Anti-terrorism policy as a dilemma of liberal democracy

Terrorism is harmful to democratic governments and societies. In addition to the visible and the direct effects of attacks on bystanders, aim bombers are undermining democratic values, including the weakening of confidence in state institutions and laws that regulate their functioning. As a result of the use of violence can permanently give birth to create a socio-political divisions, antagonize certain entities and groups, and thus provoke conflicts thus destroying the existing compromises, agreements or arrangements between the parties concerned. In matters of international terrorism it is not only a challenge for the rule of law, but because it also applies to relations between states, poses a serious threat to security and stability.

Constitutional transformation of the Republic of Croatia during the monitoring procedure of the Council of Europe

The author analyses the constitutional transformation of the Republic of Croatia during the monitoring procedure of the Council of Europe. Croatia once achieving the membership in the Council of Europe took several obligations to change constitutional system according to values and democratic standards represented by the Council of Europe. They have included e.g. protection of national minorities, freedom of media, changing of the system of the local government and the election law. Realization of those obligations was controlled by the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Council of Europe, through the Venice Committee, has helped Croatia to fulfill those obligations.

Protection of marriage and the family  in the light of the Constitution of Poland

This article covers the considerations on the protection of marriage and the family in the light of the Polish Constitution. It aims to present the good of the family and its protection in the light of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997. It can be reasonably assumed that marriage and the family are the values that occupy a special position in the hierarchy of constitutional values so that they are under the protection and care of the Republic of Poland. Each family – complete, incomplete or without children – is subject to protection. The task of the State is to protect the rights of the family, that is to create such conditions in which members of the family will be able to exercise human rights, to which they are entitled by the virtue of belonging to the family. The public authorities in their actions should support the family in the performance of its social features, but in a way that is subtle without excessive interference in the sphere of family life.

The constitutional right of the child to be brought up in the family

This article covers the considerations on the issues related to the constitutional right to education in the family. It aims to present the nature and extent of the constitutional rights of parents in the process of raising a child while taking into account the international standards applicable in this area. On the basis of the material gathered it can be reasonably assumed that it is the parents in the first place that should provide conditions necessary for the proper development of the child. The responsibility of the state is only to assist families who are educationally inefficient both in terms of emotional and substantive support. In summary, the purpose of a wide variety of assistance offered by the state is first of all to restore family capabilities to its independent and proper functioning.

The amendments to the Polish electoral law from 2015

In 2015 Polish electoral code was amended by force of the three laws. In this article I will examine a catalog of the most important changes in the Polish electoral law signaled from the three laws amending it. The amendment to the Electoral Code made in 2015. Adopted the changes of various specific gravity. Some of them are technical (eg. voting cards, transparent ballot boxes), the evidence (the possibility of recording the work of electoral commissions), complementary (reference to the relevant provisions on the validity of elections to councils in respect of the election of the executive bodies of municipalities and cities, the tasks of National Electoral Commission), to the systemic (defining term of office of the members of the NEC). Although the need for certain amendments was postulated by some doctrine, it is frequent amendments of the electoral law should be regarded as a manifestation of its instrumentalization.

Basic principles of electoral law in the Polish People’s Republic and the Third Polish Republic

This article presents a comparison of the principles of electoral law in the Polish People’s Republic and the Third Polish Republic: political deliberations pertaining to elections in a democratic system and an undemocratic (authoritarian) system. In theory, there were not major differences between the two. The paper does not analyse the very practice of elections.

What proves to be characteristic of the democratic system is the fact that it constantly witnesses various tensions between authorities, opposition, citizens, diverse legal subjects, advocacy groups, etc. Their disputes concern changing or upholding the existing legal environment, which is unavoidable in this case. This situation is not surprising or improper as lobbying understood in this way is an immanent, often useful part of the system. However, what may be puzzling is the fact that democratic political systems are characterized by the variety of attitudes adopted by authorities toward the practice - from pretending it does not exist (and thus requires no regulations) to implementing regulations of a highly general nature. Poland experiences both the practice itself and the attempts to legally regulate it. The aim of the article is to critically analyze the existing situation.

The purpose of the article is to signal that actions aimed at implementing the principle of social justice (in the context of Article 2 of the Polish Constitution) require the legislator to consider a number of variables. It is particularly about the principle of equality and guaranteeing an appropriate level of security (including social security), as well as respect for acquired rights and trust in the state and law. Legislative actions that result in legitimate securitization of the law may of course lead to the limitation of the principle of social justice, as long as they take into account the objective needs of safety and health protection. The use of inadequate measures by the legislator or the creation of apparent threats and the related fear by the power apparatus will evoke a deep sense of injustice and lead to violent opposition from society.

Nowadays, international disputes appear in the public space, which results, for example, from the fact that the needs are unlimited and the goods are limited. Due to its specific nature, the international environment requires a compromise between the entities operating in it. A desirable direction in case of conflicts between international entities is to resolve them by peaceful means. In the international environment, one of the largest international organizations - the United Nations - is of great significance, especially in the field of maintaining international order and peace. In turn, according to the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, it is possible to resolve international disputes by peaceful means, and among the characteristic methods used in this type of proceedings is the mediation method, the effectiveness of which allows, in the long term, to maintain the desired state of peace, strengthening the legal security of the state.

Changes in the Structure of the Central Public Administration in the Light of the Act on the National Cybersecurity System of 2018

The national security of Poland in the 21 st century is strongly influenced by the processes taking place in the contemporary global security environment. They are characterized by high dynamics and complexity of changes as well as the occurrence of asymmetrical threats, among which the most dangerous are threats in cyberspace. The functioning of the state and the implementation of their constitutional obligations are increasingly dependent on the development of modern technologies, the information society and the smooth functioning of cyberspace, which is largely dependent on the security of the ICT infrastructure enabling the use of cyberspace, information resources and services accumulated therein. thanks to it they function. Rapid progress in the field of digital technologies necessitates the effective use of the latest technologies while creating the opportunity for the Polish state to leave the role of only the user and join the group of countries with an effectively functioning digital economy, providing solutions and co-creating international standards. To meet these expectations, the President of the Republic of Poland signed the Act on the national cybersecurity system on 1 August 2018, implementing the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council (EU) into the Polish legal order regarding measures for a high common level of security of network and information systems in the territory of Union (Directive 2016/1148) – (the so-called NIS Directive).

The right to social assistance benefits in the light of the Polish Constitution

This article discusses the right to social assistance benefits in the light of the Polish Constitution. Its purpose is to present the principles and legal norms directly related to this law. On the basis of the material contained therein, it can reasonably be assumed that among the values and norms specified in the Constitution and relating to the sphere of human social rights, human dignity deserves special attention, as well as the principle of subsidiarity, which are related to the issues of social assistance.

An in-depth analysis presented in this article concludes that the views and socio-political activities of Wacław Komarnicki were aimed at reasserting the Polish national interest and realizing the idea of the state of law associated with the rule of law. The analysis is based on archival and printed sources and selected literature on the subject. It required the use of appropriate research methods. The biographical method, in conjunction with the content analysis method, proved to be most helpful. Among the research techniques, the analysis of testimonies of political thought proved to be particularly useful.

Pedagogy as a metaphor for constitution-making

In the doctrine of constitutional law, metaphors appear in many analytic works. Pedagogy can be used as a metaphor for constitution-making because of many similarities between the teaching process and the formation of constitutional law. One should recognize the great role of learning in the process of creating legal regulations. The pedagogical impact of law includes influencing the behaviour of individuals and of the society.

Law is a social construction. It focuses on the regulation of social relations. The interpretation of legal rules is constantly adapting to the social context. On the other side, the law code strongly influences society’s development, determining the future social context. The Constitution, within the understanding of basic law in any country, is one of the basic legal determinants of the future social context of any country. The Constitution affects the form and the content of the future accepted legal determiners and their interpretation. The regulation of social relations by the legal code is about the human effort to achieve insurance in this uncertain world. This effort might bring the result respecting that humanity has not invented anything more effective yet. Any state and transnational community create own superparadigm - the identical worldview of the society. Regarding the changes of the social context, with no respect to its reason, there comes logically a change of social superparadigm. The Constitution responds to it as well as there are the activities of the courts, having the rights of constitutionality defenders.

Problematyka tekstu konkluduje wokół zagadnienia przemocy, którego źródła należy dopatrywać się w tekście „Przyczynek do krytyki przemocy” autorstwa Waltera Benjamina. Przedmiotem refleksji są różne formy przemocy ustanawiającej prawo, jak i przemocy podtrzymującej prawo, a także ich związku z wolnymi od przemocy środkami, a więc „czystymi środkami”. Takie podejście pozwala na krytyczną analizę zależności istniejącej między jednostką (człowiekiem), a funkcjonowaniem instytucji (państwa, władzy) opartej na określonych regulacjach prawnych. Tekst zachęca do zastanowienia się nad tym: czy przemoc rozumiana jako zasadna może być moralna? i czy wszelka przemoc jest środkiem do sprawiedliwego czy też niesprawiedliwego celu? Wydaje się, że część końcowa tekstu poprzez różnicowanie rodzajów przemocy, dzieląc ją na boską, mityczną, wychowawczą, pozwala odpowiedzieć na te dwa kluczowe, przedstawione wcześniej pytania.

Małżeństwo osób tej samej płci a Kościół katolicki: Europejska perspektywa porównawcza

Małżeństwa osób tej samej płci zostały uznane w wielu państwach, w tym w katolickich. Według Kościoła katolickiego szacunek dla osób homoseksualnych nie może prowadzić do zatwierdzenia legalizacji związków osób tej samej płci. Normy prawne w niektórych państwach mają na celu ochronę małżeństw heteroseksualnych, gdyż zrównanie związków homo- i heteroseksualnych oznaczałoby utratę podstawowych wartości należących do wspólnego dziedzictwa ludzkości. Stanowisko Kościoła nie jest monolityczne. Są zwolennicy, którzy opowiadają się za zmianą nauczania Kościoła na temat nierozerwalności małżeństwa czy akceptacji związków homoseksualnych. W artykule przedstawiono, w których państwach europejskich (ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem krajów katolickich) dopuszczalne są małżeństwa osób tej samej płci, ukazano związki między stanowiskiem Kościoła w sprawie takich związków a świeckimi systemami prawnymi. Istnieje ogromna rozbieżność w postawach wobec homoseksualizmu między katolickimi konserwatystami w Europie Zachodniej i Wschodniej. Konserwatyści katoliccy w Europie Zachodniej zrozumieli, że wolność seksualna jest kwestią bezdyskusyjną i nie powinna być mieszana w polityczne batalie o sprawy fundamentalne.

Human rights aspects of transgender people functioning in the contemporary world

The gender that is officially assigned at birth (male or female) is based on physical characteristics. However, it may not be compatible with gender identity – this is the way we feel and think about our gender. A transgender person is someone who has or manifests a different gender identity from the gender identity assigned to him at birth. A transgender person may choose to manifest their gender identity in a variety of ways. To make more permanent physical activity it is essential to use surgery and hormone therapy. This is a time-consuming and costly process that does not always involve complete gender reassignment. Transgender people experience transphobia and discrimination because of their gender identity, which is mistakenly associated with sexual orientation. The misunderstood concept of transgender causes that transgender people encounter intolerance, a lack of empathy, and the non-existence of safe social and legal spaces. This is mainly due to a lack of knowledge on the fundamental issues of transgenderism. Complex judicial procedures for sex reassignment, lack of funding for hormonal treatment and surgical genital correction, and the inability to marry are the cause of depression and a still high percentage of suicide attempts and suicides in this social group. Hence, it is important to draw social attention to the problems faced by transgender people and to disseminate knowledge about transgenderism.

Youth Councils as Entities of Youth Participation in Local Communities – Legal Analysis of Art. 5b of the Act on Municipal Self-Government of March 8, 1990

The article is part of a publication cycle on research on the institution of communal youth councils in local self-government communities in Poland. This publication analyzes the current legal regulations regulating the functioning of youth councils. Additionally, the legal basis for participation was presented, taking into account the provisions of the Polish Constitution as well as the act on municipal self-government. The essential part of the article is the analysis of the original wording of Art. 5b of the Act on Municipal Self-Government and the changes that have occurred in it after the amendment of April 20, 2021.

In 1991, Bulgaria adopted the Law on Civil and Political Rehabilitation of Persons Repressed under Communism. The law came into force only in 1993 and continued until 1996. The article critically analyses the law and points out its undemocratic character in relation to the Pomaks, victims of the violant assimilation, the so called “revival” process. The Ordinance to the Law puts the victims in the position of seeking proof of innocence from the same repressive authorities that persecuted and killed them. The approved, but mostly rejected Decisions of the Municipal, District and Central Commissions, are analyzed and kept in the State Archive – Blagoevgrad (SAB) and Central State Archive – Sofia (CSA). The article traces the tendency of the Commissions to reject applications for rehabilitation of Pomaks, affected by the worst cases of murder and imprisonment during the name change.

In recent years, the European Union (“EU”) has faced unprecedented challenges in the rule of law. Besides apparent dangers, it has also offered the Union, its institutions and member states important space for new openings, self-rediscovery, and revisiting certain integration paradigms. This analysis argues that the “rule of law/value crisis” in the EU has created the same space for the Court of Justice to take on the paradigmatic jurisprudential shift from the market to the union of law and values. It posits that the European discourse must revisit the theory of supranational adjudication and offer a new reading of the Court’s mandate and function within the evolving supranational governance and design. In this process, reference to Art. 19 TEU and its connection to Art. 2 TEU have a special explicatory and axiological significance.