The interpretation of the concepts of serving and executing a sentence in criminal law against the constitutional assumption of a rational legislator

Abstract

This paper contains an analysis and legal interpretation of the terms serving the penalty and executing the penalty. The Author presents description of an aggregate penalty and its negative prerequisites settled in Art. 85 § 3 of Penal Code as a starting point of the interpretation. The research tool used by the author to clarify the interpretation problems is the assumption of the rational legislator and the directives of the proper legislation which were used as a constitutional context of this paper. This contribution also explores the newest resolutions of the Polish Supreme Courts and the legislative amendments which created the controversies of the analyzed issue.

Keywords: serving the penalty, executing the penalty, rational legislator, aggregate penalty