Sexual offences have assumed crucial importance in Polish criminal policy in recent years. Several statutes have been enacted with a view to implementing a more appropriate penal response to this category of offence. For all their imperfections, the new regulations have the potential to create a rational, equitable and consistent penal response. These regulations prioritise resocialisation and correction. For reasons discussed in this paper, the courts have declined to apply these regulations, instead continuing to hand down their ‘time honoured’ custodial and suspended sentences. There appear to be several reasons for this, including cultural ones: an abhorrence of sex offenders and a fear of such crimes; a willingness to mete out what society regards as justice; a dismissive attitude towards the legislature; and perhaps a tendency, common among public institutions, to fulfil their legal obligations with a minimum of effort. Although there had been no increase in sexual crimes, the Polish Government (without any empirical research) declared that the existing measures were not working and decided (in 2015) that a paradigm shift was in order. This paper briefly discusses these issues and their likely ramifications. The current state of criminological knowledge about sexual crimes and its legislative implications are discussed. Some conclusions from the author’s own empirical research on rape and child sexual abuse sentencing policy are also presented.

近年来，性犯罪在波兰刑事政策中占据了至关重要的地位。已经制定了几项法规，以便对此类犯罪采取更适当的刑事应对措施。尽管存在诸多缺陷，但新法规有可能创造一个合理、公平和一致的惩罚措施。这些规定优先考虑再社会化和矫正。由于本文中讨论的原因，法院拒绝适用这些规定，而是继续判处他们“久负盛名的”监禁和缓刑。这似乎有几个原因，包括文化原因：对性犯罪者的厌恶和对此类犯罪的恐惧；愿意执行社会所认为的正义；对立法机关不屑一顾；也许是一种趋势，在公共机构中普遍存在，以最小的努力履行其法律义务。尽管性犯罪没有增加，但波兰政府（没有任何实证研究）宣布现有措施不起作用，并决定（2015 年）进行范式转变。本文简要讨论了这些问题及其可能的后果。讨论了有关性犯罪的犯罪学知识的现状及其立法影响。还介绍了作者自己对强奸和儿童性虐待量刑政策的实证研究得出的一些结论。波兰政府（没有任何实证研究）宣布现有措施不起作用，并决定（2015 年）进行范式转变。本文简要讨论了这些问题及其可能的后果。讨论了有关性犯罪的犯罪学知识的现状及其立法影响。还介绍了作者自己对强奸和儿童性虐待量刑政策的实证研究得出的一些结论。波兰政府（没有任何实证研究）宣布现有措施不起作用，并决定（2015 年）进行范式转变。本文简要讨论了这些问题及其可能的后果。讨论了有关性犯罪的犯罪学知识的现状及其立法影响。还介绍了作者自己对强奸和儿童性虐待量刑政策的实证研究得出的一些结论。