During the last decade the separatist activities of the Catalan nationalists have intensified. Despite the enactment of the Statute of Autonomy in 2006, extending the existing autonomy of the Autonomous Community, Catalonia’s governing political parties strived for total independence. In view of the consistent attitude of the central government in Madrid refusing any concessions on the extension of autonomy or independence, the Autonomous Government of Catalonia (Generalitat) appealed to the institutions of direct democracy, calling twice for a Catalan referendum on independence. In both cases, the Spanish Constitutional Court declared the referendum unlawful. In spite of this, Catalonia declared independence after the referendum of October 1st, 2017, although the effects of the declaration were also suspended – a situation so far unknown to law.

Law Regulation Of Scottish Independence Referendum

The study is the issue of independence referendum on the example of Scotland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The author presents the story of the turbulent relationship of Scotland and England, which was marked by the nation’s long-standing aspirations of independence for Scotland. The main subject of discussion is the legal regulation conducted on 18 September 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, which is also basis for appeals to the solutions used in other similar referendums. Particularly important is the proper definition of persons determining by voting on the future of territory seeking independence, which should be quite broad. He also advocates preparation of an international convention to regulate the principle of the independence referenda or at least recommendations in this regard.

The main purpose of this article is to analyze the situation of modern Tibet, which political and legal structures are divided into the Central Tibetan Administration in India and the Tibet Autonomous Region in China. What connects them is a developing national identity of the Tibetans and the actions taken by the Central Tibetan Administration to create a new and independent state. Of great importance for the specificity of politics and the shaping of Tibetan national identity are also activities of the 14th Dalai Lama, who internationally promotes Tibetan culture and informs about the situation of Tibetans living in the Tibet Autonomous Region in China.
Dalai Lama is also the author of the draft constitution of the future state of Tibet, which content is a basis of the analysis in this article. Due to the comprehensive presentation and explanation of the specifics of this project, we will analyze not only particular articles, but also the introduction that we can consider as preamble. Thanks to this, it will be possible to show the relationship between political, legal and religious issues that make up the visions of the new state of Tibet.
This article is divided into two related parts. The first one is connected with national identity and independence of Tibet. The second part is focused on democratization of Tibet and relation between religion and politics.

The attitudes of Poles in Russia to the Act of 5th November of 1916

This publication is dedicated to the response of Poles living in Russia during WWI to the Act of 5th November declared by Germany and Austria-Hungary. An analysis has been carried out on articles written by journalists and primarily democratic as well as national-democratic politicians in selected Polish newspapers published in Russia during WWI.

Czechs and Slovaks on the road to an independent state (1914–1918)

The following article describes the struggle of Czechs and Slovaks for independent Czechoslovakia during World War I and explains why Austria-Hungary could not survive.

Češi a Slováci na cestě do samostatného státu (1914–1918)

The reasons for success or failure in establishing states after WWI: Poland and Czechoslovakia versus the Ukraine

The main goal of this paper is to show the crucial facts which led to the establishment at the end of the First World War of two sovereign states: the First Czechoslovak Republic and the Second Polish Republic. An attempt has also been made to provide background information on the reasons why the Ukraine did not gain independence in the time in question.

Příčiny úspěchu nebo neúspěchu v budování států po I. světové válce: Polsko a Československo versus Ukrajina

The text below is an attempt to describe circumstances of emerging and further phases of development of the Republic of Estonia with particular attention focused on geopolitical conditions of political, economic and social processes shaping the country and having impact on its international image. Depicting respective periods in the history of Estonia and conducting an analysis of the contemporary Republic of Estonia, the author of the article describes the way that this small Baltic state successfully made to become a modern digital state.

Od roku 2011 Szkocka Partia Narodowa prowadzi działania zmierzające do wystąpienia Szkocji ze Zjednoczonego Królestwa. Artykuł przedstawia koncepcje SNP i kolejnych rządów szkockich w dziedzinie polityki obronnej, odpowiadając na pytania, jaką rolę kwestie obronności odgrywają w ich planach oraz, czy realizacja tych planów umożliwi Szkocji zbudowanie sił zbrojnych dostosowanych do długofalowej polityki zagranicznej tego państwa, zmieniającej się sytuacji międzynarodowej oraz nowych zagrożeń.

Polish journalism towards the independence transformations in Ukraine in 1988 – 1994

Ukraine, as a prominent republic of the Soviet Union, and – after disintegration of the USSR – a sovereign country playing a significant role in the geopolitics of the Central Eastern Europe, has been an important object of Polish journalists’ interest. The analysis of the texts and comments in the Polish press between 1988 and 1994 about emancipation transformations in Ukraine and social, political and economic issues of this country in the first period of its independence leads to conclusion that the public discussion participants have had positive and corroborative attitude towards the emancipation of the Ukrainians. Providing opportunities and threats in achieving the actual and solid independence of that republic the commentators express their opinions carefully. As the main obstacles they stress the imperialist ambitions of Russia, the problem of maintaining the territorial integrity of the state, the economic crisis related to the collapse of the Soviet economy and the consequences of exercising power by the post Soviet party apparatus representatives. The publicists claim, the first period of Ukrainian’s independence closed the conversion of Ukraine to the integration with Russia.

The Syntactic-Chronological Structure of Article 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and the Independence of the State in Relation to other Values of This Provision

The subject of consideration is the logical analysis of Art. 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which, with its scope of norms, covers the fundamental obligations of the State. The political-legal approach to this issue includes a reflection on whether the syntactic-chronological structure of Art. 5 states that the independence of the state is more important than the security of individuals/citizens, because by maintaining independence the state can ensure the security of the individual. The article uses the sentence analysis methods of formal logic, formal-dogmatic, systemic and institutional-legal analysis. The analysis shows that, from a logical point of view, the overriding values are independence and the associated inviolability of territory, from which the possibility of the state’s existence is derived. All other values are subordinate to the independence of the state, because without it they do not exist.