Military courts 1945-1955 in the light of the latest research

Review: M. Paszek, Wojskowy Sąd Rejonowy w Katowicach (1946–1955). Organizacja i funkcjonowanie [Military District Court in Katowice (1946–1955). Organization and functioning], Katowice – Warszawa 2019

Abstract

The research issues which Marta Paszek is interested in are an extremely important aspect in the history of the system and law of the People's Republic of Poland. The historiography to date relating to the military judiciary at that time is definitely dominated by publications discussing trials that bore all the rules of lawful procedure. The viewpoint of these works is (quite rightly so) to present the martyrdom of the defendants, to quote draconian sentences and the fate of the convicted. Marta Paszek's monograph of course takes these issues into account, but the author has significantly expanded the scope of her research, which should be considered the right direction. The review article is an attempt to discuss the structure of the monograph, to evaluate the sources used, to analyse the value and appropriateness of the content of individual chapters, as well as changes to the doctoral dissertation defended in May 2018. It also assesses the legitimacy of undertaking the subject of analysis of the activities of the Military District Court in Katowice and the need to publish the same monograph in terms of the needs of historical and legal sciences and the proper exhaustion of the subject by the author. The evaluations of other entities, such as other reviewers, the Council of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Silesia in Katowice and the Institute of Justice were also noted.