The aim of the article is to analyze the processes of anti-democratization as a violation of the idea of the rule of law in the context of changes and directions of criminal policy and criminal justice system, on the example of Polish legislation. Activity of the legislator in the field of criminal law was confronted with the liberal-democratic philosophy of criminal law, which searches for the justification for punitive repression in a social consensus, fair procedures for reaching an agreement, and democratic mechanisms, while maintaining the ideals of social and axiological pluralism. These are the limits of the recognition of criminal law as just. Anti-democratization means that limits are exceeded, which constitutes a precedent and a challenge for the contemporary philosophy of criminal law.