Out of the 38 doctoral dissertations submitted to the competition, the Competition Jury selected the 10 best ones, of which the winners were selected. The standard in the doctoral theses category was so high that the Competition Jury decided to award two first and two second prizes, as well as several honorable mentions. Dr Sebastian Czechowicz's doctoral dissertation, “Criminal law protection of the child's right to health in the face of the phenomenon of evading mandatory vaccinations of children in Poland”, which was highly rated by the competition reviewers and by the Competition Jury, received second place. It should be noted that Dr Czechowicz's dissertation is the only awarded work in the field of criminal law. The other winners represented civil law and civil procedure.
It is a great honour for me and a recognition of the recent years of research I have conducted both in Poland and abroad. The award is doubly gratifying, as my work on criminal law was the only one of the submitted doctoral and postdoctoral dissertations in criminal law to be among the winners. It also obliges me to conduct further reliable research in the field of criminal law
– said Dr Sebastian Czechowicz after collecting the award
The awards ceremony took place on 4 November 2025 at the headquarters of the Institute of Justice in Warsaw.
More information about the competition is available on the website of the Institute of Justice.
Photo: Archive of Dr Sebastian Czechowicz
