Teka Komisji Prawniczej PAN Oddział w Lublinie
„Teka Komisji Prawniczej PAN Oddział w Lublinie” (eng. Teka Commission of Legal Sciences Polish Academy of Sciences Branch in Lublin) is a semi-annual periodical published in English by the Association of Alumni and Friends of the Faculty of Law of the Catholic University of Lublin (Stowarzyszenie Absolwentów i Przyjaciół Wydziału Prawa Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego). Our periodic publishes research papers addressing legal sciences and canon law. The subject of the articles refers to both present legal and socio-economic phenomena, as well as their historical and legal analysis. The journal is on the ministerial list of scoring journals (100 points). We only publish original articles that meet the criterion of a high scholarly level. The Editorial Board respects the ethical principles developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Stowarzyszenie Absolwentów i Przyjaciół Wydziału Prawa Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego
The Legal Status of the Polish Development Fund and Its Consequences for the Protection of Entrepreneurs. Gloss to the Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 15 November 2024 I GSK 595/23
The present commentary concerns the ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court in a case regarding the conditions for granting a liquidity loan to an entrepreneur by the Polish Development Fund (PDF). The significance of this issue results from the need to answer questions related to the legal protection of entrepreneurs receiving public funds redistributed by a private entity (PDF). This gloss is a scientific commentary on the position of the Supreme Administrative Court, which found that the actions of the PDF were of a civil law nature, arising from a contract and not from the provisions of administrative law. After analysing the legal and financial status of the PDF in the context of the Public Finance Act, the method of implementing public tasks and the phenomenon of their privatisation, and also the legal form of implementing the “Financial Shield” programme, the author came to the conclusion that the Court’s position was correct. The findings that the PDF does not belong to the public finance sector, does not meet the criteria of being an administrative authority, and does not have the competence to act in authoritative forms confirmed that the Funds’ activities had an obligational rather than administrative-legal character. Consequently, the present gloss supports the argumentation presented in the commented judgment that, in the legal situation under review, the Fund’s activities were not subject to the jurisdiction of administrative courts, but possibly civil courts. The study was conducted using the dogmatic-legal and analytical methods.
Copyright (c) 2026 Teka Komisji Prawniczej PAN Oddział w Lublinie
From the Editor-in-Chief
Security of Public Administration in the Age of AI. Comparative Analysis
The authors comparatively analyze the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on security in public administration. The rapid advancement in AI technology offers new opportunities, but it also entails significant risks for the public sector. The analysis covers the current use of artificial intelligence in administration, the risks associated with the introduction of artificial intelligence into public administration, plans for the future and challenges in Poland, the United States and China. To ensure the safe use of AI, it is necessary to conduct a broad discussion on the scope of implementation of AI in the functioning of public administration and, on this basis, to define a regulatory framework. The topic requires an interdisciplinary approach, combining computer, legal and public policy knowledge. The article addresses the critical issue of the impact of AI systems on the security of public administration, a key problem for the responsible and effective implementation of technological innovations in the public sector. The proposed interdisciplinary approach combines artificial intelligence, legal and ethical knowledge and public policy. It can contribute to the development of comprehensive solutions for the safe use of AI in public administration, in line with the public interest.
Reporting of Adverse Medical Events in Poland with Particular Focus on Criminal Law Aspects
The article examines the criminal law aspects of implementing the idea of reporting adverse events in medicine into the Polish legal system. An analysis of the organisational factors underlying treatment errors leads to the conclusion that, given the increasing complexity of healthcare delivery, it is essential to implement systemic mechanisms for monitoring, analysing and improving clinical and management processes. Improvements in the quality of healthcare and patient safety cannot be realised without establishing a system for reporting and analysing adverse events, which enables the identification of multifactorial causes of errors, including organisational errors. The concept of an adverse event register is intended to reflect a shift away from a punitive model towards a culture of safety. Sometimes, refraining from criminal sanctions may, paradoxically, improve patient safety and thus prove more cost-effective than punishment. The fear of stigmatisation is one of the major obstacles to the reporting of adverse events. Minimising this fear by introducing mechanisms that encourage openness in discussing adverse events may contribute to increasing detection rates, and thus to greater effectiveness in minimising the scale of medical errors. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that, although the matter is complex from the perspective of criminal law principles, it is nevertheless possible to find solutions that would serve the objectives of the incident reporting system whilst remaining consistent with the Polish criminal law system.
On the Need to Regulate the Protection of Trade Secrets in the Provisions Of the Act of 30 June 2000, Industrial Property Law
Trade secrets are one of the factors that can determine an entity’s economic strength. Such strength may also be determined by exclusive rights to industrial property rights, such as trade marks, granted by the Polish Patent Office pursuant to the provisions of the Act of 30 June 2000, Industrial Property Law. This article attempts to answer the question of whether, and if so to what extent, there is a need to introduce regulations concerning the protection of trade secrets in proceedings before the Patent Office, where proof of trade mark use is required. To this end, the most important provisions of the Draft Act of 8 September 2025 amending the Industrial Property Law Act will be analysed; this draft aims to introduce regulations on the protection of trade secrets in proceedings before the Polish Patent Office where the subject matter is the demonstration of trade mark use. In this context, the provisions governing access to case files, including those protecting trade secrets, applicable in proceedings before the European Union Intellectual Property Office will be analysed.
The Metaverse as a New Environment for the Functioning of Higher Education: Legal Implications
The future presents us with a multitude of challenges and opportunities, among which the advancement of the internet and artificial intelligence plays a significant role. This development is driving the digital transformation of numerous sectors of the economy, including education. These changes extend well beyond the implementation of basic tools, such as Learning Management Systems (e.g., Moodle) or platforms for synchronous instruction (e.g., MS Teams, Google Classroom). The current evolution of education is shifting towards migrating the entire university infrastructure into virtual reality environments, managed by advanced artificial intelligence systems, which allow for participation in the educational process through means such as avatars. The aim of this article is to analyse the conditions, barriers, and possible trajectories of the transformation of higher education institutions towards the metaversity model. The following sections discuss the concept of the metaversity and its theoretical foundations, the current regulatory framework and its constraining impact on the implementation of hybrid and virtual models, as well as the characteristics – or, more precisely, the functionalities – of an effective metaversity model.
Standards of Biotechnological Progress in the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine
The Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine was adopted on November 19, 2019 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, after which it was opened for signature on April 4, 1997 in the Spanish city Oviedo. Undoubtedly, it constitutes a response to the rapid progress in biology and medicine, serving as the primary legally binding instrument for the protection of human rights in the field of biomedicine, which generally regulates important ethical issues at the intersection of medicine and law. Although it is of a framework nature, as it is the result of a compromise reached, it has an extremely wide scope and therefore requires further clarification in additional protocols. What is particularly noteworthy is its interpretative value, which is not dependent on its ratification, as it opposes threats to human beings arising from biotechnological progress. It accurately presents the fundamental principles of the protection of human dignity, the primacy of the individual, and equitable access to healthcare. This is followed by the establishment of standards concerning consent to interventions affecting one’s health, the protection of private life and the right to information in healthcare, the human genome, scientific research involving human beings, and transplantation.
Beyond Reaction: Teacher Competence Profiles and Institutional Frameworks in the Prevention of Hate Speech in Schools
The study examines the relationship between teachers’ competences in supporting students exposed to hate speech and the perception of safety within the school environment. It seeks to identify variations in teachers’ competence profiles and to determine how these profiles are associated with the prevalence of hate speech incidents and students’ subjective sense of security. The empirical basis of the study is a large-scale survey conducted among primary and secondary school teachers in Poland (N = 2,975). The research employed comparative statistical analyses, including Mann–Whitney U tests, chi-square tests of independence (χ²), and latent profile analysis (LPA). These methods enabled the identification of competence-related clusters and the assessment of their associations with the occurrence of hate speech and institutional responses within schools. The results indicate that teachers with higher socio-educational competences significantly more often participate in specialized training on recognizing and counteracting hate speech, apply formal intervention procedures, and engage in inter-institutional cooperation. In contrast, deficits in competences are associated with lower participation in preventive training, limited familiarity with intervention protocols, and a greater likelihood of non-reporting of hate incidents. LPA revealed five distinct competence profiles, ranging from Reactive and Unprepared to Proactive and Competent, the latter being associated with the lowest prevalence of hate speech and the highest levels of student-perceived safety. The study underscores the need for differentiated teacher training programs tailored to varying competence levels, the standardization of intervention procedures across schools, and the promotion of a reporting culture to reduce the incidence of hate speech. This study contributes to the literature by empirically linking teachers’ competence profiles with both the prevalence of hate speech and students’ perceived safety. It extends the understanding of how teacher competences function as a protective factor in educational environments and offers evidence-based recommendations for policy and practice.
Hate Speech in the Platform Age at the Intersection of International Human Rights Standards, Political Mobilization, and Linguistic Mechanisms of Exclusion
Hate speech poses a growing challenge for democratic societies in the platform-mediated public sphere. This article develops an interdisciplinary, conceptual–analytical framework integrating international and European human rights law, political analyses of mobilization and institutional stress, and linguistic approaches to exclusionary meaning-making. Legally, it examines the regulation of hate speech through the balance between freedom of expression and the protection of dignity and equality, with particular attention to Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Articles 10 and 17 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights. Politically, hate speech is analyzed as a strategic resource in polarized competition that facilitates boundary-making and undermines civic trust. Linguistically, the article shows why hate speech cannot be identified through lexical markers alone, highlighting indirect and coded hostility, pragmatic speech acts, and dehumanizing metaphors. It argues that effective responses require multi-instrument governance combining proportionate legal enforcement, preventive measures, and accountable platform cooperation, and advances a multidimensional account of online hostility under platform conditions.
Family Foundation as an Heir. Issues of Liability for Compulsory Share and Protection of Claims of the Entitled Person to Compulsory Share Against the Family Foundation
This article attempts to answer the question of whether current legal solutions sufficiently secure the legal position of statutory heirs entitled to a compulsory share, beneficiaries of a family foundation, and the family foundation itself. Although a family foundation can be an interesting tool for succession planning, its functioning raises several important issues, especially in the context of inheritance law and, to some extent, family law. Although a family foundation can be an effective tool for managing assets and ensuring their transfer in accordance with the founder’s wishes, its operation in the context of inheritance law poses many challenges. Compliance with the rules of compulsory inheritance and the need to adapt it to inheritance regulations are the main problems that may be encountered by persons planning to establish a family foundation in Poland.
Crimes Against Freedom of Conscience and Religion in the Light of the Russian Criminal Code
The paper is of a scientific and research nature. The purpose of this paper is to show the scope of protection of the freedom of conscience and religion under the 1996 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It discusses the crimes regulated in Section VII of that law titled “Crimes against the individual,” in its Chapter 19 titled “Crimes against constitutional rights and freedoms of man and citizen”. For the purposes of this publication, the following thesis was adopted: “The scope of protection of freedom of conscience and religion provided for in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of 1996 is broad”. The method used was dogmatic analysis, i.e. of the CCRF, as well as analysis of literature (legal literature). The analyses carried out made it possible to conclude that the scope of criminal-law protection of freedom of conscience and religion in Russia is broad, but needs to be changed.
Right to be Forgotten in the Deepfake Era
Continuous technological development based on Artificial Intelligence is leading to the emergence of numerous new digital tools that impact human rights and may undermine the effectiveness of the mechanisms that currently protect them. In this publication, the authors decided to examine one of the human rights protection instruments, the right to be forgotten, regulated in the General Data Protection Regulation, and relate its operation to deepfake technology, which enables the creation of new content using AI models. The Authors’ research goal was to examine the extent to which Article 17 of the GDPR, in its current form, can serve as an effective instrument for personal data protection in the face of the challenges posed by deepfake technology. In order to answer this question, they analyzed the adequacy of the contemporary understanding of the concept of personal data, the characteristics of deepfakes, and the effectiveness of the right to be forgotten in the context of the malicious use of deepfakes. Based on these considerations, the Authors concluded that the current model of the right to be forgotten is losing its effectiveness and requires redefinition. At the very end, the Authors propose a new legal approach to the protection of individuals and present the concept of transforming the right to erasure personal data into a broader right of an individual to control their digital identity.
Consequences of the Lack of Promulgation of the Judgement of the Constitutional Tribunal for the Admissibility of Examining a Request for Reopening of Civil Proceedings
The persistent practice in Poland of failing to publish Constitutional Tribunal judgements in official journals raises controversy regarding their effects. The universally binding force of such constitutional court rulings is questionable, as by such negligence they do not formally become part of the national legal order. Failure to publish a ruling in the appropriate promulgation body declaring specific provisions inconsistent with the Constitution formally means that it does not have the effect of derogating the regulation for which the presumption of constitutionality has been rebutted. This situation limits the exercise of an individual’s public subjective right arising from Article 190(4) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland enabling the reopening of proceedings. The ability to overturn a final decision issued by a court or public administration body based on provisions deemed – by rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal – to be inconsistent with the Constitution establishes an individual’s right to restitution of constitutionality. This right is also closely linked to the guarantees arising from the constitutional right to a fair trial. The omissions to publish judgments declaring provisions inconsistent with the Constitution, a reflection of the ongoing constitutional crisis, only deepen the legal chaos in this matter. The most negative and tangible consequence of this state of affairs would involve depriving individuals of the benefit of filing a request for reopening of proceedings by deeming it premature due to the failure to enter into force of the unpublished Constitutional Tribunal ruling. It is therefore necessary to recreate mechanisms enabling the use of this institution, while simultaneously persuading common courts to examine requests for reopening of proceedings on its merits, despite doubts regarding the status and legal consequences of an unpublished constitutional court judgment.
Endowment Capital as a Systemic Legal Instrument for Strengthening the Higher Education System in Poland: de lege ferenda Proposals
The aim of this article is to examine the feasibility of implementing endowment-type mechanisms as a policy instrument for strengthening the financial stability of public universities in Poland. The study is motivated by increasing fiscal constraints and the misalignment between short-term public funding cycles and the long-term nature of university missions. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of management, economics, and law, the article combines doctrinal legal analysis with qualitative empirical research based on a survey of university executives. The findings indicate both strong institutional support for capital-based financing mechanisms and significant limitations of the current funding model. The article reconceptualizes the endowment as a public-law capitalization instrument operating within the general government finance framework, rather than as a purely philanthropic construct. On this basis, it advances a de lege ferenda proposal for the systematic transfer of government securities to increase universities’ core funds. The study contributes to research on higher education finance and public governance by integrating legal and management perspectives and by offering a theoretically grounded and practically applicable model of endowment adapted to continental European conditions.
Mediation in Civil and Administrative Proceedings in 2020-2025 – between Efficiency and Access to Justice
Mediation is one of the most effective forms of dispute resolution, classified as an Alternative Dispute Resolution method and referred to as the “queen of ADR.” The process of adopting mediation into the Polish legal system began on July 26, 1991, when the Act of May 23, 1991, on the Resolution of Collective Disputes entered into force, and ended on June 1, 2017, when an amendment to the Act of June 14, 1960, the Code of Administrative Procedure, entered into force, introducing, among other things, a new Chapter 5a entitled “Mediation.” The subject of this article is to review legislative changes concerning mediation in civil and administrative proceedings in the years 2020-2025 and to assess whether these changes meet the fundamental objectives of mediation, which are to pursue the idea of restorative justice and the effectiveness of mediation as a form of out-of-court dispute resolution. The analyses carried out will allow for the drawing of general conclusions and de lege ferenda conclusions.
Off-Budget Spending or Privatisation of Public Tasks and Their Implementation, as Forms of Supporting Entrepreneurs in Poland. Reflections on the Functioning of the Polish Development Fund
One of the reasons for the current deepening destruction of public finance is the legally inappropriate and economically irrational spending of public funds on the implementation of public tasks. In the Polish legal-financial system, two methods of spending public money have long been known. The first one is related to the redistribution of public money in connection with the execution of budgetary expenditures subject to the directive principle, i.e. those that are primarily executed by public finance sector units within the framework of the budget economy. An alternative way of allocating public money for public tasks is off-budget spending (debudgetisation), where tasks are implemented by public finance entities that conduct non-budgetary economic activities or by entities related to this sector. A new phenomenon, which is also related to the spending of public funds on public tasks, is the privatisation of public tasks and the privatisation of their implementation by private entities, i.e. ones that operate completely outside the public finance sector. One of the institutions that, over the last five years, seems to have brought together all these processes and influenced the condition of public finance is the Polish Development Fund, which has been operating since 2019 as a joint-stock company. It appears that this entity is currently the most effective legal-financial instrument through which the state provides support to Polish entrepreneurs. The main purpose of this article is to answer two related questions. Firstly, does the activity of the fund in question constitute an example of off-budget spending and is it a legally admissible form of public funding for private-sector economic activity? Or, secondly, has the Polish Development Fund been established to privatise public tasks or privatise their implementation?
Psychological and Legal Aspects of Preparing for Freedom of Individuals Serving Custodial Sentences
This article aims to analyse the psychological and legal aspects of preparing individuals serving custodial sentences for release. From a psychological perspective, an analysis was conducted of the relationships between stress generated by the perception of difficult situations (past, present, and future) and positive motivation toward drug use. The study involved 267 individuals serving custodial sentences. The Own Life Assessment Questionnaire by I. Niewiadomska and the original Questionnaire of Prisoners’ Attitudes Toward Drug Use, developed by participants of a master’s seminar at the KUL Study Centre at the Lublin Remand Centre, were used. Statistical analyses included Pearson’s r correlations and linear regression. The results revealed statistically significant positive relationships between the intensity of stress generated by experiencing past, current, and anticipated difficult situations and positive motivation to use drugs. Regression analysis confirmed that anticipated future difficult situations constitute a significant predictor of positive motivation toward drug use. From a legal perspective, the statutory framework for the period of preparation for the release of individuals serving custodial sentences was presented. It was also demonstrated that the relationships identified in this study between experiencing difficult situations and positive motivation toward drug use should be considered an important aspect in assessing the risk of recidivism among individuals leaving correctional facilities. Attention was also drawn to the need to introduce standards in the field of psychological penitentiary assessment, particularly in diagnosis for penitentiary resocialization, penitentiary therapy, and/or activities aimed at preparing prisoners for functioning in conditions of freedom.
Between Automation and Regulatory Chaos: Artificial Intelligence in Contemporary Public Administration and the Media Space
This article analyses the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on administration, public management, and the media. It demonstrates that AI is becoming a key factor in transforming these areas, while institutional and regulatory frameworks are not keeping pace with its development. The authors emphasise that AI can support data analysis and accelerate decision-making, but it also entails risks: misinformation, polarisation, dependence on technology, and the erosion of cognitive skills. The presented study employed a mixed approach (expert interviews, content analysis, and case studies). The results indicate that AI is perceived as a technology with great potential, but its systemic implementation in Poland is lacking, especially in public administration. In diplomacy, AI can support analysis and automation, but it cannot replace human relationships. Experts call for the development of digital skills, transparency of algorithms, and international cooperation on AI regulations.
The Withholding of Resuscitation in Poland in the Light of the New Regulations of the Medical Code of Ethics and Legal Provisions
The paper deals with the issue of withdrawing from resuscitation in terminally ill patients. According to the Medical Code of Ethics, withholding of resuscitation efforts in terminally ill patients is permissible. It should be noted that the Polish legal system currently lacks clear regulations regarding the conditions under which resuscitation may be foregone. In practice, decision-making in such cases is typically guided by deontological norms and clinical practice. The article proposes de lege ferenda changes aimed at increasing the legal security of the physician.
Universal Harm in Contemporary Armed Conflicts: Depleted Uranium, the Precautionary Principle, and State Responsibility
This article develops the concept of universal harm as a framework for understanding the transformative impact of contemporary warfare on human, ecological, and biospheric conditions of life. Moving beyond traditional legal approaches grounded in necessity, proportionality, and distinction, the study argues that modern forms of armed conflict – particularly those involving nuclear weapons and depleted uranium – generate forms of damage that transcend individual victims, national borders, and generational limits. Through an analysis of key judicial developments, including Japanese jurisprudence on the Hibakusha, the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on nuclear weapons, and recent reflections on climate change and erga omnes obligations, the article highlights the persistent difficulty of international law in recognizing and addressing the universal scope of such harm. Particular attention is devoted to the precautionary principle and to the challenges posed by scientific uncertainty and causal attribution in cases involving environmental and radiological damage.
The Evolution of EU Legislation on Civil Aviation Security in the Context of Terrorist Threats
The most serious threats to civil aviation include, in particular, aircraft hijackings, bomb attacks, attacks on airport infrastructure, and other forms of interference that could disrupt air transport operations. These phenomena have prompted the development of comprehensive legal regulations at the international and regional levels to ensure uniform security standards. Experiences with terrorist attacks and a growing awareness of the vulnerability of transport infrastructure to threats have largely shaped the evolution of EU legislation on civil aviation security. A particular turning point was the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, which led to a significant intensification of legislative activity and the implementation of more restrictive security measures in air transport. This article examines the evolution of European Union legislation in response to terrorist threats. The issue the authors sought to highlight was expressed in the question: What impact did acts of unlawful interference have on the evolution of legislation concerning civil aviation security?
The Contribution of Polish Scientists to the Development of Medicine
This article traces the contribution of Polish scientists and physicians to the development of world medicine, from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Beginning with Wojciech Oczko’s pioneering work in balneology and health education, the paper follows a line of researchers whose discoveries reshaped clinical practice and public health well beyond Poland’s borders. Among them are Ignacy Łukasiewicz, whose kerosene lamp enabled the first documented night-time surgery; Napoleon Cybulski, discoverer of adrenaline; Ludwik Hirszfeld, co-creator of the ABO blood-group system; Rudolf Weigl, inventor of an effective typhus vaccine; Marie Skłodowska-Curie, twice a Nobel laureate and pioneer of radiotherapy; and Hilary Koprowski and Albert Sabin, whose oral polio vaccines saved millions of children worldwide. The article argues that Polish medicine’s contribution to global science is not a series of isolated episodes, but a continuous tradition, repeatedly obscured by partition, war, emigration, and what may be called the “dispersal of scientific identity”: the tendency of international scholarship to detach a researcher’s achievements from their national origin. Drawing on the Talmudic principle that whoever saves one life saves the entire world, the paper situates these biographies within a broader reflection on memory, identity, and the ethics of medical science.
Emergency Price Regulation as a Constitutional Problem: From Diocletian to the Polish People's Republic
This article offers a constitutional and institutional analysis of emergency price regulation through a structural comparison of two historically distinct interventions: the Edict on Maximum Prices issued by Emperor Diocletian in 301 CE and the system of official price controls and rationing introduced during martial law in the Polish People’s Republic (1981-1983). Rather than treating these episodes as isolated historical curiosities, the study conceptualizes them as manifestations of a recurring pattern of crisis governance. The central thesis is that emergency price regulation represents a form of normative substitution in which political authority attempts to replace decentralized coordination mechanisms with administrative command. Drawing on institutional economics, constitutional theory of emergency powers, and legal theory of systemic complexity, the article introduces the concept of “Regulatory Utopia” as an analytical framework for understanding structural misalignment between legal normativity and economic coordination. The findings demonstrate that while emergency intervention may temporarily stabilise political order, suppression of the informational function of prices generates informal adaptation, institutional misalignment, and long-term erosion of legitimacy. The comparative perspective reveals structural recurrence across divergent constitutional orders and highlights the limits of normative power in governing complex economic systems during crisis.
The Constitutional Right of Parents to Raise Their Children in the Face of Artificial Intelligence, Ideology, and Digital Education: the Metaverse as a new Educational Agent?
The research subject of this work is prospecting the answer to the question: Does the development of the artificial intelligence, immersive environments and paperless education lead to limitation or modification of the constitutional parental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children consistently with their value system? This study tests the hypothesis stating that, the rapid technological evolution in education formally does not abrogate parental rights regarding education and upbringing of their children in line with their value system, but significantly undermines its actual implementation, what calls for a fresh interpretation of constitutional duties to protect this right by the state and international organizations. In this study the following research methods were applied: a doctrinal legal research (analyzing the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, legal analysis of Statutes and European Union law), functional method (Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment, mainly the parental right to direct the upbringing of their children), comparative legal analysis (constitutional law – EU legislation), and the elements of the axiological analysis. Scope of research: Constitutional law of the Republic of Poland, Statutory law, EU regulations (AI Act), Constitutional Law scholarship and Law and Economics and the literature concerning educational processes in metaverse. The closing conclusion of the work is that the development of artificial intelligence, immersive environments and paperless education does not abrogate or transform parental rights regarding education and upbringing of their children in accordance with their value system. The realization of this right, however, necessitates new parental competencies and the assistance from an ideologically neutral state and international organizations, in particular the European Union.
Algorithmic Choice Architecture Reinforced by Influencer Messaging (Hypernudging Practice) as an Unfair Market Practice – Theoretical and Legal Reflections
The dynamic development of the digital economy has led to a transformation of mechanisms of influencing consumer decisions. Online platforms, using algorithmic choice architectures and behavioural data analysis, have transformed marketing communications into a system of continuous, adaptive influencing (hypernudging), which involves ongoing adjustment of nudges to user behaviour. This mechanism is reinforced by the interplay of platform infrastructure and influencer content, which complicates the unambiguous legal classification of the message. The continuous, personalized, and often secret nature of this influence increases the risk of violating consumer autonomy and engaging in manipulative practices, raising doubts about the adequacy of regulations in place. This article analyzes whether hypernudging practices can be classified as unfair market practices.
Accessibility of Buildings for People with Disabilities and Special Needs in the Light of the Provisions of the Building Regulations
This article addresses the issue of accessibility of buildings for people with disabilities and those with special needs in the light of the provisions of the Construction Law. The starting point for the discussion is the premise that accessibility constitutes one of the fundamental human rights, underpinned by provisions of the Polish Constitution as well as international and EU law. The study discusses the key legal acts governing this issue, including the Act on Ensuring Accessibility for People with Special Needs, technical and building regulations, and standards arising from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and European Union policies. The article analyses key concepts such as accessibility, architectural accessibility and universal design, highlighting their significance for shaping the built environment. The analysis showed that despite relatively extensive legal regulations, there are significant difficulties in their effective enforcement in practice. The most significant barriers include institutional constraints, organisational problems and insufficient public awareness. The conclusion highlights the need for systemic measures, encompassing both the strengthening of control mechanisms and the promotion of universal design, as well as the fostering of attitudes conducive to building an inclusive society.
Reliability and Operational Efficiency of Public Institutions in the Context of the So-Called Constitutional Crisis
Contemporary states face the challenge of addressing an ever-growing range of problems and crises, including, inter alia, the legal crisis concerning the enactment and application of law. The capacity to resolve this type of crisis is essential, as a defining feature of modern crises is their mutual permeability and overlap, with law occupying a central role. The constitutional crisis – being a function of multiple tendencies, phenomena and processes – may become an opportunity to address not only the legal crisis, but also, indirectly, other crises, given the role of law and the place of the constitution within contemporary multicentric legal systems. The primary objective of this study is to analyse the impact of the constitutional crisis on the functioning of public institutions. The authors also endeavour to demonstrate that the reliability and operational efficiency of public institutions, as referred to in the Preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, may provide an opportunity to overcome the multidimensional constitutional crisis, and subsequently the broader crisis of the state. Hence, a “pre-preambular” proposal for emerging from the constitutional crisis may serve as a point of reference for the legislature, judicial practice, and the daily work of civil servants, judges and public officials.
Convergence of Legal Grounds for Liquidation of Cooperatives
In doctrine, based on the analysis of legal events preceding liquidation, a basic distinction is made between the following types of cooperative liquidation: statutory liquidation, voluntary liquidation and compulsory liquidation. The legal grounds for the transition or placing of a cooperative into liquidation are exhaustively defined in cooperative law. The multitude of legal grounds for the liquidation of a cooperative may lead to a convergence of these grounds and, thus, to their competition, which, if possible, must be resolved.
The Subject Matter of the Right to Re-Use in Light of the Act on Open Data and Re-Use of Public Sector Information
One of the still underappreciated informational rights is the right to reuse information. The causes of this situation are diverse. In part, it stems from a lack of public awareness regarding the significance of information held by public institutions. The primary aim of this study is to define the subject matter of the right to reuse and to provide a detailed discussion of those categories of public sector information to which the legislator itself devotes particular attention. This pertains to open data, research data, dynamic data, and high-value data. A detailed examination of these categories of information will enable a determination of whether public sector information constitutes the sole type of data subject to processes regulated by the Act of 11 August 2021 on open data and the reuse of public sector information.
Some Notes on the (in)Coherence of Succession Law Regulations
Along with progressive socio-economic development, relevant legal regulations should undergo appropriate changes. A significant value of a legal system constructed in such a manner should be a certain minimum level of multidimensional consistency, both within a specific branch of regulation and across all branches of law that constitute the legal system. However, an analysis of current legislation clearly indicates that inheritance law – despite the pursuit of a uniform legal system – is an area where numerous incoherencies can be observed. These occur in the scope of interpretation and practice, competing values underlying the drafted provisions, and the objectives set for individual regulations. The aim of this paper is to identify examples supporting the thesis that the principle of the uniformity of the legal system is not always fully and consistently implemented by the legislator. The indicated discrepancies often lead to significant dysfunctions of legal provisions, which destabilize the system of protecting the rights of heirs and the legal relations shaped after the testator’s decease.
Church–State Relations in Georgia and Armenia and the Impact of this Relationship on the Process of Democratization
The aim of the present article is to compare church–state relations in Georgia and Armenia and to demonstrate the influence of this relationship upon the process of democratisation. To this end, the article identifies seven principal spheres of public life in which these relationships manifest themselves. These spheres are: 1) the legislative framework; 2) the political-cultural environment; 3) the educational policy of the churches; 4) the context of religious consciousness and cultural identity markers; 5) social and civic activism; 6) foreign policy orientation as a force of normative attraction; and 7) the influence of the diaspora as a determining factor of internal social pluralism. Beyond demonstrating the similarities and differences between the processes unfolding in the two countries, the article also specifies the positive and negative dimensions deriving from these relationships upon the process of democratisation – a process characterised by non-linearity and encountering constant resistance. However, notwithstanding the ambiguous and complex character of the democratisation process in both countries, it is not sterily demarcated from the other, and by virtue of their immediate geographical proximity and cultural-social affinity they exert mutual influence upon one another. It is for this reason that, on the basis of the present analysis, the article endeavours to demonstrate wherein the factor of mutual influence resides and where it may be discerned.
The Centenary of a Registered Pledge. On the History, Present and Future of Rights in rem Securing Debts
First of all, this article is devoted to the institution of a registered pledge, which is discussed from the perspective of historical analysis considering the centenary of its creation and implementation in the Polish legal system. It presents the genesis of the solutions applied so far, including a number of registered pledges introduced into the Polish legal system in the 1920s, such as, in particular, a timber pledge, an agricultural pledge, a pledge on machinery and devices and a registered pledge on motor vehicles. Secondly, applying a legal-dogmatic and comparative method, it analyses the court-registered pledge in force to date as a way of securing debts, the mechanism for establishing the pledge, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the solutions applied so far. The shortcomings include, among others, the existence of two parallel registers, one for court-registered contractual pledges and the other for fiscal pledges. Thirdly, the article points out the directions of the development of registered pledges from an international perspective. It postulates that for registered rights and items, i.e. those for which registers are maintained, the laws governing rights in rem as defined by Polish Private International Law should be the laws of the state of registry. It discusses the regulations of the 2001 Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and argues for the creation of a single, universal international pledge register, in which pledges could be entered directly, upon their establishment. An alternative option is to create a database of registered pledges already established in the national registers of individual states and then to retrieve (import or feed) this information to include it in a single international register using AI.
Challenges in the Process of Technology Transfer from Higher Education and Science to Business, with Particular Emphasis on the Need to Valorize Knowledge
There is no doubt that science is the foundation of all developments. According to politicians, Polish research centers have great potential in terms of competent staff and advanced research infrastructure for creating new technologies that our entrepreneurs can turn into finished products. But is this really the case? What conditions in the technology transfer process do the European Union pay attention to? What should we do to ensure that both commercialization and valorization of knowledge are effective? Technology transfer is a complex process that involves many challenges, such as uncertainty, changes in the environment, associated costs, time constraints, effective communication, institutional and structural barriers, lack of understanding between engineers and lawyers, and, finally, legal, economic and cultural constraints. This article presents the legal, economic and cultural challenges associated with technology transfer, as well as ideas from the European Union to support this process and make it more effective.
Remarks on the Proposed Amendments to the Provisions of the Civil Code with Regard to the Requirements for the Validity and Effectiveness of an Oral Will
An oral will remains one of the most commonly employed forms of testamentary disposition in practice. Owing to the overly liberal formulation of the requirements governing its validity and effectiveness, it is particularly susceptible to manipulation: instances of forgery and distortion are frequent, and in some cases the very expression of the testator’s intent concerning the disposition of property upon death is effectively fabricated. Despite recurring de lege ferenda proposals within the doctrine advocating the repeal of Article 952 of the Polish Civil Code, the advanced progress of legislative work on the amendment of the provisions governing testamentary form indicates that the oral will, as a special will, is likely to be preserved. The criticisms directed at the existing normative framework have prompted a thorough modification of the requirements for both the validity and the effectiveness of an oral will. The circumstances permitting the making of such a will have been restricted, and the mechanisms for establishing its content have been significantly altered. The possibility of making an oral will, will be restricted to cases arising from extraordinary and sudden circumstances as a result of which compliance with an ordinary form of will is either impossible or excessively hindered, while a fear of the testator’s imminent death exists concurrently. The content of such a will is to be established by the reduction of the testator’s declaration to writing by one of the witnesses and by its subsequent signature by the witnesses and the testator themselves. An entirely novel element will consist in allowing the testator’s declaration to be recorded on a durable data storage medium by means of a device capable of recording both image and sound.
Special Procedural Measures in Intellectual Property Cases: Core Principles and Issues
This article examines the legal nature, structure, and function of special procedural measures in intellectual property cases under the Polish Code of Civil Procedure. These measures – preservation of evidence, disclosure or production of evidence, and requests for information – constitute an autonomous procedural framework shaped by the holistic character of IP law and by the principle of relative autonomy. The study clarifies the statutory concept of an ‘IP case’ and its significance for determining the scope of these measures. It argues that they are forms of judicial protection, not subjective rights, and that their application depends on procedural and substantive grounds provided for the Code while remaining constrained by proportionality and the need to balance fundamental rights. The analysis highlights interpretative challenges and stresses the importance of systemic and purposive reasoning, especially in the context of EU law.
Between Freedom of Speech and Disinformation: the Crisis of Public Debate in a Mediatized Society
This article analyzes the tension between freedom of speech and disinformation in the context of public debate in the information society. Its aim is to demonstrate that the source of contemporary communication problems is not freedom of speech itself, but its treatment as an absolute value, detached from any reference to truth. The analysis, conducted from a normative and axiological perspective, shows that in this framework, freedom of speech ceases to fulfill its cognitive and community-building functions, and the communicative space is transformed into an environment conducive to the spread of disinformation. Consequently, this leads to an increase in information overload and a decline in the quality of public debate. The article argues that restoring the relationship between freedom of speech and truth is a prerequisite for preserving the cognitive and social functions of communication.
Out-of-Court Resolution of Consumer Disputes in Tourism – Theoretical and Legal Issues
The article presents the results of a study devoted to the issue of implementing in tourism the obligation of to inform travellers about the possibility of using alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods in cases where the dispute arises from non-performance or improper performance of a contract for participation in a package travel. This obligation was introduced by Article 42(4)(5) of the Act of November 24, 2017, on package travel and linked travel arrangements. This provision obliges tour operators to provide travellers with whom they conclude package travel contracts with information on the possibility of using alternative dispute resolution methods. Observation of the package travel market shows that despite the long-standing validity of this provision, knowledge about the possibility of using ADR is not widespread. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to obtain a general picture of the functioning of ADR in tourism and to disseminate information about it, thereby improving the awareness of tour operators and consumers regarding the possibilities of using ADR methods of consumer dispute resolution in Poland.
The in-house pastor of a parish, who exercises pastoral care for the community entrusted to him under the authority of the diocesan bishop, is the pastor. The diocesan bishop is to be concerned with securing the continuity of pastoral care in the parish in the event of a vacancy or inability to fulfill the pastoral ministry of the pastor. The article presents the canonical institutions of pastor and parish administrator and their relationship to each other. An attempt is made to answer the following questions-problems: what are the prerequisites for the appointment of a parish administrator? What rights and duties a parish administrator has? and what is the difference between the legal institution of pastor and parish administrator?
Customs Services of the Papal States in the 19th Century
This article presents the activities of the Papal Customs Service in the 19th century. This service consisted of civil officials and a military corps known as Truppa di Finanza (Finance Troop), was established in 1786 by Card. Ruffo, the Papal States’ Treasurer General, to combat rampant smuggling. The main customs posts of the Papal States were located in the free ports of Ancona and Civitavecchia, in the city of Ferrara and in Rome. It should be noted that customs regulations were not uniform throughout the country. The practice of smuggling inflicted significant harm upon the Papal States, which had adopted a protectionist stance, entailing the imposition of taxes on foreign goods to promote domestic production. A special procedure was adopted to facilitate the discovery of cases of smuggling or corruption.
Extrajudicial Roman Penal Process of the Declaration of Excommunication: Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s Case
In 2024, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, having received the necessary mandate from the Roman Pontiff, conducted a criminal process of the Most Reverend Carlo Maria Viganò. The Archbishop was accused of the crime of schism under Canons 751 and 1364 of the CIC/83. The accusation concerned breaking communion with Pope Francis and denying the Second Vatican Council’s magisterium and was mainly based on his public statements posted online. The criminal process was conducted extrajudicially in light of Canon 1720 of the CIC/83 and the 2021 Normae de delictis. It concluded with the decree of July 4, 2024, which was issued by the Disciplinary Section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. As a result, the Dicastery declared excommunication against the Archbishop, the censure which he had incurred by virtue of the law itself.