Bałwochwalstwo w tradycji judaistycznego prawa karnego – zagadnienia materialnokarne i karnoprocesowe

Abstract

For many centuries idol worship has had a prominent position in the system of crimes punishable by Judaistic law, conceived as those norms that stem from the Torah and Talmud. The criminal laws of modern countries, where monotheistic religions tend to dominate, usually focus on the protection of freedom of belief. However, the Israeli penal code provides for special sanctions for acts aimed at conversion from Judaism to another religion. Following the classical interpretation of idolatry, such acts, in view of their characteristics, can be classed into this category. All this demonstrates the considerable influence of the Judaistic tradition on Israel’s present day criminal law. In order to discuss the issue, the article contains a description of idol worship as a crime in Jewish law, the Judaistic model of judicial procedures in cases of inciting idolatry and the extent of criminal interpretation of acts targeted at the Jewish faith in the present day criminal code of Israel in the context of idolatry related behaviour. The study is based on selected Polish and foreign documents related to the Talmudic law as well as Israel’s Supreme Court decisions.