The aim of the article is to show the direct relationship of a specific form of political offences defined as high treason with the security of the Polish state. The main hypothesis being the basis for the analysis is contained in the statement that acts threatening the raison d’état and the essence of the constitutional foundations of the Polish state are considered a threat to its security and therefore are criminally prosecuted as high treason. The specific aim is to show the evolution of the approach to this problem in a historical perspective and to emphasise the importance of the threat of high treason to the security of contemporary Poland. The basic methods used by the authors were the historical method and the method of legal analysis. Their use made it possible to specify the key issues in the approach to high treason in the past and to present its perception from the perspective of the current provisions of Polish criminal law. As a result of the analyses carried out, it was determined that high treason is the most serious offence against the state which undermines its internal and external security. The negative consequences for state security caused by committing high treason were classified in the form of political, military and economic effects.