The Critical Analysis of Article 55a of The Act on the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (de lege derogata)

Abstract

This article is presenting the Holocaust denial crime under Article 55a of the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance, which was widely criticized during the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. The introduction to the text presents the circumstances surrounding the passing of this provision, its main assumptions, as well as the opinions of particular persons about it. The study is dominated by the dogmatic method of conceiving the legal text, with elements of functional analysis. The legal part of the study includes an analysis of particular terms contained in the provision. In the next one, examples of other countries where denial of Nazi crimes is punishable are indicated. In the last part of the study, a summary can be found, containing the most important conclusions from the study.