O naturze przebaczenia i skuteczności przebaczenia wydziedziczonemu

In the civil law doctrine, forgiveness is considered to be an emotional act or an act similar to a legal act (including a conventional act) which consists of forgetting the resentments for the harm suffered and the hurt felt. Meanwhile, forgiveness is a personal process, involving a person’s entire psyche, the purpose of which is to get rid of the forgiver’s desire to retaliate against the perpetrator. It is not a declaration of intent nor any other legal construct. Due to the ambiguity of Art. 1010 of the Civil Code there is a dispute as to whether forgiveness can have legal effects after a will – in which an offender has been disowned – has already been drawn up, and the instruction has not been revoked. In the Supreme Court’s view, forgiveness is effective in such a situation, while according to the vast majority of the doctrine, the opposite view is correct. The informal nature of forgiveness and its purpose – which is the act of “annulment of a civil penalty,” as well as the requirement of protecting family ties by the inheritance law – validate the aptness of the Supreme Court’s position.