Implementation of the openness of the judiciary judgments  as access to the public information as element of social control

The openness of public life is an event of the so called new time. It is a value that is evaluated positiv because by guaranteeing the access to the information about so called public affairs creates a possibility of the social control and by the same time an active function of the individual in the state with a democratic system. One of his elements is the possibility of gaining information via measures of public subjects that are called subjects that are obliged to give information. In view of the wide approach of the notion public information guaranteed by the legislator such information are also judgments of judiciary organs. In the Polish law order there are various forms of granting of the court judgments. One of the solutions is the granting according to the act of law dated 6. September 2001 about public information. This work shall evaluate that process of the granting and confrontation with other forms of the openness implementation of the court judgments.

Right to court in Germany

The term ‘right to court’ is not used by the German constitutional law doctrine. However, the expressions ‘the principle of effective legal protection’ or ‘claim for ensuring justice’ should be treated as its equivalents. German Basic Law does not contain any general provision proclaiming right to court and determining its essential elements. However, ensuring effective judicial protection is considered to be a general constitutional principle and a constitutional right of an individual. It is also acknowledged that everyone has access to court. The latter is supplemented by Article 101, 103 and 104 of German Constitution, which prohibit creation of extraordinary courts and provides that everyone has a right to ‘the statutory judge’ and right to be heard. Moreover the Federal Constitutional Court perceives the rule of law clause as a source of the right to a fair trial. In general it is accepted in Germany that the constitutional standards refering to administration of justice satisfy international standards and in some cases even exceed them. Practical problems in their implementation concern mainly the right to have the case heard in a reasonable time.

Right to a fair trial in Italy

The access to justice is expressed directly in the part one of the Constitution of the Italian Republic of 1947, entitled “The rights and duties of citizens”. In accordance with Article 24 paragraph. 1 of the Constitution, “everyone can take judicial action to protect individual rights and legitimate interests”. It should be noted that it is a wide range of subjective and objective constitutional regulation, in particular, on the right of access to court, the right to defense and right to a fair and due process (Article 111 of the Constitution). The biggest disadvantages that arises from the functioning of the Italian justice system are multiple violations of the right to a trial within a reasonable time and the usage of the cassation, as a court of third instance. Many attempts to correct the Italian judiciary have been made, for example by the introduction of Pinto Law of 2001, which gives litigants the right to the compensation in case of excessively lengthy judicial proceedings. However, it did not have the expected effect of speeding up the court proceedings because of the lack of necessary judiciary reforms (complicated structures and a large number of courts, traditionally low court fees etc.). The impact of the Law was The result of the Law is further increase in the number of cases and budgetary costs. The inefficiency of Italian justice system is needed to be reformed.

The Ballots in Judicature

This text concerns the institution of ballot and its functions in judicature. Author analyses in details procedures of fortuity, which replaced the argumentation of parties and the influence of such methods (“unfactual fortune”) on verdict in the judicial processes. The issue of dividing the judicature and the power of adjudication from other functions and objects of power is analysed also in this text. Author writes a lot about procedures of ballot of jury as a relict of influence the fortune on adjudication and role of this procedure in guaranteeing the impartiality of judges.

In this article, the author tries to point out the problems of the legal system and democratic society after 1989 in the condition of Slovak Republic and ultimately almost in all the countries of post-Communist period. The aim of this work is to point out the development of justice and judicial authorities in Slovakia since 1989 and its current state. The result should be the naming of all elements influencing the judiciary, decision-making activity of court in the context of the directive and the rules of the European Community. The next point is the description of the independence and connection of the judiciary and its offices to state power and related isues. Also, the autor describes to the establishment of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic as the highest office of the judiciary in the Slovak Republic, its competences, powers and functioning. In the same way there are listed other offices without which the judiciary as such could not function like Prosecutor’s Office of the Slovak Republic, Slovak Bar Association, Notary Chamber of the Slovak Republic and Slovak Chamber of Executors. At the end of the article the author evaluates the development of justice in the context of an ever-evolving democratic society.

Independence of the judiciary is a fundamental value. It determines the quality of organization and work, as well as the role that judicature plays in a democratic country. Justice, based on the rule of law and constituting the highest value for the society, can be implemented only in the spirit of this independence. Any changes and modifications ought to strive for one goal - a strong, independent judicature. The paper introduces the reconstruction process of the Polish judiciary after World War II, outlining the problems and challenges that it had to face in that period.

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.

The study discusses amicable dispute resolution in the light of the constitutional principle of the right to a trial and the constitutional concept of the “administration of justice”. In the paper, the author outlines the definitions and doctrinal approaches present in the ongoing debate in the Polish literature on the status of forms of amicable dispute resolution in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997. De lege ferenda, the author considers it practical and socially justified to amend the Constitution of the Republic of Poland by explicitly specifying the place of arbitration dispute resolution in the hierarchical system of the Basic Law, hence, as the principle of the right to a trial in its broad meaning, i.e., as the right to an effective means of dispute resolution, as well as by defining relevant relations with the conceptual scope of the “administration of justice”.

Justice of the Peace Courts and the Right to the Protection of the Law – a Voice in the Discussion

The article discusses the demand for the introduction the institution of the justice of the peace into the Polish judicial system. The aim of the article is to examine the admissibility of this change as intended by the Ministry of Justice from the perspective of the right to legal protection. The author presents the advantages and disadvantages of justices of the peace, placing particular emphasis on the postulate of legal education of candidates for justices of the peace, as well as mentioning the proper way of selecting and financing them. He concludes that the requirement of a legal education or basic legal knowledge of candidates for justices of the peace is essential, as is the need to ensure the appointment that guarantees their greatest judical independence. In another case, the parties will not have adequate legal protection. In his research, the author uses the dogmatic method.

On February 17, 2008 Kosovo declared independence. The foundation for the creation of the Republic of Kosovo was the international community, which created the legal framework for the future statehood of Kosovo. The concept developed in the Athisari Plan of making the Judicial Council the guarantor of judicial autonomy and independence of judges was also a kind of anticipation of the subsequent fundamental changes in the system, introduced under the 2008 Constitution. This article attempts to analyze the systemic position of the Kosovo Judicial Council in the state system formed under the 2008 Constitution. It presents the composition of the Council, the procedure for the appointment of its members and the principles of its organization and functioning. The solution adopted in the Kosovo Basic Law is in line with the widely understood Southern European organizational model of judicial councils.

Judgement of ECHR of 8 November 2021 in the case of Dolińska-Ficek and Ozimek v. Poland is undoubtedly one of the most important judgements issued by the Strasbourg Court in recent times. At the same time, it constitutes a continuation of the existing case-law of the ECHR in similar cases against Poland, in particular the reasoning expressed in the judgement of 22 July 2021 in the case of Reczkowicz v. Poland (Application no. 43447/19). In the judgement, the ECHR held that Poland’s action resulted in a violation of Art. 6 (1) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950, which establishes a set of due process guarantees.

Changes in the Justice System and the Enforceability of the Judgments of the National Bar of Attorneys at Law’s Disciplinary Courts – Notes in Relation to Article 17 sec. 1 of the Constitution

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the legal problem related to the activity of the disciplinary courts of the National Bar of Attorneys at Law in connection with the amendments enacted in 2017 in the area of the justice system. This issue is immanently connected with the questioning, both by Polish and international jurisprudence, of the status of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court that existed until 14 July 2022 as a court with constitutional features. Therefore, it is significant to answer the question whether the rulings of the disciplinary courts of the National Bar of Attorneys at Law, which have undergone cassation review in the Supreme Court, produce legal effects in the current legal state and should be enforced by the organs of the National Bar of Attorneys at Law. This issue is of fundamental importance for the activity of the National Bar of Attorneys at Law since the Bar’s ability to fulfil the constitutional function of concerning itself with the proper practice of the profession of an attorney at law largely depends on the answer to this question.

Gloss to the Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 6 May 2021, file ref. no. II GOK 3/18

The judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 6 May 2021, the subject of which was the assessment of the legality of the resolution of the National Council of the Judiciary on the submission (failure to present) of applications for appointment to the position of a Supreme Court judge in the Civil Chamber, created the possibility of challenging the composition of the adjudicating panels with the participation of judges selected in this procedure. However, the administrative court did not assess the validity of the appointments of judges, finding that the effects of the ruling issued in this case do not relate to the systemic validity and effectiveness of presidential appointments to the office of judge. Therefore, the judgment does not resolve the key issue determining the effectiveness of the appointment of the judiciary

Constitutional Determinants of the Scope of Cognition of a Court Bailiff after the Entry into Force of the Act of 4 July 2019 Amending the Act – Code of Civil Procedure and Certain other Acts (Dz.U. 2019, item 1469, as amended)

The goal of the paper is to present the compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of the current scope of cognition of a court bailiff in civil proceedings. After the entry into force of the amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure of July 4, 2019, the bailiff is obliged to examine the limitation period for the creditor’s claim. This state of affairs raises important constitutional doubts. The assessment of the title issue would not be possible without taking a stance on the decision of the Constitutional Tribunal of 22.07.2022, P 23/19. The study uses a dogmatic-legal research method.

The Concept of Legitimacy on the Example of the Status of a Judge in Polish Constitutional Law

The subject of the analysis is the definition of legitimacy of the systemic status of a judge. The author has previously reconstructed two lexical understandings of the term “legitimacy”, which he defined as “state” and “process,” respectively. The thesis, that the way of defining the term “legitimacy” as “process” is adequate for analyzing the legitimacy of a judge’s constitutional position is the apex for further research. The author has formulated his own definition of legitimacy, referring to the judge’s systemic status. This is a particularly momentous task given the complexity of the construct of legitimacy, as well as the prevailing terminological confusion in the doctrine. The problem of legitimacy with regard to judges is crucial not only in terms of the legitimacy of their constitutional position, but also in terms of a possible finding of lack of legitimacy, given the consequences of this.