Gronowska, Bożena2017-01-022017-01-021985Ruch Prawniczy, Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny 47, 1985, z. 4, s. 129-1470035-9629http://hdl.handle.net/10593/17130According to the regulations of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure (1989) the injured person can appear in a double role in preparatory proceedings: a procedural party and a source of evidence. This non-typical cumulation can be very important in practice not only for the crime victim but also for the criminal justice system. First, the numbers and type of criminal cases entering the system are largely determined by the reporting behaviour of injured persons who thus „control" the initiation of the criminal prosecution. Secondly, the injured person as a source of evidence can deliver some of the most valuable information for the agencies of preparatory proceedings. Finally, the injured person as a party to preparatory proceedings can — by his activity — increase the range of the adversary principle and thus can create a guaranty for the efficient functioning of the principle of material truth. The author exposes not only the potential benefits which are connected with the active participation of an injured person in preparatory proceedings. She also points out all those factors which make such a participation difficult or even impossible. The main problem here is the post-crime victimization. This "second injury" can be a result of the first contact between the injured person and the agencies of preparatory proceedings. Although there are already procedural rules, the victims of crime are still "neglected"; they are simply excluded from their cases or have been left to play a distinctly secondary role as a source of evidence in preparatory proceedings. In the author's opinion some changes both in legislation and in the attitudes of procedural agencies are necessary. Only the general improvement of the injured person's situation in preparatory proceedings can give us an opportunity for increasing the effectiveness of criminal prosecution.polinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessArtykuł