Rozszerzenie kwalifikacji ciężkiego uszczerbku na zdrowiu poprzez dostosowanie przepisów krajowych w zakresie okaleczenia żeńskich narządów płciowych
Extending the qualification of serious harm to health by adapting national legislation on female genital mutilation

Summary/Abstract: On 15 August 2023, the Polish Criminal Code was amended by Article 156 § 1,which extends the qualification of grievous bodily harm to include ‘excision, infib-ulation or other permanent and substantial mutilation of the female genital organ’.The change stems from the obligation to implement the Council of Europe Conventionon Preventing and Combating Violence against Women (Istanbul Convention), in partic-ular its Article 38. The new provisions criminalize both the procedures themselves andforcing them to be performed, bringing Polish law in line with international standards.The article analyses the new provisions, indicating how they relate to the previoustreatment of grievous bodily harm in Polish law and the rationale for the changes.It addresses the issue of excision, infibulation and other mutilations in the contextof the World Health Organization (WHO) classification and discusses the difficultiesrelated to the interpretation of such actions. The amendment to Article 156 § 1(3)of the Penal Code emphasizes the legal distinctiveness of the offence of female geni-tal mutilation (FGM), even though it could previously be classified as grievous bodilyharm. The amendment provides greater legal precision and more fully aligns Polish lawwith the requirements of the Istanbul Convention. However, critics point out that theintroduction of the new provisions was unnecessary in light of the existing regulations.

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