Problems of Formation and Development of Statehood of the Republic of Karakalpakstan

This article is a study of the statehood of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, its integration with Uzbekistan and the problems faced by the Karakalpak national movements. The study can be considered relevant and innovative, since the problems of Karakalpakstan are insufficiently studied in the Polish and European scientific community. The development of relations with the countries of Central Asia, which have large reserves of natural resources, including oil and gas, is one of the priorities of the foreign policy of the European Union. Therefore, the study of regional problems and prediction of possible military-political conflicts in this region of the world, and how to respond to them, is of particular relevance to the political sciences.

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act, which entered into force in 2011, introduced completely new regulations on the dissolution of Parliament and the duration of its mandate. It repealed the royal prerogative under which the queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister, had the power to dissolve Parliament at any time, which would ultimately lead to parliamentary elections. Despite the introduction of a fixed parliamentary term, constitutional practice, in particular the precedents of 2017 and 2019, have shown that the fundamental objectives of the new act, i.e. to ensure the stability of governments and to prevent the Prime Minister’s manipulation of the election date for political gain, can be easily undermined. This article attempts to analyze and evaluate the functioning to date of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 in the UK constitutional system and to examine the possible implications of repealing the Act for the functioning of the UK Constitution.

The aim of the article is to indicate the prevalent features of the Polish process of constitutional and systemic changes in Poland in 1989-1997. It was assumed that the Polish process of constitutionalization was characterized by a number of specific features which were interrelated and dependent on each another. The aim of the paper is to recognize the phased character of the changes as the first feature of the political transformation process in Poland, whereas compromise should be regarded as its basic attribute. Other specific features (presented in the subsequent parts of the article) include: evolutionary, temporary, and pragmatic nature of the process.

The article concerns the dilemmas of building Polish constitutional identity after 1989. The hypothesis assumes that after the initial twenty years of consolidation and Europeanization of constitutional democracy, there was an attempt at undermining the adopted political order. The policy of the ruling camp after 2015 is a striking proof of this crisis.

The subject of the article is an analysis of the impact of the constitutional principle of social justice on the understanding of the principle of equity in civil law and, consequently, on the practical application of regulations that contain the general clause governing the principles of social coexistence. Assuming a universal nature of the axiological basis of the legal system in Poland, and the radiation of constitutional principles and values onto statutory law, the author, using a method involving analytical and functional analysis of legal texts and court rulings, comes to the conclusion that adjudication in civil cases should, to some extent, in addition to protection of individual rights and interests, concern the protection of social interests.

The paper presents four problems which constitute the most important problems related to the functioning of local government in Poland. The first issue concerns the unfinished reform of the political system. The author finds that the legislator did not implement fully the assumptions concerning the creation and functioning of local governments which are determined in the provisions of the Polish Constitution of 1997. In consequence, a contemporary political system is full of internal contradictions and does not function properly. Next, it was indicated in the work that the legislator interferes too much in the independence of local government units. Too many acts, which regulate duties and procedures, limit the autonomy of local government bodies which should determine their duties and objectives and allocate financial resources to their implementation. Third, the author finds that the permanent underfinancing of local government units poses a very serious problem. The system of financing is outdated and does not correspond to contemporary needs of local communities, which results in a decrease in investments and development and an increase in debt. Finally, the article discusses the issue of excessive politicization of local governments. The author finds that transferring political disputes from the central level to the local one is very detrimental and has a negative influence on the development and functioning of local governments.

The article concerns the issues of state security both in legal terms and from the perspective of security science. In the first part, it presents a proposal for understanding the concept of state security based on the Polish Constitution. The article is also a contribution to the discussion on the correctness of terminology relating to the analyzed issue. The second part concerns the analysis of a new military phenomenon which is a hybrid war. The purpose of the considerations is to show its impact on state security.

The regulations concerning the definition of the official language at the constitutional level have not been unified in the constitutions of European Union countries. The importance of a language, the level of its protection, and care for the language are immanently connected with the cultural awareness of a given nation, its historical conditions, national aspirations, and other factors allowing to distinguish it from other subjects. The number of languages used in individual regions of the EU depends on social migrations, the uniformity of nationalities, historical conditions, as well as the level and directions of patriotic aspirations in a given society. Therefore, the attempts to impose on the members of the EU the adoption of the unified solutions, which de facto imply - in the case of most of them - the need to amend the constitution, is a demand that now seems completely unfeasible.

The Constitution - the Basic Law is the foundation of the organization in a given country. It defines the general principles of the functioning of internal relations, the competences of its most important elements, and the fundamental rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen2. And the strategy can be perceived as the general outlines of the actions of competent leaders determining the far-reaching aim. It is characterized by a long-term strategic perspective, combining the set of with the strive for solutions that are beneficial not only for themselves, their surroundings, and supporters but also for the paradigm of the common good. Societies during, or immediately after the conflict, seek stabilization. That can be ensured by actions based on a strategy that takes into account the fundamental principles of internal relations. Combining those two paradigms, the Constitution, taking into account the rights of minorities, guaranteeing civil liberties and human rights, may be the basic factor of the strategy of the competent leader, aiming to post-conflict stabilization.

The implementation of the constitutional right of citizens to obtain information about the activities of state authorities, in particular, in the sphere of state security, causes many problems resulting from the application of the Act on the Protection of Classified Information. The measures adopted in the Act, promoting the rights of the community at the expense of the rights of individuals, pose a risk of its instrumental use for political purposes. The reduction of the above-mentioned risk may be supported by a minor correction of the regulations in force, as postulated by the author of the article, which includes an increase in external supervision over the marking of materials containing information intended for protection, which does not undermine the grounds for restricting the transparency of public activities, permitted by the international law and by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, and required from the perspective of public safety. The conclusion is that it is difficult to be optimistic about this area due to the observed reluctance of the ruling elites to voluntarily abandon the tools that give them an advantage in public communication.

The problem of discrepancies in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court regarding the transcription of a foreign birth certificates of a children of same-sex couples in the light of the Constitution of the Republic od Poland of 2nd April 1997

In recent years, refusal to transcribe birth certificates of children of same-sex couples has increasingly become the subject of decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Supreme Court. This extremely current and at the same time complicated legal problem has been subjected in this study to a multifaceted study. The interpretation of the provisions regulating the issue of birth certificates allowed to define their place in the process of creating the child`s identity. On the other hand, the analysis of the case law made in the second part of the article made it possible to indicate specific consequences of the refusal to transfer foreign birth certificate to the national register of marital status. The most important and at the same time the most extensive part of the considerations is, however, the reference of the legal effects of the adopted solutions to the basic constitutional and international principles and values. Such a broad approach to the problem provided the basis for formulating final conclusions as to the rightness of the actions taken by the Polish state to protect the domestic legal order.

Admissibility of transcription of birth certificate of a samesex parents’ child – remarks within the context of the most recent case-law of the Supreme Administrative Court

This paper is an attempt to critically analyze the jurisprudence of Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court on transcription of a foreign birth certificate of a child of same-sex parents and it aims to present a decisive scientific position on this major issue. The subject being discussed, requires the adoption of a systemic and functional perspective during the scrupulous exegesis of the legal text and a particular consideration should be given to the inclusion of the constitutional norms in the process of examining the admissibility of this type of transcription. Therefore, this article comprises dogmatic references to the constitutional concept of family, parenthood and the scope of legal protection guaranteed by the relevant normative contents (including those firmly axiologised), as well as a commentary on selected provisions from a sub-constitutional level. A comprehensive analysis of the issue of transcription of the present category of birth certificates, taking into account the various normative levels, has led to the conclusion that the Supreme Administrative Courts’ thesis – which is boiled down to the recognition that there is a basic principle (that underpin the operation of polish legal system) which absolutely precludes transcription of a foreign birth certificate where same-sex people are entered as childs’ parents – does not deserve approval. Contrary to the presented view of jurisprudence, such a ban – for various reasons mentioned in the text – cannot be derived from the Polish law system.

Constitutive and Conventional Provenance of Law to Fair Consideration of Case (Right to a Fair Trial)

The text is devoted to the problem of the right to a fair trial, which the Polish legislator recognizes as the one of the most important civil rights and liberties. The constitutive and conventional lineage of this right was indicated. It is noted in the text that this right can only be excercised in a state that recognizes the tripartite division of power as well as in situation in which common judiciary is based on four fundamental foundations such as jurisdiction to hear a case of a given type, impartiality, independent in legal, organisational and decision-making terms.

The One-in, One-out Principle as the Limit of Legislative Interference into the Sphere of Freedom of Economic Activity

The article deals with the issue of the limit of legislative interference in the sphere of freedom of economic activity, defined by the one-in, one-out principle, introduced at the turn of 2010 and 2011 in Great Britain, in relation to the issue of restricting the freedom of economic activity in the light of art. 22 and art. 31 s. 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997.

Constitutional Oversight of Government Surveillance in the United States

The aim of the article is the analysis of constitutional oversightof the government surveillance in the United States. Referring to Snowden affair and COVID-19 surveillance, the Author discusses the challenges faced by the legislative and judicial branches in pursuing control over the executive’s national security policies. Focusing on the rule of secrecy and other constitutional doctrines and privileges, he tries to explain why effective control of government surveillance is today impossible.

100 years of defining the Polish model of “separation” of the judiciary – what we had, what we have and what we might want to have

The subject of the study is an analysis of over a hundred years of practice defining the role and political position of courts in Poland. The verification will be subject to compliance in the practice of exercising power not only with constitutional provisions (or indicating the reasons and consequences of their omission), but also with other regulations that accompany the creation and application of specific legal solutions in the context of guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary. At the same time, the assessment of the adopted solutions in terms of respect for the standards developed by international bodies for the protection of individual freedoms and rights and EU bodies was taken into account.

Security problem in selected polish constitutions

The Republic of Poland is a democratic state ruled by law, and the normative basis of its functioning is legal acts of the highest order – the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997. The Basic Law has the highest rank and force among all sources of universally binding law. In the constitution, the legislator granted certain norms the status of constitutional principles, which are fulfilled by the function of program norms while being the basis for the interpretation of other regulations. Among the constitutional principles, the obligation to ensure the safety of citizens was distinguished. The article in general presents the problem of security not only in the currently binding constitution, but also in selected other Polish constitutions.

Human rights in the constitutions of selected European countries

Nowadays human rights are an essential part of constitutional regulations in the European countries. The very first universal regulation based on the rights of every citizen, was The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen set in 1789. Analysed constitutions of France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Latvia, Bohemia, Slovakia and Poland point to the developments of rights of individuals through expanding these rights from the rights of the citizens to the rights of every person on the territory of a particular country. Obviously, the rights concerning exclusively the citizens of a particular country, like for example the right to vote, have still been maintained. A modern catalogue of rights and freedoms of individuals is abundant and expanded by, for example, the right to the constitutional complaint or the right to a clear environment. Nowadays the human rights standards are widely recognised though not always respected. This results from the legal and political practise, in which the scope of the rights of individuals is still being narrowed. One of the reasons are ideological and political changes in particular countries, which are being enforced with the development of civilisation and technology.

A few remarks on the political position of the Argentine National Congress

The content of these short reflections contained in the article is the issue of the political position of the Argentine National Congress. In it, the author analyzes those regulations of the constitution which define the place and role of the lrgislative body within the presidential system of government. It focuses primarily on presenting the status of the parliament in the light of constitutional principles of the system in particular the principle of separation of powers. He then points to the mutual relations between the National Congress and the executive branch which are decisive for the effective status of the federal parliament. At the same time, he tries to show the impact of the 1994 revision of the constitution on the political position of the National Congress, which resulted in the introduction of certain elements of the parliamentary system of government into the political system of Argentina.

This article aims to analyze disputes and discussions on the powers of the President of the Republic, which have been happening since the establishment of the Czech Republic in 1993. These occurred when the President tried to interpret the provisions of the Constitution, took actions beyond their framework, or considered that his powers did not impose an obligation to act automatically. The disputes over the President’s powers were, therefore, not the result of theoretical discussions on the constitutional order of the Czech Republic, but were the result of the President’s involvement in the political life of the country, and above all, the decisions that did not correspond to the opinions and actions of the government. Disputes did not have an impact on a permanent change in the constitutional order. For example, there was no reason for an amendment to the Constitution that would extend, restrict, or clarify those powers.