The ban on assemblies in Poland during the epidemic and criminal liability

During the 16 months of the epidemic threat, and then the state of the epidemic, the executive authority introduced restrictive restrictions in the area of freedom of assembly, periodically forbidding them completely. Regardless of the bans introduced, during the indicated period, there were numerous protests and demonstrations triggered by the lockdown, government policy or the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of October 22, 2020. The author tries to answer the question whether the bans and restrictions introduced by the executive met the constitutional standard, and if not, whether the behavior of organizers or participants of assemblies constituting the implementation of their constitutional freedoms could fulfill the criteria of specific offenses or crimes. For this purpose, the author analyzes, inter alia, judgments of common courts, as well as the judgment of the Supreme Court of July 1, 2021.

According to art. 57 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997, freedom to organize and participate in peaceful assemblies has been guaranteed to everyone. The condition for exercising this right is meeting the requirements set out in detail in Law on Assemblies. One of the types of assemblies is the organization of such events on a regular basis. Consent to the organization of cyclical assemblies is given by the provincial governor, as the representative of the Council of Ministers in the given province, which is an exception to the general rule according to which the decision on the organization of assemblies is issued by the commune authority, a representative of the local government. The aim of the article is to present in a comprehensive way the provincial governor’s rights in matters of assemblies organized cyclically, as well as to show the specificity of the procedure.