Disproportionality of the Penalty as Grounds for a Cassation Appeal
This article examines grounds for a cassation appeal in the form of a plea that the penalty is disproportionate (incommensurate) to the offence. It was introduced to the Polish criminal proceedings in 2016 and can only be raised by the Public Prosecutor General in the case of indictable offences. The article focuses on the genesis of this regulation and the course of work on it, as well as the issue of the subjective scope of Art. 523 § 1a of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure, and on a detailed interpretation of the various terms used in this provision. In the final part of the article, the author makes his own, unambiguously critical assessment of the current regulation as well as formulates ‘de lege ferenda’ conclusions in this respect.