As we remember, back in February, a group of PiS MPs filed a motion to amend the Petty Offenses Code, which included a penalty for disturbing the peace at night. The amendment was intended to prevent farmers from being punished for working on the farm at night.
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Will a farmer no longer be punished for working on the farm at night?
As argued:
– This project is a response to the demands of farmers who point out that there are still situations in which farmers are punished for carrying out such work. Especially during the harvest period, there are situations when it is necessary to carry out such work at night. This is very often due to the prevailing or forecast weather conditions. Due to the fact that the countryside is increasingly becoming a place of residence for people who do not conduct agricultural activity and do not know its specific nature, there are situations in which the police are called due to an alleged violation of the night curfew by a farmer.
The drafters also pointed out that despite the fact that, according to the Supreme Court, the provision of Art. 51 pairs 1 of the Code of Petty Offenses makes liability for an offense dependent on the finding that the act constitutes an act of misconduct; this is not reflected in the applicable regulations, causing legal uncertainty for farmers performing their work. According to the Supreme Court, a prank is behavior that could not be expected under the given circumstances of time, place and surroundings.
– Harvesting in the countryside, for example, certainly cannot be classified as behavior that was difficult to expect or that would be contrary to social norms – it was emphasized in the justification.
Therefore, in order to definitively solve this problem and ensure that farmers can carry out the necessary work without fear of being fined, according to the applicants' MPs, it is necessary to change the provisions in question.
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No more illusions. There will be no continuation of the agricultural foil removal program
What's next for this project?
March 7 this year The first reading of the discussed parliamentary bill amending the Act – Code of Petty Offenses took place in the Sejm. Most of the MPs who spoke supported PiS's proposal. But there were also those who had doubts about its validity.
MP Magdalena Małgorzata Kołodziejczak from the Civic Coalition Parliamentary Club was surprised by the proposed amendment and stated that:
– Taking into account the well-established jurisprudence of the Supreme Court and common courts, there is no need to change the provisions regarding the abolition of night curfew in agricultural work. A farmer who disturbs the peace at work is not guilty of an offense, and liability for this offense depends on the finding that the perpetrator's act constitutes an offense. Introducing a provision in the Code of Petty Offenses stating that a farmer performing agricultural work does not commit an offense may in the future result in claims in this regard from other professional groups demanding decriminalization of noise generated in connection with night work. (…) it seems to me that a change in regulations resulting solely from their incorrect interpretation cannot take place. Today, we should only provide the correct interpretation and, in a special way, draw the attention of bodies such as the police to the fact that night work performed by farmers is not an offense, and this is stipulated in Art. 51. (…) This also requires us to inform residents who buy plots in rural areas that this sometimes involves nuisance. Therefore, I move to reject this amendment.
MP Łukasz Litewka from the Lewica Parliamentary Club pointed out that the project requires in-depth analysis and refinement:
– The unpunished act of disturbing peace or public order at night, if it is related to work on a farm, is a very vague concept. By this we can understand that we give consent to shouting, noise or a number of other antics that disturb the proper comfort of other people's lives. The lack of sufficient specification of the proposed regulations in this respect may mean that any actions that disturb the peace and quiet at night, public order or – what's more – cause scandal in a public place – may be considered lawful if they are even slightly related to work on a farm. . We are aware that the countryside is largely agriculture, it is the foundation, and we express full respect for working for it, while the Left takes into account the good of every resident, every person, i.e. both the farmer and the good of the baby's mother who needs a quiet night and a lot of sleep. One person's good cannot trump another's good, so you must try to find a solution that works for everyone. We cannot agree that this loophole will cause harm to the rest of society, and the vagueness of the provisions of the project will cause problems in the interpretation of the offense. Therefore, we believe that the project requires in-depth analysis and refinement.
As MP Włodzimierz Skalik from Confederation stated, the proposed amendment to the Code of Petty Offenses is an attempt to wipe away the tears of Polish farmers and does not respond to their real needs.
MP Marcin Skonieczka, Poland 2050 – Third Way, noted:
– The countryside is a place of food production and this is the basic function of rural areas, it is obvious. There is no point in arguing with this and all residents who settle in rural areas must remember this. As a commune head, I unfortunately observed conflicts between residents who came to a given village and farmers , but these conflicts concerned what the farmers were planning. It's about investments, construction of pigsties and poultry houses. Or they also concerned situations where farmers occasionally improperly carried out work related to the removal of digestate from sugar factories or chicken manure. However , in the 13 years of my work I have never had a complaint about noise related to farmers' work, when it comes to harvesting , there have never been any such complaints. Therefore, I have a question for the applicants whether they know of any convictions against farmers for night work, or whether they know of a situation where a farmer was fined. These are key questions, because in this situation, isn't it enough to simply review the guidelines for the Police and possibly change them? Is this change in the law really necessary here?
His clubmate, MP Sławomir Ćwik, added:
– (…) If this provision were introduced, a situation would arise, especially in conflict-generating situations, that a person who actually committed offenses or excesses, even under the influence of alcohol, could explain that he did not commit the offense because he did it in connection with driving. wash. And only then would we have an escalation of conflict situations that occur not only in the countryside, but above all in cities, where there are also agricultural areas, where there are agricultural plots next to apartment blocks. (…) we just need to properly apply the law to ensure that a farmer who performs work normally does not commit an offense, which is obvious.
Finally, on March 7 this year. the draft act amending the Act – Code of Petty Offenses, authored by PiS MPs, was submitted to the Extraordinary Committee for changes in codifications. And according to the information posted on the Sejm's website, it remains there to this day.
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