Polish Law
In legal terminology – as defined by the Article 2.1 of the Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw, DzU) of the Republic of Poland issued 18 December 1998, "Communist crimes" constitute crimes committed by the functionaries of the communist apparatus between September 17, 1939 (Soviet invasion of Poland) and December 31, 1989 (fall of communism). The crimes defined therein form either political repression or direct violation of human rights of an individual or a group; including those, otherwise named in Polish criminal law of that particular time. The concept also covers several other illegal activities prohibited by the Polish law already since 1932, such as falsification of documents and using them with the intent to cause harm to people mentioned in them.
The concept of Communist crimes was legally introduced in 1998 and revised several times. It was designed to facilitate studies of events and prosecution of people in authority who committed crimes against Polish citizens as well as the Polish state. The definition is conceptually similar to the legal concept of a Nazi crime.
Read more about this topic: Communist Crimes (legal Concept)
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