New Article by Prof. Monika Płatek in the Antidiscrimination Law Journal

We invite you to read the latest article by Prof. Monika Płatek, “Dehumanization as a mechanism of institutional discrimination restricting the protection of human rights. A study in the light of the Act on proceeding with respect to people with mental disorders who pose a threat to the life, health or sexual freedom of others”, published in issue 1/2026 of the Antidiscrimination Law Journal (Przegląd Prawa Antydyskryminacyjnego).

The article analyses the functioning of the National Centre for the Prevention of Antisocial Behaviour (KOZZD) as an example of institutional dehumanization leading to the restriction of the protection of human rights. The author argues that the Act and its application in practice constitute a mechanism of discrimination by which people who have served a prison sentence are subjected to further, frequently indefinite, isolation under the guise of therapeutic action. Portraying these people primarily as threats lowers public sensitivity to violations of their rights and enables the gradual lowering of standards for protecting dignity, freedom and equal treatment.

According to the author, the language of moral panic used during the legislative process prepared social acceptance for solutions that breach constitutional and conventional standards. The conditions of stay and the organization of KOZZD increasingly resemble a carceral rather than a therapeutic model, and the civil law form of the proceedings does not change their actual repressive nature – the result is still a deprivation of liberty after a sentence has been served, without a new conviction.

The Antidiscrimination Law Journal is a semi-annual journal published by Wolters Kluwer Polska. Information on issue 1/2026 is available on the publisher’s website .