The admissibility of use of torture as a method of struggling  against terrorism in the light of Constitutional,  International and European law standards

Regulations of Constitutional, international and European law provide that torturing of human being if fully prohibited. There is no any reason that could justify such an act. The author of the article analyzes a problem if it is possible to legalize torture of a terrorist to achieve information which are necessary to avoid a threat caused by this offender. In this situation – torture is the only way to get knowledge about a prepared act of terror. The author claims that provisions of Polish Constitution generally prohibit the use of torture However, the Constitution permits to establish legal exceptions to this restriction. The 31th article of the Constitution provides that each Constitutional right or freedom may be limited by a statute when it is necessary in a democratic state for the protection of its security or public order. The author also finds, that International Agreements binding upon Poland absolutely prohibit to use torture against terrorists. Treaties don’t include any provisions that would legalize any exceptions to this rule. The Republic of Poland is supposed to respect international law binding upon it. Summing up, organs of authority of the Republic cannot be authorized to use torture against any offender in any situation. Especially the Parliament mustn’t establish any law act that allows to torture a human being because it leads to a violation of binding international treaties.

Amendments to the Election Code in 2018 in the area of election campaign and election agitation

The aim of the article is to analyze the changes introduced to the Polish electoral law in the scope of the election campaign and agitation campaign based on the act of 11 January 2018 amending the Election Code. The conducted analysis, apart from discussing the new regulations, also includes an attempt to assess them from the perspective of constitutional and international standards, as well as indicating some of those matters which the amendment did not cover and which should be regulated beacause of the problems of electoral practice in Poland. The detailed remarks concern three functionally related thematic areas separated for the purposes of the analysis, i.e. election campaign, agitation campaign and new regulations regarding the financing of election committees during the campaign. 

New legal grounds for reducing salaries and allowances for members of parliament in Poland (selected constitutional issues)

In 2018, two acts amending the hitherto existing regulations on the rules for reducing salaries and allowances for Polish parliamentarians entered into force. At present, apart from the grounds related to preventing parliamentary work and unjustified absence at the meeting, the reduction of salary and allowances is also possible due to violation of the dignity of the chamber by the deputy or senator or because of violating the calm or order in parliament in a blatant manner. The aim of the article is an attempt to evaluate the introduced regulations in the context of their compliance with constitutional and European standards

Performance of the Parliamentary Mandate by Attorneysat-Law in Poland. Selected Constitutional Issues

 Performance of parliamentary mandate by professional lawyers is one of the elements that can contribute to improving the quality of law, which is created in a democratic state ruled by law. In Polish reality, this applies, among others, to the possibility of performance of the functions of a MP and senator by attorneys-at-law. However, this issue is also associated with certain constitutional problems resulting mainly from the separate status of parliamentarians and lawyers providing legal assistance, including the potential conflict between the naturally political nature of deputies and the parliament and the independence of lawyers and bar associations. The purpose of this study is to briefly discuss selected specific issues related to these problems.

The reform of higher education in the Republic of Poland, which was introduced by the Act of 20 July 2018 Law on higher education and science (Dz.U. 2018, item 1668, as amended; hereinafter: Law on higher education and science), revitalized interests in the freedom of scientific research, optimal ways of its implementation and the role of the state in the support of scientific and research activities. For this reason providing an answer to questions concerning the genesis of regulation of the freedom of scientific research in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2nd April, 1997 (Dz.U. 1997, No. 78, item 483, as amended; hereinafter: the Constitution of the Republic of Poland), specifically in relation to its recognition and position in the Polish constitution, the normative content of the freedom, the beneficiaries and entities obliged to comply with it, appears appropriate. These issues seem to be of particular importance. First of all, the freedom of scientific research shall be one of the crucial elements of a knowledge-based economy, with a significant role of higher educational institutions. Secondly, the proper functioning of universities indicates a broader establishment of human rights. What is more, the hitherto undertaken attempts to define the freedom of scientific research seem not to be incisive enough. The aim of this article, therefore, is to draw attention to the issues and difficulties associated with the freedom of scientific research. The answers given to the aforementioned questions, however, having regard to the limited scope of the publication, cannot be deemed definitive.

The institution of the child’s hearing in the light of the Polish Constitution (selected issues)

The subject of this article is the analysis of the institution of the child hearing provided for in Art. 72 (3) of the Polish Constitution. The right of a child to be heard is one of the fundamental rights of a child and is part of child’s right to protection in legal proceedings concerning it. The publication presents the concept of a child itself, which is defined in various ways due to the lack of one universal, system-wide definition of a child, and also presents an example catalog of matters falling under the constitutional premise – “establishing children’s rights”. The group of entities obliged to hear a child, such as generally accepted public authorities and persons responsible for the child, were also introduced. The introduction of the above-mentioned concepts made it possible to assume that the institution of hearing the child is necessary to ensure the fundamental rights of the child and as an element of its right to protection in legal proceedings concerning it.

The Implementation of the Constitutional Right to Education in Educational Practice. An Educator’s Perspective

The political, economic and social changes that took place in Poland after 1989 meant that one of the first areas of social life that was subject to thorough legal changes was the education system, changes which, as practice proves, are of a continuous nature. The aim of the article is an attempt to evaluate the implementation of the constitutional right to education (Art. 70) and related rights (Art. 53, paragraph 3 and Art. 73) in the context of the organization and functioning of the Polish education system. This is the view of a pedagogue who has been analyzing the legislative solutions of subsequent authorities of the Ministry of Education in the context of everyday educational practice for many years, with particular emphasis on the effects of the introduced formal and legal solutions.

Relations between the state and churches and religious associations in Poland

Freedom of conscience and religion is the foundation of the modern concept of a democratic state ruled of law. This concept is a source of limitations for this freedom. This freedom cannot be considered solely in the sphere of the psyche and in the sphere of privacy. The author presents and analyzes the regulation in question against the background of the principles determining the position of churches and religious associations in the state and their relations with the state.

Human dignity as a constitutionally protected value

The Article discusses the issue of granting human dignity the status of the highest value in the Polish Constitution. What is more, it explains the grounds of the regulation of art. 30 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Additionally, it presents dignity as a foundation of the legal order. Therefore, de facto, every legal norm that functions in our legal system should comply with this regulation. The article calls attention to a danger of potential abuses pointing out some of the practices that can violate the human dignity in the future.

Restrictions on Freedom due to the Premise of “Health Protection”. A Few Remarks Inspired by the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in the Republic of Poland

There is no question that “health protection” is the premise for the establishment of constitutional restrictions on rights and freedoms. It has been so far the subject of legal science only exceptionally and occasionally; mainly in the context of restrictions on the freedom of economic activity. It was only the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the Republic of Poland that brought a wider interest in this category, referring it also to the limitations of another fundamental freedom – freedom of expression. Considering the above, the analysis of legal limitations on the freedom of expression, imposed on the basis of the premise of health protection, seems to be by all means justified and purposeful.

The Term “Dignity” – the Concept of Dignity – Dignity: On Some Theoretical Aspects of Recognizing Dignity in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland

The study aims at making explicit the three spheres or planes, essential from the point of view of semiotics, on which the discourse regarding dignity takes place, and at clarifying the relations between these planes. The analysis uses the conception of Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz. There are three principal areas in which the discourse on dignity is conducted – the plane of linguistic expressions on which the name “dignity” is used; the plane of meanings on which the notion of dignity is placed; and the plane of objects on which there is dignity itself. There is a relationship of meaning between the different concepts of dignity and the expression “dignity”, a relationship of signification between expression “dignity” and dignity as its referent, and a relationship of apprehension between the concepts of dignity and their referents.

The Idea of Injustice of the Law and the Constitutional Obligation to Obey It

The obligation to comply with the law specified in Art. 83 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland is important not only in terms of dogma and law. It is also imminently related to such fundamental notions as the essence of law or recognition that unjust law isn’t law. Considering the above, the purpose of the paper is not only to compare the doctrinal concept of the wickedness of law with Art. 83 of the Constitution, but also to answer the question whether this concept can be applied to contemporary democratic states. The analysed framework can especially be meaningful in democracies that are undergoing the so-called reversed systemic transition as it can help protect them against taking quasi authoritarian or quasi totalitarian forms. The wicked law concept can therefore constitute one of the last, if not the last, level of protection for a democratic system, one of the new forms of implementation of the “defensive democracy”, and its use can be a moral and a legal obligation.

Public Finances in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997

As assumed in the title, the study is intended to show only the most important, basic, but cardinal significance of public finances on the basis of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. This notion, often used in colloquial terms, requires clarification of its constitutional and statutory meaning in order to illustrate the essence of its adoption and application in relation to the activities of public authorities. In this context, it will also be important to take into account derivative notions resulting also from the Basic Law, closely related to public finances.

Act of March 11, 2022. on defense of the Homeland is a classic example of an “executive act” for the constitutional regulation of issues related to state security, including military security. The Homeland Defence Act contains the so far missing specification of the normative solutions contained in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997. They concern in particular the development of regulations concerning the following constitutional issues: the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland, the duty of a Polish citizen to defend the Homeland, the President of the Republic as the supreme commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland and the Council of Ministers as the body that ensures the external security of the state and exercises general management in the field of national defense. The main goal of the legislator is to replace the archaic and incompatible with the current needs and tasks of the Polish state and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland regulations contained in the Act of November 21, 1967. on the general duty to defend the Republic of Poland.

Constitutional and Statutory Regulation of Remote Education. Theory Versus Practice. The Case of the University of Rzeszów

The article compares the provisions of the legal regulations on the remote form of education with the actual scope of their application in the academic environment. The research method used was an analysis of documents such as the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the Act ‘Law on Higher Education and Science’, regulations of the Ministry of Education and Science and internal legal regulations (Orders of UR). The aim of the research was to compare the provisions found in the aforementioned legal regulations with their practical application in the realities of higher education, while the case study of this analysis was the University of Rzeszów. The conclusions obtained may be used to verify solutions both in the course of the standard implementation of the educational process and the introduction of remote education in crisis periods. These include the need for blended learning or the establishment of distance learning centres.

The Impact of the International Situation on the Shape of the Twentieth-Century Polish Constitutions

The subject of the article is the issue of the impact of the international situation on the shape of Polish twentieth-century fundamental laws and the determination of how the Polish constitutional legislator made it possible to implement the assumptions of Polish foreign policy. The first part of the article discusses the impact of the international situation on the provisions of the Constitutions of 1921 and 1935, with particular emphasis on the provisions relating to wartime. The second part of the article draws attention to the issues of political changes related to Poland’s membership in the Eastern Bloc countries. The third part of the article concerns the impact of the geopolitical situation on the shape of constitutional reforms during the period of Poland’s political transformation. The last part of the article analyzes the impact of Polish aspirations for European integration and NATO accession on the shape of the currently binding Constitution of 1997.

The Principle of the Common Good as a Source of Civil Society in Poland

The article concerns the constitutional sources of civil society in Poland. Although the Polish Constitution does not refer directly to civil society, it expresses its key values and assumptions in numerous provisions. The constitutional principle of the common good should be regarded as the basis of civil society in the Republic of Poland. The article indicates the links between the principle of the common good and the constitutional model of civil society. The axiological convergence of both categories mentioned is based, inter alia, on the respect for civic rights and freedoms, but also on the emphasis on the duties that the individual-citizen performs for the state. It is for this reason that the principle of the common good in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 combines elements of the individualist and communitarian conception of the civil society.