Problem of Establishing the Constitutive Features of an Organized Criminal Group: Commentary on the Judgment of the Court of Appeal in Bialystok of 3 October 2018 (II AKa 68/18)

Abstract

The commentary refers to the problem of elements the presence of which is necessary to assume that a given group of people constitutes an organized group in the meaning of Article 158 of the Polish Criminal Code. The author shares the opinion presented by the Court of Appeal in Bialystok that the constitutive features of an organized criminal group do not include the mechanisms of enforcing obedience, the existence of leadership or the presence of a reward/punishment system for the members of the group. The commentary points to the minimal elements necessary to establish the existence of an organized criminal group and presents in-depth arguments in favor of the commented thesis. The commentary emphasizes also to the gradual evolution of the views referring to the necessary characteristic elements of organized criminal groups in the light of Article 258 of the Polish Criminal Code.

Keywords

• zorganizowana grupa przestępcza
• konstytutywne cechy zorganizowanej grupy przestępczej
• kodeks karny