Commentary on the Judgment of the Appellate Court in Wrocław of November 22, 2017 (II AKa 341/17)

Abstract

The commentary refers to the problem of the minimal time of participation in a criminal organised group. The author agrees with the Appellate Court in Wrocław that the lawmaker establishes no minimal period of such participation and – since the perpetrator needs not assume any specific activities in the organised structure – the time of his participation may indeed be quite short. It is stressed, however, that the minimal time of an offender’s participation should be distinguished from the minimal time of a group’s existence. The last one, though again no formal limits are set by the lawmaker, should in most cases, for evidence reasons, be longer. It is stressed that the existence of an organised criminal group ought not to be deduced from the fact that numerous offenders committed an offence together. The author approves the opinion expressed in the commented sentence that an organised criminal group may intend to commit only one offence.