Uwagi na marginesie pracy Małgorzaty Żbikowskiej pt. „Ciężar dowodu w polskim procesie karnym”, Wolters Kluwer, Warszawa 2019, s. 1–547

Abstract

The paper is a review of a monograph published by Wolters Kluwer Publishing House by Małgorzata Żbikowska on the burden of proof in the Polish criminal trial. The review positively evaluates the choice of the topic as well as the work’s structure. The integrative character is the work’s strongest attribute. On the one hand, considerations have been set within the framework of methodologically organised assumptions, on the other hand, there has been a comprehensive use of the General Theory of Law findings. The most knowledgeable are the parts of the book that contain discussion on approaches of the burden of proof in Polish criminal law. However, some critical remarks were formulated against the background of the conclusions put forward by the author regarding the use of the concept of constitutive rules. Moreover, the main thesis of the work was criticised, according to which the burden of proof is a constitutive rule, being a rule under which it is determined who bears the consequences of failing to provide or defective performance of evidence. The claim that the burden of proof is a legal rule and not a praxeological one has also been assessed with criticism.