Kamil Frąckowiak

The main theses of the Polish Supreme Court's recent decisions in penal and fiscal cases concerning the error of punishability under Article 10 § 4 of the Polish Penal and Fiscal Code in the context of the organization of gambling games

The article presents an overview of the recent decisions of the Polish Supreme Court on the institution of an error as to punishability under Article 10 § 4 of the Polish Penal and Fiscal Code, which originated in the context of the factual situations in the field of fiscal offenses of organizing illegal gambling under Article 107 § 1 of the Polish Penal and Fiscal Code. Based on the analyzed judgments, using the dogmatic-legal method, it is possible to reach general conclusions in the context of the criteria for recognizing an error of punishability as excusable and inexcusable. The subject of an error of punishability is the criminal legal status of the behavior that fulfills the elements of the criminal act. Mistake as to punishability means that the Polish Penal and Fiscal Code places fewer requirements on the perpetrator than in the Polish Criminal Code, since in the case of mistake as to the punishability of an act it is only a matter of not knowing that the act is punishable. The exemption of guilt in case of an error of punishability occurs only if the perpetrator's mistake is considered excusable, i.e., one that the perpetrator could not avoid, not due to their recklessness or negligence.

It is necessary to accept the general conclusion from the Polish Supreme Court's decisions about stricter requirements in the context of justifying the offender's unawareness of criminality as an entrepreneur, for in the case of a business person, as a rule, a personal model with a higher standard of requirements is expected.