The legislative interference in the freedom of expression during the period of the Polish People’s Republic

Abstract

A brainchild of this study has been rooted in works of G. H. Carr and B. Croce. They wrote: All history is “contemporary history”, meaning that history consists essentially in seeing the past through the eyes of the present and in view of its problems, and that the main work of the historian is not to record but to evaluate; for, if he does not evaluate, how can he know what is worth recording? Therefore, the author decided to show, by presenting his unpublished paper (banned by censorship in 1984), how the State curbed, especially through legislation, a freedom of expression during a communist rule. The text remains untouched in a substance and form to see the past through the eyes of... the past. The paper consists of three parts.The first is devoted to an idea of regulation of freedom of expression in view of the Polish People’s Republic Constitution (1952). The author discusses the influence of a communist ideology upon a shape and contents of constitutional statements. In the second part, a substance of legislation on freedom of expression is examined. The study concerns the State legislative activity during almost forty years, and it shows a slight, gradual improvement but – at the same time – some permanent defects. The third section is devoted to the conclusions on necessary changes in constitutional and statutes regulations concerning the freedom that is under discussion.