In the 21st century, one of the essential roles of the Criminal Code is to protect the rights and interests of crime victims. Criminal law is a complex field that must balance established principles with evolving societal dynamics. This involves various stakeholders, including the state, perpetrators, victims, and civil society, each with differing views on criminal law. The modern era, marked by post-truth narratives and a reputational society, has further complicated matters. Casuistry now prevails over systematic approaches, leading to a disconnect between criminal law’s foundational principles and intended societal outcomes. Contemporary criminal law operates on multiple dimensions, addressing individual, societal, and institutional levels while aiming to balance the interests of these entities. The transition from the “age of information” to the “age of reputation” underscores the importance of information subjected to external evaluation. In the context of harmonizing Ukrainian criminal legislation with EU and Council of Europe norms, it is vital to protect human rights. This aligns with a Committee of Ministers recommendation that recognizes crime as a wrong against society and a violation of individual rights, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding victim rights. Approaching criminal law from a victimological perspective offers unique insights into victim participation in criminal liability, crime qualification, and offender culpability. This perspective encourages assessing the efficacy of criminal law prohibitions and promoting victim engagement in crime control.

This paper examines various analyses of the relationship between citizenship and rights, drawing on the work of T H Marshal, Karl Vasak and John Urry, and relates these to citizenship education. It is argued that citizenship can be defined around conceptions of human rights, and that these have developed in civil, political and social phases. Rights are consequent on membership of a community, but we have seen, particularly in the development of the European Union, a decoupling of rights from territory. As we have multiple identities, we also may have multiple citizenships. The paper moves to analyse how communities are constructed, and identifies iconic, symbolic and enactive aspects in the formation of a community. Relating these to citizenship education, it is argued that Jerome Bruner’s model of learning is particularly appropriate. While citizenship education has traditionally focused on the iconic and symbolic, it is necessary for young people to engage inactively with citizenship in order to learn civic participation, and such active learning is best focussed on the extension of human rights into new domains.

European standards towards LGBT social movement in some countries inside and outside European Union. Comparative analysis

In this article author compares LGBT’s human rights standards in Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Russia and some Middle Eastern states. Members of the LGBT community have not equal rights in Europe, even in a European Union member states, which have to respect rights of any minority. In a case of Germany society sooner tend to accept LGBT people than this was reflected in a law system. It is interesting, that Poland has been decriminalizing homosexual activity in 1932, but this does not changed social atitudes, even now in this country LGBT sa socially excluded in many ways. Situation in post-Soviet states in even worse – in both Ukraine and Russia societies permits LGBT’s persons exclusion from the social and political sphere.

From Natural Rights to the Dignity of the Human Person. Considerations on the Axiology of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland

The article is a reflection on the issues of natural law. The dominant view in the literature on the subject is that natural law is a kind of matrix that should be duplicated by the legislator in order to prevent legal injustice. According to the Latin paremia: Lex iniusta non est lex (Unjust law is not law), the legislator must take into account unspecified higher- level norms. The aim of the article is to look from a philosophical perspective at the axiological foundations of the Polish legal order in the context, primarily, of the sources of law. According to the author of the article, in modern times the rationalism of natural law is becoming apparent, and its religious foundations will not necessarily be acceptable in a culturally pluralized society. The legal analysis method was used, the historical-legal method (in terms of examining the evolution of legal ideas underlying individual constitutional regulations) and the hermeneutic method in relation to the examination of the Constitution as a product of culture, not so much in the linguistic, but in the social, cultural and historical layer. The analysis of applicable legal provisions also forced the use of the formal and dogmatic method.

Potential Victim of Human Rights Violations on the Background of the Protection System of the European Convention on Human Rights

The article’s purpose is to present the concept of a potential victim of violations of the rights and freedoms of the European Convention on Human Rights. A group of complainants is treated as a victim, even though the violation affects society. The qualification of complainants as victims of human rights violations can be treated as the creation of European human rights law. The role of the Court is to apply the so-called ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors, which cannot only effectively contribute to the implementation of the principles of the ECtHR. The article addresses the problem of the assumptions of the living instrument doctrine and the interpretation of the law currently associated with the active activity of judges (judge-made law). The concept of the potential victim of human rights violations represents an opportunity for the postulated expansion of the catalog of fundamental rights.

The idea of women’s equality in the context of human rights and equality policies of Polish political groups

This article analyzes the idea of women’s equality in the perspective of human rights. Starting from the definitional formulation of human rights, through the inclusion of women’s rights to human rights, the legal and social aspects of equality has been indicated and human rights, in the context of the socio-political situation of women in Poland, has been presented. The main research question is whether women’s equality is achieved and to what extent. Are we talking about a practical dimension (implemented) or only a declarative one? To answer this key question, the programs of political groups in Poland and their equality policy were subjected to a comparative analysis. For the purpose of the research, the programs of those groups that obtained parliamentary mandates in the 2019 elections, i.e., Law and Justice, Civic Coalition, and Polish People’s Party, were analysed.

The changes that have taken place in Poland since 1989 reveal real problems whose solution depends on civic awareness, i.e. on understanding what a democratic legal state is and what role human rights play in it. Given the threats posed by various populisms, also the manipulation of the concepts of: nation, homeland, citizen, patriot, common good, etc., society may not notice how the normative state is turning into a prerogative state. An important role is played by knowledge and understanding of the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997, not only by lawyers, but by the whole of society and, perhaps above all, by the various levels of power, both legislative, executive and judicial. This also applies to local authorities, economic and social entities. Universal civic education and the everyday practice of democracy and human rights are essential. Over the past thirty-five years, there has been a slow change in the mentality of Poles, especially among the younger generation. People born in European Poland support a civil state in which human rights are respected. Paradoxically, the last eight years of PiS rule have contributed to an awareness of the role of law, including human rights, and a willingness to learn about the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. It is also important that the language of a democratic rule of law is back on track.

Terrorist attacks are presently one of the most serious threats to human life and security, both for states and individuals. The protection of these assets is one of the most important obligations of the state. Increasingly, this comes at the expense of other goods, such as the protection of freedoms and human rights. This article reflects on the threat of human rights derogation in the context of counter-terrorism regulations currently in force in Poland. International treaties safeguarding the protection of fundamental freedoms and human rights, on a global and regional scale, contain clauses allowing their temporary derogation due to any danger threatening “the life of the nation”. According to these clauses, derogation may be used in emergency situations, when there is clear and present danger for society as a whole and for the functioning of democratic institutions. Terrorist events as defined in the Polish Counter-Terrorism Act, are not qualified as such. Derogation is permissible when certain conditions are met and for a limited period of time, both of which are not clearly defined in the relevant provisions of the Act. As a consequence, the content of a number of these provisions is arguably violating the guarantees prescribed in international treaties.