Recepcja francuskiego modelu instytucji prokuratora w Księstwie Warszawskim
The reception of the French model of the public prosecutor in the Duchy of Warsaw

Summary/Abstract: The public prosecutor, unknown in the legal system in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, appeared in Polish law as a result of the reception in the Duchy of Warsaw of the French legislation (e.g. the French Code of civil procedure (1806) and the principles of the court structure). The authors of this paper try to show an outline of the history of the prosecutor in the Duchy of Warsaw (1807—1815) and underline the individual stages of the implementation process of the French codes of the Napoleon’s Era and number of other laws that pertain to the functioning of the office in the domestic legal system. The legislation said that prosecutor should have remained unaffected by individual interests and the use of prosecutorial discretion should have been exercised independently. Undoubtedly, the hierarchical organization of the office and reporting to the minister of justice was not intended to foster better realization of these attributes. The characteristics of the office were exhaustively enumerated in the civil procedure. The prosecutor could not lodge an appeal in any case in the first instance. In the Duchy of Warsaw, there was not introduced a French penal code (Code penal 1810), which met with strong opposition on the polish ground where it was thought to be reactionary. Consequently, the role of the prosecutor in the criminal procedure was limited due to the existence of the inquisitorial principles in trial. The article also shows that the process of adoption of the French model of the public prosecutor tackled a huge range of hurdles, but, wherefore, it was the first step to the implementation of the modern system in the domestic basis of law. This statement seems to be confirmed by the actions made during the next century of the existence of the Kingdom of Poland.

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