The purpose of this article is twofold. First, to look at the Identity of Israel as both Jewish and democratic State in its Declaration of Independence and the status it acquired over the years within the Constitutional and law system. The second, to examine, through the evolution of the enounced principle of equality in the situation of economic, gender, religious and national minorities, how it was implemented and what has changed after 70 years. From the outset, the Declaration was not given a constitutional status but later the Supreme Court gave it an interpretive quality. With the two Basic Laws on Human Rights, limited as they were, it gave the Supreme Court much more advantage to intervene and impose the Identity of the State as Jewish and democratic in its interpretations of laws in spite of strong criticism and even to influence and criticize the Knesset legislation. However, Israel is still not a true liberal Democracy since the rights within it are determined more according to the ethnic-national religious belonging of the person that according to its citizenship and the principle of equality is only partially adopted in practice with different degrees as regards the various minorities. In some aspects, it even moves away from the original intended Identity of an exemplary liberal Democratic Nation State.

The constitutional principle of equal access to health care services  and its statutory implementation in Polish law. Selected problems

The right to health contained in art. 68 paragraph 1 of the Constitution is one of the most important human rights. This provision constitutes the so-called public subjective right, which has its equivalent in the constitutional roles and obligations of public authorities, involving the proper settlement of the issues in the laws relating to the protection of health. In turn, art. 68 paragraph 2 of the Constitution reads that citizens, regardless of their financial situation, public authorities provide equal access to health care services financed from public funds. The implementation of this principle in the public health care system is based on the principle of ensuring equal access for all qualified entities to health services. The constitutional principle of equality does not promise the obligation of public authorities to provide free but only equal health care for all citizens, which must be guaranteed by public funds. The implementation of equal access to benefits is limited with imperfect regulation in the health sector, primarily due to insuf- ficient funds allocated to healthcare.

Positive discrimination in the military – unnecessary privilege or essential need?

The main issue discussed in the article is the participation of women in the military and the possibility of preferential treatment for them. Women have served in the military in different roles for a long time, but they are still a minority. Both the UN and NATO are taking actions to increase the participation of women in the military and encourage member states to do so. As data from NATO indicates, the share of female active-duty personnel in Polish armed forces is rather low (7 percent). The purpose of this article is to analyze the constitutional provisions guaranteeing gender equality (Articles 32 and 33) and to assess whether new, preferential provisions for women in the military should be introduced. This could mean positive discrimination (compensatory preference).

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.

Ombudsman Institutions in Universities and the Principle of Their Autonomy

The constitutionally guaranteed principle of autonomy of universities, necessary for the implementation of the mission of the system of higher education and science means, among other things, that the authorities of higher education institutions must be left with the sphere of free decision on matters of internal organization. In view of the problems that occur in the life of academic communities, related, among others, to the implementation of the principle of equality and non-discrimination, the need to provide special protection for persons with disabilities, the authors reflect on the need to create ombudsman institutions in universities, indicating the principles on the basis of which such bodies could be created and operate in such a way that it could be reconciled with the principle of autonomy of universities.

The Principle of Equality in Elections to Bodies of Self- Governments of Public Trust Professions

The aim of this article is to demonstrate that the constitutional principles relating to elections to public authorities should mutatis mutandis be the benchmark for elections to the bodies of self-government of public trust professions. The principle of equality of the electoral law is of particular importance in this area. The analysis has been carried out on the basis of the Polish Constitution, the case law of the Constitutional Tribunal and the laws and internal acts regarding professional self-governments. It follows that a breach of the principle of equality in the internal acts of a professional self-government may be grounds for declaring them unlawful. Whereas, laws concerning these self-governments should enable the scrutiny of elections. The considerations lead to the conclusion that topics combining the position of professional self-governments and democratic standards of the election law can be a field of interesting research in the domain of constitutional law.