Poland Preparing to Increase Punishment for Military Personnel Who Disobey Orders During Wartime

Poland is preparing legislative changes that would significantly increase penalties for military personnel who disobey orders during wartime.

Rzeczpospolita reported on this.

According to the publication, Poland’s Ministries of Justice and National Defense are reportedly already considering the new regulations.

Experts from the Codification Commission, who prepared an opinion on this matter, concluded that the current provisions of criminal law were designed for peacetime, whereas penalties in wartime should have been specified in a separate legislative act—which was never drafted.

Currently, a service member faces up to three years in prison for failing to carry out an order, refusing to carry it out, or carrying it out improperly; under aggravating circumstances, the sentence can be up to five years.

According to the commission’s experts, the importance of military discipline increases significantly in combat conditions, so penalties must be harsher.

In particular, it is proposed to establish a penalty of 5 to 30 years’ imprisonment for failure to execute a combat order. In addition, the codification commission also proposes that refusal to execute an order in combat situations be punishable by life imprisonment.

Importantly, the unit commander decides whether to initiate proceedings for refusal to carry out an order, as he or she may file a corresponding motion.

According to the media, the proposals have already been submitted to the Polish Ministry of Justice and are currently under review.

The expert working group that addressed this issue included representatives from the Ministry of Defense, the military justice system, the legal profession, and the academic community in Poland.

In late June, Onet reported that Poland could become a target of Russian military or hybrid provocations aimed at testing NATO’s resolve and creating conditions to end Western countries’ support for Ukraine.

A high-ranking official from the leadership of Poland’s intelligence services confirmed the existence of such risks to the publication. Subsequently, this information was confirmed by the ambassador of one of Poland’s key NATO allies.