This paper analyzes how the approach of the European Union to the protection of fundamental rights evolved. It focuses on primary legislation, which ranks highest in the hierarchy of EU sources of law. For this purpose, the author examines the Founding Treaties, the Reform Treaties, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The paper focuses on modifying the Treaties due to the complexity of the subject matter. The considerations discussed in this paper set the ground for the outline of the formation of a multi-level system of human rights protection in the European Union, as well as for the presentation of the current state of the law, which undoubtedly constitutes an important contribution to the regulation of the issue discussed.

The issue of vetting has for many years stirred up much emotion in Poland and is closely related to the process of decommunization. In the history of the Third Republic of Poland, lustration was the cause of serious political crises, an example of which was the dismissal of the government of Jan Olszewski. A breakthrough event was adopting the lustration law in 1997, which laid the groundwork for a reliable approach to lustration in Poland. Despite the passage of years and amendments to the regulations, it still seems necessary to amend the law to comply with constitutional rights, such as the right to due process, the right to be heard, the right to defense, and the presumption of innocence. The article indicates the problems related to vetting and reports changes on the example of vetting by Kazimierz Kujda.

The article attempts to confront the individual’s constitutional right to informational autonomy and the powers of the Police in the framework of which the service may collect and process personal data. Bearing in mind the paramount role of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and its special importance for the sphere of rights and freedoms, the key regulations devoted to the right to privacy and the possibility of limiting informational autonomy were referred to. Treating the constitutional content as fundamental in the relationship between the individual and the state authorities, they were referred to the powers of the Police based on which the service may legally interfere in the information sphere of the individual. It was also stressed that the multiplicity of powers and the expansion of their catalog make it necessary to pay more attention to applying the proportionality mechanism.

The term ‘human rights’ is used to describe the rights of every person, regardless of their nationality or social position. In the doctrine, the term is also understood differently as the material, social and cultural premises of human independence. Both the concept and the content of the principle of sustainable development are the subject of a broad debate involving representatives of different scientific disciplines, publicists, and politicians representing different options. The authors of the article analyze the principle of sustainable development in the context of human rights. From the text of Art. 5 of the Constitution, it can be deduced that the principle of sustainable development in this layer is a human and civil right, broader than the law, relating to living in an uncontaminated environment. The core of the concept of sustainable development, which is not sufficiently emphasized due to its “appropriation” by ecologists and its complexity unduly perceived by lawyers, is that it formulates rights for future generations. The perception of these rights by the creators of the Polish Constitution, both in its preamble and in its Article 5, should be considered momentous and anticipating its creation.

Cyberspace seems to be ubiquitous. It coexists with the real world and it constitutes its coded zero-one reflection. However, it deprives us of privacy, our constitutional right. Even more, the modern technology allows our fingerprint to be traced forever. Problems with maintaining online privacy in the face of the phenomenon of identity theft for criminal purposes, or the use of our data for property purposes in the broadly understood internet marketing.

The article aims to discuss the European standards concerning the freedom of association of armed forces personnel. Relevant norms in this regard result from human rights treaty law but also from soft-law elaborated within the Council of Europe. The authors juxtapose the existing standards with the scope of the freedom of association provided in Polish Constitution of 1997 and relevant domestic law. They ask whether the armed forces personnel need to form and join trade unions to secure their rights or perhaps the existing forms of exercising the freedom of association are satisfactory? The authors conclude that the current legal solutions in Poland meet the European and constitutional standards, and allow the Polish Armed Forces to observe neutrality regarding political matters. Nevertheless, the prohibition to form and join trade unions in Polish armed forces is of statutory rather than constitutional origin.

Constitutional Reform in Kyrgyzstan. Challenges and Threats to Democracy and the Rule of Law

The collapse of the USSR in 1991 led to the emergence of five independent states in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. Four of them established an authoritarian form of government, while Kyrgyzstan became the only democratic state in the region. This may change after the referendum on constitutional reform, which is scheduled for 2021. The amendments to the Constitution provide for the extension of the president’s powers, which, according to many Kyrgyz researchers, may lead to the transformation of Kyrgyzstan into an authoritarian state. This article presents the results of the analysis of the draft amendment to the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic initiated by the new president of the country, Sadyr Japarov.

Policy of Poland Towards Development of the International Refugee Protection System in Light of the Polish Constitutional Framework

The article aims at exploring the relationship between constitutional framework regulating conduct of Polish public authorities on the international fora and the observed actions of these authorities with regards to international endeavour to enhance the functioning of the international refugee protection system. The dogmatic approach has been applied in order to examine scope and content of relevant norms pertaining to the problem in question. Moreover, findings of political science were utilized to establish some of the motives as well as consequences of the said actions of the government and to confront them with relevant constitutional norms. Position of Polish national authorities towards development of international refugee protection system has been appraised in light of the Constitution. The Author expresses a conviction that, in light of the said position, the values expressly affirmed by the Constitution are not accounted for in a satisfactory degree.

The Idea of Human Dignity as a Justification of the Right to the Environment

The problem of environmental protection is perhaps the most important challenge facing man today. On the legal level, this issue is expressed, inter alia, in the discussion on recognition of the right to the environment. This problem is widely discussed and poses a challenge both in the field of international and constitutional law. The work presents the key regulations of both international environmental law and the constitutions of various countries. This allowed for the recognition of the role and significance of the concept of the dignity of the individual, which, underpinning the international system of human rights protection, also plays an important role in environmental regulations. The thesis was formulated that, despite many doubts, the dignity of the individual stands for the idea that combines environmental protection issues with the concept of human rights.

Neuralink - Coercion or Possibility? State’s Attitude to “Improvements” on the Example of Neural Implants

The development of technology such as neural chips prompts reflection on the state’s attitude to such and similar improvements, taking into account the legal possibilities of influencing citizens. The basis for considerations is the taxonomy of G.Cohen’s improvements and the standards of limiting rights and freedoms expressed in the ECtHR and the Polish Constitution. The aim of the article is to answer the following research question: do constitutional norms allow for the obligatory use of neural chips by citizens? The analysis was carried out both for the general public and selected social groups.The effect of the analysis has an impact on the future perception of the relationship between the state and the individual in connection with social changes resulting from the development of technology. The key to the presented and future considerations related to the place of improvement in the legal system is its impact on positional or absolute goods.

The Constitutional Moral and Material Rights of Creators of Science de lege lata and de lege ferenda. Structural Issues in the Context of a Universal System of Protecting Human Rights

This paper focuses on analysing the relationship between intellectual property law and human rights in point of view protecting the moral and material interests of the creators of intangible goods. The paper aims to determine whether the catalogue of human rights includes the subjective right of the creators of intangible goods to protect their personal and material rights to the fruits of their intellectual work and reconstruct the content of this right. The considerations are carried out from the background of the Polish and universal system of protecting human rights and the legal requirement to provide adequate protection to the creators of Science. The paper concludes that the catalogue of human rights includes the subjective right of the creators of intangible goods to protect their moral and material interests and reconstruct the content of that right.

Ochrona grup wymagających szczególnego traktowania w orzecznictwie Sądu Konstytucyjnego Litwy

Orzecznictwo Litewskiego Sądu Konstytucyjnego miało istotny wpływ na wzmocnienie demokracji, praworządności i stabilności porządku konstytucyjnego na Litwie. Fundamentem każdego demokratycznego państwa, gdzie jest ważna praworządność, jest poszanowanie praw człowieka. Ponadto często podkreśla się, że sytuacja najsłabszych członków społeczeństwa odzwierciedla rzeczywisty poziom postępu i demokracji w danym państwie. Dlatego artykuł ten ma na celu ukazanie, w jaki sposób Sąd Konstytucyjny na Litwie przyczynił się do wzmocnienia ochrony osoby należącej do grupy osób wymagających szczególnego traktowania.

It is clear that the prohibition of discrimination and the principle of equality are one of the most important principles of human rights. Today, since the number of discrimination issues has increased in the usual flow of life, the matter of how far the valid law can protect individual, who constitutes the core of the society from discrimination is controversial. In Turkish Constitution, there is no independent article which orders the prohibition of discrimination. Cases which relate to the discrimination are considered with the principle of equality in Article 10. The scope of the present paper is to show how the prohibition of discrimination is embodied in Turkish Constitutional Court’s approach and its historical background. Secondarily, the Turkish Constitutional Court’s approach regarding these issues are emphasized and to what extent the decisions given by the Turkish Constitutional Court are similar to the decisions given by ECHR are argued. Comparative and historical method will be used in this paper.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a determinant of the operation of state institutions whose activity was focused on ensuring state’s capacity to exercise its functions and at the same time on efforts to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2. These challenges were the same for all European (and non-European) countries, albeit the methods of limiting the transmission of the virus and of minimising its negative consequences varied depending on the strategy adopted. The paper focuses on an analysis of its impact on how parliamentary elections in Serbia are organized and held. The author intentionally omits circumstances that accompany regional (to the parliament of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina) and local elections held in parallel.

Importance of the 2005 Constitution of the Republic of Iraq as a Result of the Operation “Iraqi Freedom”

The adoption of a constitution is usually a breakthrough event, initiating a new reality for a given community, although it often becomes only a meaningless document, the provisions of which are ignored by the rulers, irrelevant or even unknown to the society. The armed operation of the Coalition Forces under the political and military leadership of the US, which lasted from 2003 to 2010, creates an important context for the constitution of the Republic of Iraq, which was implemented in December 2005. Therefore, it is important to place this constitution against the background of events and other documents of this rank in Iraq. Only in such a context can the significance of this fundamental law be properly assessed. For this purpose, a source analysis of both the text of the Constitution of 2005 and previous documents of a similar rank in Iraq was carried out, as well as an analysis of the political and military situation and the changing internal socio-political conditions in order to place this legal act in the right context.

Social Exclusion and Constitutional Determinants of Human Dignity

The purpose of this study is to refer (relativize) constitutionally determined human dignity to human rights and to demonstrate social exclusion against this background. The scholarly supposition that the category of social exclusion does not have an independent character and that deriving de lege lata the right to protection against social exclusion is premature was given the form of a research hypothesis. Its confirmation or falsification will be done in the shadow of the assumption according to which exclusion should be considered in a two-way fashion: as social exclusion and, separately, as legal exclusion. The introduction of the second category is a relatively new area of research that addresses this subject matter.

The Place of the Right to Internet in National Legal Orders

The information revolution, and the associated rapid development of technology, led to significant social changes. Currently every aspect of our life depends on access to the Internet. The conceptualization of the right to the Internet is a consequence of these changes and is an important element of the contemporary concept of the status of the individual. Many countries have started to implement it into their legal systems. The paper separates and assesses individual strategies of adopting this law. The research aim of the article is to answer the question: does the right to the Internet require direct introduction to the constitutional order of the state. The effect of the considerations is to define the desired place of the Internet right in the national legal order.

Economic Aspects of The Interpretation of The Law on Health Protection in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland

The article presents considerations on the impact of the interpretation of the constitutional right to health protection on the functioning of the public health care system. The issues include the discrepancy between the literal interpretation of the constitutional norm and the interpretation of the Constitutional Tribunal. The inconsistency of the application of a constitutional norm in legislation leads to inequality in accessing health services for some groups of citizens and affects to some extent the financial stability of health providers. To ensure higher efficiency of constitutional norms, it is necessary to analyse their socio-economic preconditions and to reflect on the effects of their introduction into the legal system. Otherwise, a dead law is created, which is interpreted in accordance with the currently applicable lower-level legal acts.

What kind of freedom? The dilemma of democracy

Since the ancient times there has been a continuing discourse on the nature and scope of freedom and civic and human right in the more or less liberal democracy. This paper contains a critical analysis and assessment of the most important opinions concerning the both political and economic freedom and the interpretations of that concept in the political practice. This article argues that, contrary to the beliefs of most people, freedom and human rights do not come from nature, but they are the result of the society’s consensus, especially that part of the society, which participates in the elections. The voters agree to allow the winning political party to realize its program also in the respect to freedom and civic (human) rights. On the other hand the politicians try to secure the appropriate equilibrium between the political and economic freedom, which supports the stabilization of a given political system and is conducive to the economic growth.

Legal Protection of Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion

Freedom of thought, conscience and religion is one of the fundamental freedoms of individual, which has to be and is protected by international and national law, as shown on the example of the Polish Constitution. Freedom of conscience includes both the right of individual to choose the worldview and the right to change it. Freedom of religion ensures the right to express and manifest the views and convictions on religion individually and collectively, privately or publicly. Considering derogation of freedom of thought, conscience and religion, international law states that it may be restricted, but only in specific circumstances and under the legal act. The Polish Constitution is in line with international law in terms of restricting the above freedom.