The Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock in Polish Family Law in the First Years after WW II Cover Image

Status prawny dzieci pozamałżeńskich w prawie rodzinnym pierwszych lat Polski Ludowej
The Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock in Polish Family Law in the First Years after WW II

Author(s): Piotr Fiedorczyk
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, History of Law, Civil Law, Family and social welfare, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989)
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku
Keywords: children born out of wedlock; family law; unification of Polish civil law; consanguinity;

Summary/Abstract: Polish family law, as a part of civil law, has been unified in 1945–46. The old law, coming from the period of Polish partitions, has been replaced by the decrees, based on drafts prepared by the Codification Committee before WW II. The decree Family Law from 1946 regulated the legal relations coming from consanguinity. One of the most important problems to be solved by the legislator was the status of children born out of wedlock. The article presents the drafts and the discussion about improving the legal status of this category of children. The decree finally improved their position, although it did not eliminate legal distinction of the two groups of children. The legal status of children born out of wedlock was a little worse than those coming from marriage, but the difference was not big. The decree gave an opportunity to provide the children with legitimacy in many cases. The differences in the legal status of children were finally eliminated in Poland in 1950, by enactment of the Family Code.

  • Issue Year: 13/2014
  • Issue No: 2(2)
  • Page Range: 123-138
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Polish