No. 1 (44)

The author discusses inherent (innate) human dignity, which is the foundation of justice. He assumes that the innate, inviolable, non-transferable, and inalienable dignity, which is inherent to the human’s very essence, is the foundation of justice and its requirements, which demand to „give to each what is due to him” (suum cuique tribuere), to give to „each his own” or their due. The author aims to justify the meaning and importance of grounding justice in human reality– a being in itself and for itself: Always the end, never only the means. The discussions and analyses indicate, among other things, that this foundation determines the objective basis, unconventionality (non-contractability), unarbitability, non-relativism, and universality of justice. The author also emphasizes that grounding justice in inherent dignity is a departure from legalistic/legal justice (understood as compliance with the law of a state) and the positivist and formalistic paradigm of law and legal sciences that, though he thinks it is harmful, still dominates in the Polish legal culture. The author uses the method of general reflection and the analytical and axiological methods.

We see an interesting moment when the United Nations, looking for comprehensive improvement, pays attention to regions and gets some responses from those regions. A perfect example of this is the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. The authors believe it is worth taking advantage of this opportunity in the internationalization process of Polish regions and diversification of the foreign support for their development and, thus, disseminating them. According to the authors, the important step in this regard is a publication of the relevant reference to the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with an outline of their implementation system, about Polish regions (both in general terms and specific to the example of Podlaskie Voivodeship).

National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRPs) set out the objectives for recovery and building the socio-economic resilience of EU Member States following the crisis caused by COVID-19. In their framework, countries also declare the introduction of structural reforms and investments for their implementation. The author aims to offer a closer look at and characterize the adoption procedure and basic assumptions of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans developed by Visegrád Group Member States, which are among the greatest beneficiaries of the Plans. Thus, it is worth zooming in on the national design and approval procedures for the various recovery plans, their basic assumptions, and procedures for their approval by Union bodies. The reason for researching this issue is the characteristic distribution of accents in existing research. On the one hand, there are many publications on the European Instrument for Reconstruction and Enhancement of Resilience. On the other hand, the analysis of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans of the Visegrad Group countries has not, so far, been the scope of broader legal and comparative research.

Count Leonid Kamarovsky was one of the most recognized international law specialists in the Russian Empire era. His considerations focused primarily on the issue of international justice. Kamarovsky’s doctoral dissertation, An International Tribunal, became the theoretical basis for establishing an international tribunal in the 19th century. In this work, he analyzed the state sovereignty principle in a collision with the competencies of an international tribunal, the creation of which, he thought, was a natural stage in the development of humanity and international law.

The authors present the issue of the validity of the provisions of the X (10^th) volume of the Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire in the eastern provinces of the Republic of Poland during the period of independence between World War I and World War II. In those territories occurred an interesting phenomenon of applying regulations introduced by a state that had lost its legal existence. Despite attempts to unify or codify the provisions, Russian civil law provisions were in force throughout the entire period of Polish interwar independence. Civil law practitioners and theorists made successive attempts to collect these provisions in a way that enabled them to be used. Moreover, these provisions were taught at the Stefan Batory University in Vilnius.

The author presents the problem of legal admissibility and general legal status of the monistic (one-tier) system in a national-law cooperative  (including especially the use of this system as a rule, option – aside or in another relationship with the dualistic model or other models of governance) in selected foreign legal systems, first and foremost European, to identify general arguments, resulting from comparative legal analysis, for the introduction of such a system in the Polish-law cooperative. The author presents the essential characteristics of the monistic system as a governance model in general and then specifies the existing scope of legal admissibility of application of the monistic system in managing organisational units in the Polish legal system. This is a necessary background for presenting general remarks and basic relationships in the area of influence of legal cultures (traditions) – Germanic or Romanic – on the application (as a rule or option) or even differently – the exclusion of the application of monism in the management of a cooperative established under national law in selected foreign legal systems, and then – in the form of longer conclusions – the most important arguments for extending the use of the monistic system (monism) in management in Polish legal system onto Polish-law cooperatives and the conclusion in this respect.    

The author's subject is cooperative banking in France, especially the specific regulation of this type of banking. The author presents the elements of the creation of cooperative banks in France, the legal basis for the operation of cooperative banks, and the specific features that allowed cooperative banks in France to develop significantly. Many factors influenced the position of cooperative banks; among them, the elements of historical grounding on the market, the flexibility of banking, modernization, and adaptation to the national economic policy can be distinguished. In the policy of cooperative banking, the French doctrine emphasizes the values of the social economy, ethics, responsibility, participation of parties, solidarity, and proximity to the client. In cooperative banking, the emphasis is on cooperation, mutual assistance, and solidarity (collaboration, entraide, solidarité).

The introduction on September 19, 2021, of the provision of Art. 4462 of the Civil Code, the legislator allowed the court to grant compensation to the closest family members for the inability to establish or continue family ties due to severe and permanent bodily injury or health disorder of the directly injured party. Thus, new and critical issues for elaboration arose, including an indication of the subjective and objective scope of the commented provision (the premises of liability). In addition, it is necessary to attempt to evaluate the regulations. The author claims that the analysis of the indicated provision allows us to conclude that its wording raises several doubts. The most important ones include the lack of a specific qualification for the family bond and the placement of this provision in the Civil Code. The legislator did not answer directly whether the family bond belongs to the catalog of personal rights; it has significant consequences in practice given the sphere of life it refers to. Several research and judgments of the Supreme Court that have appeared over the last few years also show the importance of this problem. The discussion in this area is still valid and even necessary considering the new regulation.

One of the fundamental rights of the suspect and then the accused in criminal proceedings is the right to defense, which includes the right to contact a defense lawyer. This right is regulated in the Code of Criminal Procedure and other national and international legal acts. In this context, of fundamental importance is Art. 6 of the ECHR. As a result of the entry into force of the Act on interest rate subsidies for bank loans granted to provide financial liquidity to entrepreneurs affected by the effects of COVID-19 and the amendment of certain other acts, the provisions governing the right of the accused to contact a defense lawyer during a session on provisional arrest and a distance hearing were amended. The author aims to answer the question of whether the current norms in the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the accused’s right to contact a defense lawyer in the situations mentioned above meet the standards of a fair trial.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of new technologies and raised societies’ technological development. Legal regulations play an important role in the implementation of the latest technologies. The contact tracking applications that have been deployed almost all over the world do not, in most cases, provide an adequate level of personal data protection. An essential aspect of competition law regarding data protection is ensuring data security (trade secrets, personal information). Although entrepreneurs’ use of cloud data stores is well-established, we have never witnessed adoption on such a large scale as during this pandemic. This was influenced by, among other factors, the need to provide remote access to enterprise resources despite limitations on the movement of people. Furthermore, because many companies faced an immediate need to enable remote working and collaboration, many solutions were adopted without the usual due diligence that should apply to such a business decision. Therefore, questions arise as to whether the legal frameworks for the functioning of such data ecosystems ensure their security. Moreover, since technological innovations are of key importance for sustainable development, it is worth reviewing the framing assumptions (concerning sustainable development) of active sustainability initiatives and the possibilities of still achieving their goals despite the major setback of the pandemic. Furthermore, the rapid and forced changes resulting from the coronavirus pandemic cannot remain in place without adverse impact on the data protection landscape. During the pandemic, legal regulations regarding personal data protection, environmental protection, and competition law began to be questioned. The author shows that the legal regulations in force in these areas are no longer sufficient and require adaptation to the rapidly changing reality.

An important aspect of competition law regarding data protection is the issue of ensuring the security of data (trade secrets, personal information). Despite the fact that the use of cloud data stores by entrepreneurs is well-established, we have never witnessed adoption on such a large scale as during this pandemic. This was influenced by, among other factors, the need to provide remote access to enterprise resources despite limitations on the movement of people. Furthermore, because many companies faced an immediate need to enable remote working and collaboration, many solutions were adopted without the usual due diligence that should apply to such a business decision. Therefore, questions arise as to whether the legal frameworks for the functioning of such data ecosystems ensure their security.

Moreover, due to the fact that technological innovations are of key importance for sustainable development, it is worth reviewing the framing assumptions (with regard to sustainable development) of active sustainability initiatives and the possibilities of still achieving their goals despite the major setback of the pandemic. Furthermore, the rapid and forced changes that took place as a result of the coronavirus pandemic cannot remain in place without adverse impact on the data protection landscape. During the pandemic, legal regulations regarding the protection of personal data, environmental protection and competition law began to be questioned. The presented analyses show that the legal regulations in force in these areas are no longer sufficient and require adaptation to the rapidly changing reality.

Code is the human-made architecture of cyberspace, and thus technology can be used to control individual behavior. It imposes systematic limits on the individual's behavior in an artificial environment, thus we can apostrophize the code designer as the rule maker of the technological environment – such as the Internet or digital platforms. The nature of blockchain technology makes regulation through code extremely powerful and decisive: the tamper-proof nature of the distributed ledger and the possibility to automate transactions make the so-called lex cryptographia an effective regulatory code. At the same time, a significant circumstance from the point of view of our topic is that the lex cryptographia is also subject to external regulation – consisting of real legislation – which it must fully comply with during its operation. The relationship between the two regulatory levels can be determined not by substitution, but by supplementing each other. In this study, based on the international literature and various case studies, I examine the conditions under which blockchain technology can be used in the health care provider system and the legal implications of this in everyday life.

The author deals with standards regarding a medical experiment carried out on the human body in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. This topic is still significant and causes widespread controversy. It stems, among others, from the enormous technological progress significantly impacting the development of innovative treatment methods. The starting point for these considerations is the fact that the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which is a crucial treaty for the European system for the protection of human rights, does not explicitly express provisions guaranteeing the freedom of scientific research or conducting medical experiments on the human body. However, the Convention still covers these issues. The Strasbourg Tribunal considers the good of the individual (patient) as the highest law each time.

The author presents regulations concerning the power industry in the Second Polish Republic (1918-1939), in particular those related to access to energy, development of energy infrastructure, relations between the energy entrepreneur and the consumer (market regulation, tariffs), as well as issues related to the rational use of energy. The author aims to reproduce the content of legal norms and the legislator’s motivations and goals in the economic and social sphere, which were to be met by the enacted and issued legal acts.

The author presents legal frameworks for the construction sector in an area encompassed by nature protection, a national park. Such construction is strictly limited, however possible after reaching the conditions described in the Polish Nature Protection Act. The author conducted research from the perspective of interpretation of the administrative courts' jurisprudence, legal literature as well as papers by non-legal experts on national parks. The main subject of this research was an analysis of the provisions of the Polish Nature Protection Act concerning the conditions allowing for building constructions in the national parks’ area and relations between a protection scheme and other planning documents. The author focuses solely on Polish legislation, particularly the Nature Protection Act and the Construction Law, Environmental Law, and ordinances appropriate for that subject. He points out the relative flexibility of the construction’s prohibition, which often causes arising of undesirable construction projects and which is criticized by many entourages connected with nature protection. The author provides a report on this subject. It presents the attitudes of judges and comentators, addressing the issues associated with exceptions to construction prohibition and complementing those issues with an impact on the protection of national parks schemes.

The removal of the possibility of settling accounts with a child by a single parent set forth on January 1, 2022, and which had existed continuously since 1993, aroused numerous controversies and critical assessments by taxpayers and tax advisers. The criticism resulted in the restoration of the removed institution on 1 July 2022 and the simultaneous repeal of the tax relief of PLN 1,500 dedicated to this group of taxpayers in the first half of 2022. During the tax year, the legislator introduced highly significant changes in the provisions regulating the accounting rules for a specific group of taxpayers, i.e., single parents. The author tries to answer two questions. Firstly, does the procedure for introducing legislative changes infringe on the provisions of the Constitution and the tax rules derived from the Constitution of the Republic of Poland? Secondly, do the changes infringe on the subjective rights of the taxpayer?

In recent years, the Polish legislature has made a legitimate attempt to counter the food waste phenomenon by introducing several legal instruments, including the food waste fee.  A specific set of features characterizes each financial performance imposed on entities operating in public law. It affects the scope of rights and obligations assigned in connection with it to the entity obligated to pay. The specific construction of the food waste fee justifies doubts about its legal nature. In particular, the entity entitled to receive this financial performance, which does not belong to the public finance sector, favored addressing this issue. The author analyzed the literature and jurisprudence using the analytical method and examined the regulations in force in this regard using the formal-dogmatic method. The steps taken showed that the food waste fee does not correspond to the legislature's nomenclature. Its characteristics also do not allow it to qualify as a tax, other public tribute, or administrative monetary penalty. Moreover, the construction of this legal instrument denies its belonging to the broader catalog of public benefits. The author concludes that doubts about the legal basis for such an obligation imposed by law are justified. It provides a basis for the Constitutional Tribunal to take up this issue.

The author addresses the legal problem of Polish claims for war losses in 1939-1945 against the German state. According to Germany, the matter of these claims is closed. From the point of view of the Polish state, the issue is still open. The author presents a calendar of events relevant from the point of view of this topic, including the legal arguments of both sides of the dispute.

In his impressive work, Cezary Mik examined the impact of such important processes as internationalization, integration, and globalization on the state and law. This book consists of two volumes and is the first such extensive and comprehensive study of these issues. The first volume is devoted to the impact of internationalization and integration processes, and the second one to globalization. Undoubtedly, the monograph by Cezary Mik deserves high praise for its contribution to an in-depth and comprehensive explanation and determination of the conceptual meaning of such important processes as internationalization, integration, and globalization. It is also a bold attempt to comprehensively analyze the impact of these processes on the functioning of the modern state, national law, the international community, and international law, as well as the relationship between national and international law. Moreover, the contribution of the reviewed work to developing legal sciences needs to be emphasized. The effect of the undertaken analysis is to give legal significance to the studied processes and to demonstrate the relevance and genuine character of their multidimensional impact on the state, law, and the international community. The great value of Mik’s work is undoubtedly the fact that it encourages the perception of the state and law in the broad context of ongoing changes and tendencies while at the same time inspiring to ask numerous questions about their future changes and shape.

The author believes that the provisions of Article 36 § 9-13 of the Co-operative Law concerning the possibility of ordering general assemblies to adopt resolutions in writing or using direct communication at a distance are also applicable to housing cooperatives, due to the wording of the provision of Article 1(7) of the Co-operative Law, according to which the provisions of the Co-operative Law are directly applicable to matters not regulated by the Act of Housing Cooperatives. Notwithstanding the above, the SA also seems to have completely ignored (iura novit curia) the wording of the uninterrupted provision of Article 15zzzr of the Act of 2 March 2020 on special solutions related to the prevention, prevention, and eradication of COVID-19, other infectious diseases, and crises caused by them, according to which a declaration of will of a member of a body of a legal person – and thus of the members of a housing cooperative who form a body such as the general assembly of the cooperative – other than the State Treasury or a local government unit, may be made in documentary form (and thus also in writing). Therefore, this provision should also be regarded as lex specialis to Article 83 of the Act on Housing Cooperatives.