Odpowiedzialność redaktora za przestępstwo prasowe (art. 49a)
The Liability of an Editor for a Press Offence (Article 49a)

Summary/Abstract: The main aim of the article is to discuss the issue of the liability of an editor fora press offence, according to Article 49a of the press law. The analysis begins with a historical overview which shows the evolution of liability for offences committed in print bypress outlets. To this end, the author introduces the concepts of the right of anonymity or the responsible editor. These two institutions, characteristic of the interwar period, performed two extremely different functions. The former allowed to conceal the identity of the author of the printed material, while the latter was instituted in order to ensure that the victims were sufficiently protected.The analysis of the current provisions of the press law showed that the legislator introducedtwo separate legal definitions: that of an editor and that of an editor in chief. The following part of the article discusses those two categories in more detail, paying particular attention to the decoding of their definitions as introduced in the press law from a practical standpoint. Moreover, it has been emphasized that each editor in chief is also an editor, but not vice versa, since some regulations are addressed specifically to the editor in chief.Bearing in mind that assigning liability for a press offence is dependent on determining the moment from which a person can be considered an editor in chief, the author discusses the registration system for journals and periodicals. As a result, the author determines three distinct periods of time which determine the possibility of considering a particular person as an editor in chief.The last part of the article is devoted to the rules and circumstances of prosecution of the editor for publishing a press article. The author points to the differences which stem from assuming a different subject party of the offence. In the cases of assuming negligence, it results in liability under Article 49a of the press law, whereas in the cases of assuming intentionality results in liability for an intentional offence of another type committed in complicity.

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