Double-Track System in Polish Criminal Law. Political and Criminal Assumptions, History, Contemporary References

The authors of the penal code of 1932 modelled their reaction measures on the best contemporary standards. The system of criminal response was based on a double-track model, in German called zwei Spuren, in Italian – doppio binario, in which, along with penalties, there were also preventive measures. This system grew out of certain political and criminal assumptions of the sociological school, expressed most fully in the works of Franz von Liszt. Return in contemporary law, to the wide use of preventive measures, post and pre-penal, forces us to return to the sources and to critically examine the assumptions of the indicated approach, including the idea of an incorrigible criminal who should be isolated, not in relation to what he did, but because of who he is. Tracing the history of regulations, in particular their practical application should be a lesson for modern lawmakers.