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Investigative bodies – the police and the public prosecutor’s office

Source: domena publiczna.

Link to the lesson

Before you start you should know
  • You are able to explain what the place of police forces in public administration structure is.

  • You are able to present the role of a public prosecutor in criminal proceedings.

You will learn
  • You will be able to analyze the most important tasks of the police and the public prosecutor’s office.

  • You will be able to explain the rights of a victim in preparatory criminal proceedings.

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nagranie abstraktu

The public prosecutor’s office consists of the Public Prosecutor General, the National Public Prosecutor, the Public Prosecutor General’s other deputies, and public prosecutors of universal prosecutorial bodies, as well as public prosecutors of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation.

The Public Prosecutor General is the chief prosecutorial body. The office of the Public Prosecutor General is held by the Minister of Justice.

Public prosecutors of universal prosecutorial bodies include public prosecutors of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office, provincial public prosecutor’s offices, regional public prosecutor’s offices and district public prosecutor’s offices.

The public prosecutor’s office executes tasksto execute tasksexecutes tasks related to prosecuting crimesto prosecute crimesprosecuting crimes, and maintains law and order.

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Tytuł grafiki: The main tasks of public prosecutors. Grafika barwna przedstawiająca granatowy symbol paragrafu na tle jasnoszarych takich samych symboli. Na grafice umieszczono następujące informacje: 1. Handling or supervising preparatory proceedings in criminal cases and exercising the function of public prosecuting attorney before courts. 2. Bringing actions in civil cases, as well as submitting motions and participating in court proceedings in civil cases relative to the labour and social security law if the protection of law and order, social interest, or citizens’ property or rights requires it. 3. Taking measures provided for by the law, aiming at a correct and uniform application of the law in court and administrative proceedings, in petty crime cases and in other proceedings provided for by the law. 4. Exercising surveillance over the enforcement of temporary detention decisions and other decisions concerning detention. 5. Conducting research on crime, fighting crime and crime prevention, as well as cooperating with scientific institutions with regard to research on crime, fighting crime, crime prevention and crime control. 6. Gathering, processing and analyzing data in IT systems, including personal data acquired from the proceedings handled or supervised pursuant to the law or from the participation in court and administrative proceedings, in petty crime cases or other proceedings provided for by the law, transmitting the data and the analyses’ results to competent authorities, including authorities of another country if the law or an international agreement ratified by the Republic of Poland stipulates it. 7. Appealing to courts against unlawful administrative decisions and participating in court proceedings relative to such decisions’ conformity with the law.
The main tasks of public prosecutors
Source: licencja: CC 0.

A public prosecutor is obliged to administer the acts specified by laws in compliance with the principle of impartiality and equal treatment of all citizens.

The police is a uniformeduniformeduniformed and armed force serving the society and aiming at the protection of people’s safety and the maintenance of public safety and order.

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Tytuł grafiki: The main tasks of the police. Fotografia barwna przedstawiająca jedną osobę zakuwającą w kajdanki drugą. Na fotografii umieszczono następujące informacje: 1. Protection of people’s life and health and protection of property against lawless assaults which might cause damage to those goods. 2. Protection of public safety and order, including ensuring peace in public places and in public means of transport, road traffic and on waters allocated for common use. 3. Initiation and organisation of activities aimed at preventing crimes and petty offences and crime-related events, and cooperation with state authorities, local governments and social organisations in that regard. 4. Detection of crimes and petty offences and prosecution of perpetrators thereof. 5. Controlling whether administrative provisions and codes of order related to public activity or binding in public places are observed. 6. Gathering, processing and forwarding criminal information. 7. Running a database with information on the results of the analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
The main tasks of the police
Source: licencja: CC 0.

The police consists of the following services:

  • criminal service,

  • prevention service

  • the service providing support for the police activities in the field of organisation, logistics and technology.

Within the scope of their duties, the police carries out the following activities in order to identify, preventto prevent crimesprevent and detect crimesdetection of crimesdetect crimes and petty offences: preliminary investigation, criminal investigation and administration and order‑keeping activities. The police also carries out tasks on instruction of the court, prosecutor, state administration and local government authorities.

In the course of performing official duties, police officers shall be obliged to respect human dignity, as well as observe and protect human rights.

Police officers performing activates have the right to, among others:

  • request identity cards from people in order to ascertainto ascertainascertain their identity,

  • detain people,

  • search persons and premises,

  • perform personal checkspersonal checkpersonal checks as well as search through baggage and inspect cargocargocargo in ports and stations, as well as in means of land, air and water transport, in case of justified suspicionsuspicionsuspicion that a forbidden act subject to the penalty has been committed,

  • observe and record events in public places.

A policeman who requests an identity card of a person must provide his rank, name and surname in a way that makes it possible to record these data, as well as the legal basis and the reason for taking action. The identity of a person can be established on the basis of an ID card, passport, foreign ID card and other unquestionable document provided with a photograph and marked with a number or series, as well as on the basis of a statement of another person whose identity was established on the basis of the saidthe saidthe said documents. A police officer may give up on requesting the identity of a person whom he personally knows.

A person who deliberatelydeliberatelydeliberately deceives a police officer about her own or other person's identity or as to her citizenship, profession, place of employment or residence, is liable to a finefinefine. After completing the identification activities, the police officer should inform the person he has identified about her right to submit a complaint to the prosecutor on how the activities that were carried out.

The police has the right to detain a suspect if there is a reasonable suspicion that he has committed a crime. There must also be a fear of the suspect trying to hide or escape or cover up the traces of the crimeto cover up the traces of a crimecover up the traces of the crime. Detention can only be used if other measures have proved to be pointlesspointlesspointless or ineffective. It should be performed in a way, that minimizes the violation of the personal rights of a person against whom it was applied. The detainee should be informed immediately about the reasons for detention and his rights, including the right to seekto seekseek the assistance of a lawyer. A report should be made of detention.

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Source: GroMar Sp. z o.o., licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.

In the case of unfoundednessunfoundednessunfoundedness, illegality or improprietyimproprietyimpropriety of detention, the court notifies the prosecutor and the superior body of the authority that has imposed the detentionto impose detentionimposed the detention.

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Source: GroMar Sp. z o.o., licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.

A firearm may also be used against a person who ignores the call to immediately drop weapon or other dangerous tool, the use of which may threat life, health or freedom of the police officer or other person, or against a person who attempts lawlesslylawlesslawlessly and by force to seize firearms from the police officer or other person authorised to carry weapon. Police officers are also allowed to use firearms in direct pursuitpursuitpursuit of a person, to detain a person or prevent an escape of a detainee. Before the firearm is used, the officer should shout „Police”, call a person to drop his arms and refrain from escaping or using violence, warn about the possibility of using a weapon (e.g. „Freeze or I’ll shoot!”) and then give a warning shotwarning shotwarning shot. In the event of a direct threat to life, some of these activities may be waivedto waivewaived. The firearm should be used in a way doing the least possible damage to the person against whom the firearm was used.

Other coercive measures available to the police are for example:

In the case of women in apparentapparentapparent pregnancy, people whose appearance indicates the age of up to 13 years, and people with visible disability only physical strength may be used in the form of incapacitating techniquesincapacitating techniquesincapacitating techniques. The measures of direct coerciondirect coerciondirect coercion are used in a manner necessary to achieve the purposes of this use, proportionally to the degree of danger, by choosing a measure with the least possible discomfort.

Any natural person, whose rights protected by the law has been directly violated or threatened by a crime, is recognized as a victim by law and may demand that her rights of the victim are respected. This also applies to closest relatives of such a person.

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Tytuł grafiki: Rights of the victim of a crime. Fotorgrafia która przedstawia osobę siedzącą z podkulonymi do piersi nogami, na zdjęciu nie widać twarzy osoby. Na fotografii umieszczono następujące informacje: 1. To be treated with dignity, respect and compassion. 2. Right to security and protection, 3. Right to request for secrecy of her personal data, 4. Right to receive professional help: psychological, medical, material and legal, 5. To act as a party in court proceedings as a subsidiary prosecutor, 6. Right to take part in the investigation of the case, 7. Right to inspect the case files and make copies of documents in the case, 8. Right to compensation for damages suffered by her.
Rights of the victim of a crime
Source: licencja: CC 0.

The main goal of law enforcement agencies is to detect crimes and prosecute perpetrators. To this end, they conduct investigations. The most important law enforcement agencies in Poland are the prosecutor's office and the police. In addition to them, law enforcement includes also the Military Police, Central Anticorruption Bureau, Internal Security Agency, Border Guard and Customs Service.

In conducting their activities, law enforcement officers must comply with applicable law. However, in the circumstances specified in the laws, they have the right to use firearms, direct coercion measures, detention and to ask citizens for identification. The officers of the investigative bodies are subject to special legal protection - crimes against them are subject to more severe punishment than to other people.

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Exercise 1
Ćwiczenie alternatywne: Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise. Explain the meaning of following words: warning shot; to prosecute crimes; to handle; to take measures; to prevent crimes; in that regard; detection of crimes; to cover up the traces of a crime. If it's too difficult, use lesson's glossary.

Keywords

police, public prosecutor’s office, Public Prosecutor General, National Public Prosecutor, Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, Minister of Justice, provincial/regional/district public prosecutor’s offices, prosecuting crimes, use of firearms, coercive measures, rights of a victim of a crime, Central Anticorruption Bureau, Internal Security Agency, Border Guard, Customs Service

Glossary

to execute tasks
to execute tasks
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Nagranie słówka: to execute tasks

realizować zadania

to prosecute crimes
to prosecute crimes
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Nagranie słówka: to prosecute crimes

ścigać przestępstwa

to handle
to handle
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Nagranie słówka: to handle

załatwiać, prowadzić (sprawy)

to take measures
to take measures
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Nagranie słówka: to take measures

podjąć kroki

surveillance
surveillance
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Nagranie słówka: surveillance

inwigilacja, nadzór

to gather
to gather
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Nagranie słówka: to gather

gromadzić

pursuant to
pursuant to
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Nagranie słówka: pursuant to

zgodnie z

to stipulate
to stipulate
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Nagranie słówka: to stipulate

przewidywać

conformity
conformity
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Nagranie słówka: conformity

zgodność

uniformed
uniformed
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Nagranie słówka: uniformed

umundurowany

to comprise
to comprise
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Nagranie słówka: to comprise

obejmować, zawierać

lawless
lawless
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Nagranie słówka: lawless

bezprawny

assault
assault
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Nagranie słówka: assault

atak

to prevent crimes
to prevent crimes
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Nagranie słówka: to prevent crimes

zapobiegać przestępstwom

in that regard
in that regard
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Nagranie słówka: in that regard

pod tym względem

detection of crimes
detection of crimes
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Nagranie słówka: detection of crimes

wykrywanie przestępstw

to ascertain
to ascertain
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Nagranie słówka: to ascertain

potwierdzić

personal check
personal check
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Nagranie słówka: personal check

kontrola osobista

cargo
cargo
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Nagranie słówka: cargo

ładunek

suspicion
suspicion
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Nagranie słówka: suspicion

podejrzenie

the said
the said
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Nagranie słówka: the said

wymienione

deliberately
deliberately
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Nagranie słówka: deliberately

celowo, świadomie

to deceive
to deceive
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Nagranie słówka: to deceive

oszukać

fine
fine
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Nagranie słówka: fine

grzywna

to cover up the traces of a crime
to cover up the traces of a crime
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Nagranie słówka: to cover up the traces of a crime

zacierać ślady przestępstwa

pointless
pointless
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Nagranie słówka: pointless

bezcelowy

to seek
to seek
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Nagranie słówka: to seek

szukać, zasięgnąć

to be put at the disposal of a court
to be put at the disposal of a court
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Nagranie słówka: to be put at the disposal of a court

być postawionym do dyspozycji sądu

unfoundedness
unfoundedness
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Nagranie słówka: unfoundedness

bezzasadność

impropriety
impropriety
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Nagranie słówka: impropriety

nieprawidłowość

to impose detention
to impose detention
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Nagranie słówka: to impose detention

przeprowadzić zatrzymanie

violent assault
violent assault
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Nagranie słówka: violent assault

zamach

to pose threat
to pose threat
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Nagranie słówka: to pose threat

stanowić zagrożenie

pursuit
pursuit
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Nagranie słówka: pursuit

pościg

warning shot
warning shot
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Nagranie słówka: warning shot

strzał ostrzegawczy

to waive
to waive
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Nagranie słówka: to waive

odstąpić

truncheon
truncheon
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Nagranie słówka: truncheon

pałka policyjna

aqueous incapacitating means
aqueous incapacitating means
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Nagranie słówka: aqueous incapacitating means

wodne środki obezwładniające

non‑penetrating missiles
non‑penetrating missiles
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Nagranie słówka: non‑penetrating missiles

pociski niepenetracyjne

chemical incapacitating agents
chemical incapacitating agents
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Nagranie słówka: chemical incapacitating agents

chemiczne środki obezwładniające

tear gas
tear gas
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Nagranie słówka: tear gas

gaz łzawiący

stun gun, taser
stun gun, taser
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Nagranie słówka: stun gun, taser

paralizator

pyrotechnics with stunning or dazzling properties
pyrotechnics with stunning or dazzling properties
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Nagranie słówka: pyrotechnics with stunning or dazzling properties

środki pirotechniczne o właściwościach ogłuszających lub olśniewających

stun grenade
stun grenade
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Nagranie słówka: stun grenade

granat hukowy

apparent
apparent
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Nagranie słówka: apparent

widoczny

pregnancy
pregnancy
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Nagranie słówka: pregnancy

ciąża

incapacitating techniques
incapacitating techniques
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Nagranie słówka: incapacitating techniques

techniki obezwładniające

direct coercion
direct coercion
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Nagranie słówka: direct coercion

przymus bezpośredni

first and foremost
first and foremost
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Nagranie słówka: first and foremost

przede wszystkim

secrecy
secrecy
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Nagranie słówka: secrecy

utajnienie