
In the first decade of the People’s Republic of Poland (until 1955), the criminal procedure underwent profound changes in an inquisitorial manner. The changes first affected the military procedure and were then transferred to the ordinary procedure. The transformation process ended in 1950. The paper presents the criminal trial of Adam Półtorzecki as an example of a judicial crime committed on the basis of the transformed procedure. Półtorzecki was a pre-war police officer who was accused of mistreating communists during investigations. The pre-trial proceedings against him included illegal arrest, secret proceedings, he had no defense counsel, he was not informed of his rights, and the interrogations lasted very long. The trial was very short and he was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, which was the maximum possible sentence. Półtorzecki died in prison, not having lived to see the Supreme Court review the verdict. From 1955, a process of gradual dismantling of the inquisitorial features of criminal proceedings began.