As part of a general overview of Poland's criminal justice system, the article examines the history of the system and also briefly discusses the country's political and legal systems. The report is divided into the following sections: (1) Crime (classification of crimes, statistics on murder, rape, robbery, drug offenses and crime regions); (2) Victims (groups most victimized by crime, victims' assistance agencies, role of victims in prosecution and sentencing); (3) Police (administration, resources, technology, training and qualifications, discretion, accountability); (4) Prosecutorial and judicial process (rights of the accused, procedures); (5) Judicial system (administration, judges, special courts); (6) Penalties and sentencing (sentencing process, types of penalties); (7) Prison (description, administration, conditions); and (8) Extradition and treaties. Subject areas for which information was not obtained are so noted. Sources