Procesy polityczne stanu wojennego w perspektywie lokalnej. Przypadek województwa kaliskiego
Political Processes of Martial Law from a Local Perspective: The Case of the Kalisz Voivodeship

Summary/Abstract: The author of the article presents the local aspect of the functioning of the jus- tice system during martial law (13 December 1981 – 22 July 1983), using the Kalisz Voivodeship as an example. The aim is to present the case law formed by civil and military courts, misdemeanour councils and the activities of the prosecutor’s office in a peripheral area, which is neither a leading socio-political and economic cen- tre on a nationwide scale, nor a strong centre of opposition and a region of NSZZ “Solidarność”. During the specified period, courts in the Kalisz Voivodeship pro- nounced at least 29 individuals accused under the Decree of 12 December 1981 on martial law and under the Penal Code guilty of various offences. These offences includ- ed among others continuing trade union activities after martial law was declared, organising and participating in strikes, editing, printing, and distributing under- ground materials, as well as charges of “public incitement to disobedience against the legal order” and “abuse of freedom of conscience and religion to the detriment of the interests of the Polish People’s Republic”. Apart from the civilian justice system, prosecutors’ offices and military courts also remained a tool for repressing Solidarity activists. A characteristic feature of the jurisprudence in the Kalisz Voivodeship was that the courts imposed imprisonment on only one individual.

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