The institution of the child’s hearing in the light of the Polish Constitution (selected issues)

The subject of this article is the analysis of the institution of the child hearing provided for in Art. 72 (3) of the Polish Constitution. The right of a child to be heard is one of the fundamental rights of a child and is part of child’s right to protection in legal proceedings concerning it. The publication presents the concept of a child itself, which is defined in various ways due to the lack of one universal, system-wide definition of a child, and also presents an example catalog of matters falling under the constitutional premise – “establishing children’s rights”. The group of entities obliged to hear a child, such as generally accepted public authorities and persons responsible for the child, were also introduced. The introduction of the above-mentioned concepts made it possible to assume that the institution of hearing the child is necessary to ensure the fundamental rights of the child and as an element of its right to protection in legal proceedings concerning it.

Confessional Secrecy in Criminal, Civil and Administrative Cases as a Condition for the Implementation of the Constitutional Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion

The text is devoted to the issue of protection of the secret of confession provided on the basis of criminal trial, civil and administration process. This secret is the immanent element of the rites of persons exercising their freedom of conscience and religion under Art. 53 sec. 1 of the Constitution. Freedom of conscience and religion is one of the most important. The differences in the approach to clergy witnesses and possible solutions for the unification of mechanisms governing their interrogation were presented.