The cultivation of cannabis and its further processing – a few words on the proper legal classification of the act
Abstract
Drug-related crime is a significant social issue, and criminal law plays a crucial role in combating it. The criminal policy adopted by the legislator encompasses not only the prosecution of acts that directly infringe upon legally protected interests, such as life and public health, such as the manufacture, distribution, or introduction of narcotic drugs into circulation, but also penalises preliminary acts, particularly the cultivation of non-fibrous cannabis or the mere possession of narcotic substances. As a result, the scope of legal norms criminalising these behaviours frequently overlaps, leading to difficulties in law enforcement. The aim of this article is to conduct a critical analysis of the body of case law developed under the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction (ACDA), which has been in force for twenty years. The discrepancies in legal practice identified by the author have led to a detailed examination of the positions adopted by appellate courts. This analysis has resulted in the identification of five competing lines of judicial interpretation, which are then subjected to further scrutiny in light of substantive criminal law principles, taking into account doctrinal perspectives. In particular, arguments are presented to support the classification of offences under Articles 53 and 63 of the ACDA as continuous offences, which in principle excludes the possibility of treating them as part of a single continuous act – a view upheld in two of the identified judicial lines. Furthermore, a critical assessment is made of the possibility of recognising that the offences regulated by the aforementioned provisions constitute separate crimes in real concurrence. In light of the above, it is reasonable to conclude that the act of cultivating cannabis plants, as defined in Article 63 of the ACDA, should, with certain exceptions, be regarded as a co-punishable act concerning the offence under Article 53, which concerns the processing of cannabis plants into dried cannabis. Although this position is reflected in some appellate court rulings, the arguments presented in this article – rooted in fundamental concepts of criminal law – should serve to further substantiate it. At the same time, it must be emphasised that there is no legal basis for classifying the analysed behaviours as forming part of a single continuous act, given the prior determination of their continuous nature.
Keywords:
criminal law, drug-related crime, concurrence of offences, concurrence of legal provisions, continuous act, co-punishable act.References
Bojarski M. (red.), Prawo karne wojskowe, skarbowe i pozakodeksowe, seria: System Prawa Karnego, t. 11, C.H. Beck, Warszawa 2014. Google Scholar
Gadecki B., Glosa do wyroku Sądu Apelacyjnego w Krakowie z dnia 11 września 2019 r., sygn. akt II AKa 84/19, OSP 2024, nr 5. Google Scholar
Karnat J., Gadecki B. (red.), Przepisy karne ustawy o zapobieganiu narkomanii. Komentarz, 2024, Legalis. Google Scholar
Kotowski W., Ważny A., Kurzępa B., Ustawa o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii. Komentarz, 2022, Lex. Google Scholar
Kulik M., Komentarz do niektórych przepisów ustawy o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii, [w:] M. Mozgawa (red.), Pozakodeksowe przestępstwa przeciwko zdrowiu. Komentarz, Wolters Kluwer, Warszawa 2017. Google Scholar
Marek A., Gensikowski P., Konstrukcja czynów współukaranych i jej implikacje praktyczne, „Prokuratura i Prawo” 2004, nr 10. Google Scholar
Tkaczyk-Romanowska K., Refleksje na temat art. 62 Ustawy o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii na tle karnoprawnym i konstytucyjnym, „Ius Novum” 2021, nr 1. Google Scholar
Wolter W., Reguły wyłączania wielości ocen w prawie karnym, PWN, Warszawa 1961. Google Scholar
Wróbel W., Zoll A. (red.), Kodeks karny. Część ogólna, t. 1, cz. 1: Komentarz do art. 1–52, Wolters Kluwer, Warszawa 2016. Google Scholar
Zając D., Komentarz do wybranych przepisów ustawy o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii, [w:] W. Górowski (red.), Przestępstwa narkotykowe i dopalacze. Komentarz, Krakowski Inst. Prawa Karnego, Kraków 2019. Google Scholar
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
