Nowa regulacja degradacji

The subject of the article is the new regulation of degradation adopted in the amendment to the Criminal Code by the Act of July 7, 2021, according to which degradation obtained the status of a universal penal measure and can be applied not only to soldiers, but also to reserve and retired soldiers. The change of its legal nature allows, without violating the coherence of the Penal Code, to extend the subjective scope to people with ranks of other state services, e.g. Police, Agency of Internal Security, Prison Service, which is likewise supported by the arguments justifying its application to military personnel. The implementation of this postulate would also strengthen the legitimacy of regulating degradation in the general part of the Penal Code. The aim of the article is to explain the objective and subjective scope as well as the requirements for the application of degradation, in view of the significant modification of its regulations and the new foundations for the functioning of the army contained in the Act of March 11, 2022, on the Defense of the Fatherland. It is a dogmatic study, based on formal-dogmatic, linguistic, logical and historical interpretations.