Criminal policy of all the socialist governments in Eastern Europe is based on crime prevention. In Poland, preventive policy is set forth in the law and pursued by the criminal justice system and the community. Legislative effort has produced three codification acts: the criminal code based on decriminalization and depenalization, the code of criminal procedure emphasizing disclosure of mitigating circumstances, and the code for execution of sentences prescribing humane treatment of convicted offenders. Preventive activities by the criminal justice system involve gathering information pertaining to causes and distributing it to the agencies concerned. Preventive activity in the community takes the form of social courts that decide minor violations and engage in mediation. References are included.