The article discusses the issues of the protection of the individual’s personal rights, pointing out their significance for the individual and society. Emphasis is laid on the necessity of protecting these values, along with relevant constitutional and civil law solutions, also in the norms of criminal law. The author presents the objective scope of the protection of the foregoing rights in Polish penal codes of 1932, 1969 and 1997, as well as the level of penal repression of behaviors violating these values. The scope of analysis covers the issues of the protection of human dignity and inviolability, freedom of conscience and religion, human life and health, as well as personal liberty in its different aspects. The author stresses that the protection of these personal rights is stable in Polish criminal law despite the changing political system conditions. Criminal law solutions strengthen constitutional and civil law protection. These values were and are protected in Polish penal codes to the extent equal to the European standards. The author critically assesses the proposals submitted to the Polish legislators, intended to confine the protection of human dignity to the level of civil law norms. He believes it was unjustified to introduce the aggravated forms of homicide into the penal code in force: they were not provided for in the Codes of 1932 and 1969. The author analyses the doubts concerning the grounds for inclusion of some new acts in the offences against freedom: recording of a picture of a nude person in a specific situation and persistent stalking.