Court and prison records dating from XVII century to 1990 constitute a significant part of the holdings of the State Archive in Gdańsk. The unquestionably most valuable holdings date from XVI to XVII centuries, including the records of courts of law for nobility and for subjects of royal estates in the Malbork region. The largest part of the holdings, dating from XVIII to XX century, comes from Prussian courts of law. These holdings contain the documentation of criminal and administrative cases and a large number of land registers and registers of merchant and industrial companies and associations. The court records are completed by the police records from Gdansk and Eastern Pomerania. Court and prison records dating from post-World War II period often illustrate the dark side of Polish history. This refers mainly to the records of the Public Attorney Office, Regional Military Court in Gdańsk and Gdańsk Prison.