Combating Dangerous People under the Act on Mental Health Protection and “the Beast Act”
Combating Dangerous People under the Act on Mental Health Protection and “the Beast Act”

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is presenting two ways of the state's response to the danger caused by individuals with mental disorders pursuant to the Act on Mental Health Protection and the Act on the Procedures Applicable to People with Mental Disorders Posing Threat to Other People’s Life, Health or Sexual Freedom. There is a need to provide safety to society which justifies applying measures which often interfere with human freedom. The connection between mental sanity and the criminal justice system is complex, and it can be treated as a scene upon which the society projects different attitudes, emotions and feelings about responsibility, free will, autonomy, public safety and the meaning and purpose of punishment. Not every kind of mental disorder creates a danger for others – yet, the fact that there is a high probability of committing a crime imposes the necessity of an adequate state reaction. Mindful of the level of an individual's sanity, mental and physical health, behaviour and hitherto served punishment, the Polish criminal law distinguishes three legal approaches towards people with certain disorders: preventive measures applied on the ground of the Criminal Code, measures regulated in the Act on Mental Health Protection as well as in the Act on the Procedures Applicable to People with Mental Disorders Posing Threat to Other People’s Life, Health or Sexual Freedom.

• Details
• Contents