20 The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area obvious from this period of Polish history is that capital punishment was seriously abused. Work began on a new Penal Code in the early 1950s, which revived discussions on abolition of the death penalty. The movement for abolition gained even more strength after 1956, when the regime was eased (during the so-called thaw or Polish October). Abolition was supported by eminent legal experts and intellectuals, such as Stanisław Ehrlich, Władysław Wolter, and Maria Ossowska. In 1966, Marian Cieślak published an article called “The problem of the death penalty”, which gave rise to a lively discussion in Polish society. Despite this, the ruling party was far from abolishing the death penalty. The Penal Code that was passed in 1969 preserved capital punishment but repealed the decree allowing the imposition of the death penalty after summary proceedings. Unlike other forms of punishment listed together in the Code, the death penalty was now described in a separate article that called it “an exceptional penalty” and provided regulations on its use. For example, the execution of pregnant women or persons under the age of 18 was now forbidden. In addition, an alternative of 25 years in prison was also provided. Though the Code underlined the “exceptional” character of this form of punishment, the death penalty could be imposed for a wide variety of crimes, including murder, espionage, sabotage, or even for serious cases of fraud. Some years, there were only a few executions, while others saw more than twenty. Drafts of a new Penal Code were discussed at the beginning of the 1980s. The socalled public draft, prepared by specialists connected with the Solidarity movement, eliminated the death penalty for all crimes. A second, so-called governmental draft retained capital punishment but for a limited number of crimes. These discussions were interrupted, however, by the introduction of martial law in 1981. The Decree on Martial Law introduced the death penalty for 86 crimes and allowed capital punishment to be imposed following summary proceedings. Some people were sentenced to death in absentia; fortunately, however, nobody was executed. The Supreme Court played a vital role in limiting the number of executions in the last years of the Communist regime. As the last judicial instance that reviewed individual cases, the Supreme Court allowed death sentences to be carried out only when the accused posed an extreme threat to society and where the Court felt that there was no possibility of rehabilitation. A moratorium on executions was introduced in 1988, meaning that the Supreme Court replaced all death sentences with sentences of 25 years in prison; in some cases, a pardon was issued.  M. Cieślak, “Problem kary śmierci”, Państwo i Prawo 1966, No. 12.