Poland president asks constitutional tribunal to review criminal amendment on LGBTQ+ hate crime

Polish President Andrzej Duda sent a bill to the Constitutional Tribunal Thursday for review, seeking to expand on hate crimes provisions by adding sexual orientation, gender and other categories to the list of protected groups. The tribunal will consider whether the bill violates the constitutional right to free speech.

The current Polish Penal Code includes Article 119 which prohibits hatred based on “the victim’s national, ethnic, racial, political or religious affiliation.” Any violence, threats or insults motivated by such traits is punishable by imprisonment for 3 months to 5 years.

In November 2024, the government approved the bill that expanded the provision to criminalize hate crimes based on other characteristics–sexual orientation, gender, age and disability. The Ministry of Justice stated that provisions in existing legislation “do not provide sufficient protection for all minorities, especially those vulnerable to discrimination, prejudice and violence.” The UN Human Rights Council had also expressed concern over the fact that Poland’s hate crime legislation did not include such categories.

In early March 2025, the parliament approved the bill and sent it to the president, who had the right to sign it, veto it or send it to the Constitutional Tribunal. On Thursday, Andrzej Duda said he had sent the bill to the tribunal to verify its compliance with the Constitution.

Duda said he had sent the bill to the tribunal because of doubts that the new provision violated the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution and could lead to its abuse and the creation of preventive censorship. He noted that the use of criminal law is justified only when other means of achieving the desired goal are insufficient, but “the drafters have failed to demonstrate that the existing safeguards are insufficient.”

LGBT+ rights advocates condemned the president’s action. Director of the Campaign Against Homophobia, Mirosława Makuchowska, told a local news agency that the decision removes legal protection against hate speech for several at-risk groups. She said, “Unfortunately, we expected this. The president has not shown himself to be tolerant or open.”

Among the populace, “traditional family values” zones are common, where representatives of the LGBTQ+ community are declared unwelcome. This creates an unfavorable atmosphere for representatives of sexual minorities, and contributes to the violation of their rights.

Duda himself has previously expressed his disagreement with what he and his party consider to be “LGBT ideology,” and promised to protect children from this ideology during the election campaign.

The European Court of Human Rights held in 2023 that Poland’s failure to recognize same-sex unions violates the European Convention on Human Rights. The government introduced a draft law in October 2024 to recognize same-sex civil partnerships, but whether the parliament and president will adopt the law remains to be seen.

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