Odpowiedzialność karna biegłego w świetle artykułu 233 § 4 Kodeksu karnego

Progressing specialization which appears in all domains of life today causes judicial organs to be compelled – to a greater and greater extant – to use the assistance of persons possessing specialist knowledge – expert witnesses. Such a situation causes a continuous rise in the role and importance of means of evidence in the form of opinions rendered by such professionals, and at the same time – settles the question of a judicial body’s efforts to obtain true opinions in the guest for its securing reliability of findings in cases. Bearing in mind the above, the legislator penalizes – in the regulation of Article 233 § 4 Chapter XXX entitled “Przestępstwa przeciwko wymiarowi sprawiedliwości” [Crimes against the Judiciary] of the Penal Code – the act consisting in providing by an expert witness a false opinion which is to meant to constitute a piece of evidence in court proceedings of another type of proceeding conducted on the basis of a legal act. The aim of this paper id to present the principles of responsibility of an expert witness on the basis of Article 233 § 4 of the Penal Code. The authors to this using the legal state on force in the scope of conducted analyses. Furthermore, in their elaboration, they make use of views formulated in the science of criminal law.