Dekret sierpniowy PKWN z 1944 roku jako instrument legalizacji władzy komunistycznej w Polsce

The aim of this study is to present the key assumptions and practices of the August Decree of 31 August 1944 of the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN). It is important to show how the Decree was an instrument for the settlement of Nazi crimes in Poland, and to what extent a tool to defeat the opponents of communist rule in Poland. The most important goal of the work is to show how instrumental treatment of the law served the legitimization of power: unwanted, deprived of broader social support, based solely on the violence and military strength of the Soviet Union. Principles and legal regulations of the Decree will be discussed as well as its practical application in the jurisprudence of special and common courts.