the Legal Department. From 2017 associated with Russell Bedford Dmowski & Partners Law Firm Sp.k. He has experience in legal services to entrepreneurs in terms of merger, division and transformation of companies, bankruptcy, restructuring and capital market law. He runs the day-to-day handling of commercial law companies, including drafting corporate documentation, both in Polish and English. He also represents clients before the general courts in economic and civil law cases.