The article describes and explains the phenomenon of the political myth of Margaret Thatcher – her anti–Scottish attitude and policies and its impact on the process of decomposition of the United Kingdom. The author indicates that the view of Margaret Thatcher’s dominance in Scotland is simplified, stripped of complexity, ignoring significant information conflicting with the thesis, but that also plays an important role in current politics, legitimizing secessionist demands and strengthening the identity of the Scottish community. In the contemporary Scottish debate with its unequivocal defence policy of Thatcher is outside of the discourse, proving its sanctity status. Thatcher could see this special Scottish dimension within the United Kingdom, but treated it rather as a delay in the reforms needed in the country. There are many counterarguments to the validity of the Thatcher myth. Firstly, many negative processes that took place in the 80s were not initiated by Thatcher, only accelerated. Secondly, the Tory decline in popularity in the north began before the leadership of Thatcher and has lasted long after her dismissal. The Conservative Party was permanently seen in Scotland as openly English. Thirdly, there is a lot of accuracy in the opinion that the real division is not between Scotland and England, only between southern England and the rest of the country. Widespread opinion that Thatcher was hostile to Scotland is to a large extent untruthful. She has never retreated radically from any of the Scottish privileges, such as the Barnett formula or the Scottish Development Agency. 

This article aims to describe the possible variants of the course of events after Brexit, from a Scottish perspective. Three dimensions are taken into the account: future model of UK–EU relations, symmetry of Brexit inside the UK and possibility of the second independence referendum in the near future (less than five years). These dimension have allowed to distinguish three main variants of further development, that are in short named by the author as: passive variant, Scottish exception and another referendum. It seems at this point that the Scottish Government is bound to carry out the second referendum, especially if the British government chooses a variant of the so-called hard Brexit. The European argument, which is so often used by Sturgeon in political debate does not necessarily lead to an increase in support for the independence, especially when eventual membership in the European Union of an independent Scotland is burdened with so many question marks.

The short article discusses the competences of ombudsmen in Sweden and Finland in relation to the judiciary. These institutions have controlling and supervisory powers in relation to courts of law, including the determination of the accountability of judges and typical competences of a prosecutor. The Author points out the necessity to read provisions of the constitutions and acts regulating the discussed competences in the light of the principle of the judiciary’s independence. Still, the supervisory rights of ombudsmen in Sweden and Finland are very well developed and may refer to issues approaching closely the sphere of jurisdiction. When assessing the solutions presented, the Author points out the fact that the ombudsmen in both countries have worked out respective practices aimed at such use of available means of control so they cannot be accused of a reasonable and too extended interference with the judiciary sphere.

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.

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 concept of representative parliamentary mandate in  Polish tradition and in contemporary Polish constitutional law

The purpose of this paper is to address the concept of a representative parliamentary mandate in Polish tradition and in contemporary Polish constitutional law. The paper touches upon the concept of the representative mandate in the Polish constitutionalism in a comprehensive and cross-cutting manner, with regard to both former constitutional rules and the current Constitution. The considerations are based on an analysis of the normative regulations and basic doctrinal approaches. Emphasis has been also placed on the historical context of a representative mandate and on conclusions flowing from comparing the two basic models of a parliamentary mandate. The author enriches his views with references to the everyday political practice, which has a significant influence on the real perception of the notion of a representative mandate.

The legal empowerment of Polish Accreditation Committee in the State

Considerations carried out in this publication are an attempt to locate The Polish Accreditation Committee in a Polish tripartite power and competences division system The paper also aims to establish legal basis and character of Committee’s actions as well as the compatibility of those actions with the constitutional directives and moreover to establish the legal status of Committee’s members. The essence of the research is an attempt to try to provide an answer to the question about the location of the Constitution in the legal-organizational system of the Polish state. In order to do so the author analyzed the legal regulation, on the basis of which the Committee is founded, its members are appointed and its tasks and competences were granted. An effort taken in the paper to explain the phenomenon of the independence of the activity of The Committee as an institution invoked by an organ of the state ad- ministration is of a great importance.

The legal order of contemporary democratic states consists of a supervisory institution which cannot be used for political purposes or used in a discretionary manner. Poland, returning to the maps of Europe in 1918, was a country in which territorial self-government functioned, differing in many aspects from the model we encounter today. The differences concerned, among others supervision, which also played an important role in the activities of local government units in the Second Republic of Poland. The purpose of this article will be to show the evolution of supervision over territorial self-government in Poland.

The article addresses current questions concerning the Kurdish situation before and after the invasion and expansion of ISIS. It applied the theory of securitisation to study the tangled circumstances and frameworks of Kurdish claims, underlining their attempts at gaining their much-desired independence. This elaboration enables one to recognise the genesis and the local, regional and global context of international actions vis-à-vis Kurdish interests, and the possible supporters and opponents of the Kurdish project of statehood in the Middle East. It portrays also the current perception of Kurdish efforts to establish their own national and legal subjectivity that must be recognised by the majority of state actors in order to meet the indispensable criteria of international law.
This article is particularly important in the context of recent developments in the Middle East. First of all, it refers to pressures, as well as openly offensive actions targeting the interests and territories controlled by the Kurds in Turkey during the existence of the so-called Islamic State. Secondly, it reflects on actors’ reactions in the international arena, including the countries of the Middle East, towards the independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as on direct actions aimed at shaping a new geopolitical order after the fall of ISIS (attack by Iraqi troops in Kirkuk or the Turkish army in Afrin).

Kosovo, the smallest country in Europe, over 10 years after declaring its independence, still remains outside of the European Union. As one of the countries of former Yugoslavia, it benefitted from the process of European integration, yet compared to neighbouring Western Balkan countries it is at an early stage of stabilisation and association process. The paper points to the main problems that Kosovo is facing, both at the internal and external level, in the face of the accession process and future membership in the European Union.

The main object of the article is an attempt to answer the question about the limits of freedom and independence of professional designers. It seems to be important, especially now, when we can observe how creative industries provide to innovative development of society and to competitive advantage. Is it possible to have autonomy being a designer? Referring to B. Bourdieu’s field theory and idea of socially responsible design (Papanek, 2012) it will be shown the context of this profession as a balance of power between the individual actors (designers, client, users, society) in the field of design. Object of the present text is description of the designer’s profession in relation to the subjectively perceived degree of professional independence. The example used to analyze this issue are interviews conducted among British designers from Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design.

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

Civil Liability of a Disciplinary Spokesman for Breach of Judicial Independence

The article comprises an analysis of the civil law liability of a disciplinary spokesman for breach of judicial independence. The starting point of the analysis is general possibility of imposing civil liability on the judicial disciplinary spokesman, and that judges’ immunity protects from criminal offences only. The civil liability of the disciplinary spokesman is grounded on the requirement of due performance of the disciplinary spokesman’s function. The boarders between the power of the disciplinary spokesman and the civil liability must be assessed in light of the limbs of a disciplinary offense, which limit the disciplinary spokesman’s right to intervene in certain cases. The civil liability of the disciplinary spokesman is possible not only on the grounds of art. 23 and 24 of the Polish Civil Code, but also on the basis of tortious liability. The availability of these legal mechanisms is directly related to the nature of the disciplinary spokesman’s act, and boils down to the question whether the disciplinary spokesman is justified in a given instance to initiate disciplinary proceedings, i.e. whether the limbs of a disciplinary offence as required by art. 107 § 1 u.s.p. are present. The article discusses two crucial elements of the civil law liability of the disciplinary spokesman: unlawfulness and negligence. Further elements of the liability: loss and causation do not differ from the civil law standards. Therefore, in this respect, the article refers to the general rules.

Disciplinary Responsibility of a Disciplinary Spokesman for Breach of Judicial Independence

The following article comprises an analysis of the basis and scope of disciplinary liability of a disciplinary spokesman for breach of judicial independence. It indicates the inherent interdependence between judicial disciplinary liability and the constitutionally protected principle of independence. The author believes that a separate judicial disciplinary liability constitutes one of the guarantees of independence. The protection of independence is further enhanced by the autonomy of the disciplinary proceedings and the means of determining the basis for such liability, the limits of which are delineated by independence. Nevertheless, it serves to outline the spokesman’s competences and thus the scope of legal acts. Abuse of the aforementioned competences in this regard is equal to an abuse of independence. What is more, the commentary sets out to introduce a two-tier understanding of the notion of abuse of independence, that is internal and external breaches. Under the current law, it is impossible for a spokesman to be in breach of independence, for he does not boast one. However, a spokesman can undertake to externally abuse another party’s - i.a. a judge’s - independence. Such abuse can be caused by non-adherence to the established limits of judicial disciplinary liability. Under such circumstances, a spokesman is in breach of his competences, which is subsequently reflected in a material violation of judicial independence. The bases of disciplinary liability of a disciplinary spokesman are set forth in the provisions pertaining to the disciplinary liability of the judiciary and the prosecution. Hence, a disciplinary spokesman’s liability is a sub-type of the general disciplinary liability of the judge (or prosecutor) who serves as a spokesman.

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.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the guarantees of independence of the national supervisory authority in the light of the provisions of Regulation 2016/679 and national constitutional and statutory provisions. Ensuring the independence of the supervisory authority is recognized as one of the basic European standards for the protection of personal data. Independence manifests itself in the impossibility of issuing guidelines as to the manner of operation, limiting or eliminating the possibility of interfering with pending proceedings, limiting the impact on staffing. It is the independence of the authority that is intended to ensure the effectiveness and credibility of the supervision of compliance with the provisions on the protection of personal data of individuals.

Constitutive and Conventional Provenance of Law to Fair Consideration of Case (Right to a Fair Trial)

The text is devoted to the problem of the right to a fair trial, which the Polish legislator recognizes as the one of the most important civil rights and liberties. The constitutive and conventional lineage of this right was indicated. It is noted in the text that this right can only be excercised in a state that recognizes the tripartite division of power as well as in situation in which common judiciary is based on four fundamental foundations such as jurisdiction to hear a case of a given type, impartiality, independent in legal, organisational and decision-making terms.

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.