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The Polish law, in relation to young people (minors), uses various legal definitions, depending on the branch of law.

For those under the age of 13, parents are liableliableliable for the child's actions. In the rangerangerange of 13–17 years, liability for punishable acts (criminal offenses and some petty offenses) is in line withto be in line withis in line with the provisions of the Act of October 26, 1982 on proceedings in juvenile cases. Over 17 years of age, we face normal criminal liability, except that according to art. 10 § 4 of the Criminal Code „in relation to the perpetrator who committed the offense over the age of 17, but under the age of 18, the court applies educational, therapeutic or corrective measures provided for minors instead ofinstead ofinstead of punishment, if it is deemedto deemdeemed appropriate given the circumstancescircumstancescircumstances of the case and the degree of mental development of the perpetrator, his characteristics and personal situation.”

However, art. 10 § 2 of the Criminal Code allows for criminal liability of juveniles over the age of 15 in case of certain offences:

• homicidehomicidehomicide,

• grievous bodily harmgrievous bodily harmgrievous bodily harm,

• causing a life‑threatening event,

• piracy,

• causing disasters,

• raperaperape,

• active assault,

• taking a hostagehostagehostage,

• armed robbery,

A juvenile will respond as an adult „if it is deemed appropriate given the circumstances of the case and the degree of mental development of the perpetrator, his characteristics and personal situation”, and in particular „if the previouslypreviouslypreviously used educational or corrective measures proved ineffectiveineffectiveineffective”.

As a rule, the juvenile is responsible before a family court. Liability before a criminal court comes intoto come into playcomes into play, for example when the acts listed in the table are committed.

According to art. 5 of the Act on proceedings in juvenile cases, a juvenile faces educational measures or a corrective measure in the form of placement in a correctional facility. The punishment may only be imposed in cases provided for by law, and if it is not possible to ensure resocialization of a minor otherwise.

Persons who are over 13 and under 18 years of age and have not entered into marriage (Polish law stipulatesto stipulatestipulates that if a person has married before reaching the age of 18, he or she is considered to be of legal age), have the so‑called limited active legal capacity. Legal actions carried out by such a person require the consent of the representatives of that person (e.g. parents, guardians). Its absence results in the invalidation of these activities by law. Persons with limited legal capacity may independently:

• conclude contracts in small, current matters of everyday life (e.g. shopping at a grocery store),

• disposeto disposedispose of their earnings,

• dispose of the objects given to this person for free use.

Article 65 § 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland prohibits the permanent employment of children under 16 years of age. Persons in the range of 15 to 18 years may work, but are subject, as minors, to special protection based on art. 190–206 of the Labor Code. The most important provisions in this respect are:

• a banbanban on employing minors who have not at least graduated from elementary school,

• the obligation to employ minors without qualifications only for the purpose of vocational training,

• the principle that work performed by a minor must not endanger his health,

• the obligation to train an employee under the age of 16 up to 6 hours a day, and employees aged 16 to 18 up to 8 hours a day,

• a ban on employing minors overtime and at night.

The rules of alcohol consumption and sale are regulated by the Act of October 26, 1982 on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism. The Act prohibits selling, serving and consuming alcoholic beveragesbeveragebeverages:

• on the premises of schools and other educational institutions, adoption and care centres and students’ dormitories,

• in workplaces and at employees’ cafeterias,

• at the venuevenuevenue of and during mass gatherings,

• in vehicles and facilities of public transportation,

• in streets, squares and parks, with the exception of places designated for on‑premises alcohol consumption, at the points of sale.

Article 15 of the Act prohibits to sell or serve alcoholic beverages to persons under the age of 18. In case of doubts as to whether a customer is of legal drinking age, persons serving or selling alcoholic beverages shall be entitledto be entitledbe entitled to demand a document confirming their age from the customer. Persons breaching the banto breach (a ban)breaching the ban are be obliged to pay a fine, according to article 43 of the Act.

Bans regarding smoking were included in the Act of November 9, 1995 on protection of public health against the effects of tobacco use. According to art. 5 of this Act, smoking is forbidden, among others:

• in hospitals or clinics,

• on the premises of schools and universities, workplaces, public cultural and leisure facilities, food and entertainment establishments, sport facilities, and other premises designated for public use,

• in passenger public transportation means, and establishments servicing travelers and public transportation stops,

• on public playgroundsplaygroundplaygrounds for children.

According to article 6 of the Act it is forbidden to sell tobacco products to persons under 18 year of age. If in doubt about the age of a person buying tobacco products, the seller can ask for a document confirming the consumer’s age. Breaching the ban results in a fine.

As far as drugs are concerned, Polish law prohibits, among other things:

• possession of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances (punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years, and if the offender has a significant amount of such substances - up to 10 years),

• sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or poppy strawpoppy strawpoppy straw (punishable by fine and imprisonment from 6 months to 8 years, and if the offender sells a significant amount of these intoxicants - fine and imprisonment from 2 to 12 years),

• offering a narcotic or psychotropic substance to a minor (punishable by imprisonment from 6 months to 8 years),

• offering an intoxicant or psychotropic substance to another person, facilitating the use or persuading to use such a substance in order to obtainto obtainobtain a material or personal advantage (punishable by imprisonment from one year to 10 years, and if the offender commits it to a minor - the penalty of imprisonment cannot be shorter than 3 years).

The most important legal provisions concerning counteractingto counteractcounteracting drug addiction are contained in the Act of 29 July 2005. According to this document, the activity in this area takes place in many areas. Counteracting drug addiction includes:

• upbringingupbringingupbringing, educational, informative and preventivepreventivepreventive activities,

• medical treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration of addicted persons,

• reduction of health and social harm,

• control of addictive substances,

• combating illicit trade, manufacture, processing, conversion and possession of addictive substances,

• control of cultivation of plants containing addictive substances.

The legal situation of minors is regulated in various areas of law. The most restrictive regulations are found in criminal law, according to which, after the age of 15, criminal liability may be incurred in the event of committing particularly serious crimes. Persons under the age of 18 cannot legally buy cigarettes or alcohol. However, particularly restrictive regulations concern the possession, manufacture and trade in narcotic drugs.

Keywords

minor, juvenile, legal responsibility, criminal liability, alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, educational/corrective/therapeutic‑educational measures

Glossary