Three spheres of privacy. Public and private in  contemporary legal system and social theory

The protection of privacy embraces three areas: physical integrity, information autonomy and protection of family life. All these spheres, distinguished in law and jurisprudence, protect the human identity against public authorities and other people interferences. However, in all these spheres there can be observed new changes, appearing insocial life and lifestyle, which let us ask the questions about the scope and real need of privacy protection in contemporary world, where cultural norms and development of societies influence on concept of privacy and public sphere.

Good administration as a „watch-glass” for Art. 12  of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

As the European Code of Good Administrative Behavior states, good administration creates one of the basic human rights and creates specific ethical standards that have been regulated in ECGA and come from, among others, the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The right to good administration is a specific principle of European Union law, guaranteed by Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the right to protection of personal data is one of its elements (along with, among others, the right to hear and the right to impartial and fair trial). The aim of the article is to discuss the issue of the right to privacy contained in Article 12 of the UDHR, also in the context of personal data protection, but narrowed to the perspective of the right of an individual to good administration. Since the protection of personal data is not an independent/ self-existing creation, it is strictly related to the human right to privacy, therefore the article touches these two spaces.

Monitoring system vs the right to privacy

The author discusses the issue of finding a balance between monitoring that works both in public and private space as an element of ensuring the security of citizens, and violating their right to privacy guaranteed in the constitution. It is a matter of dispute enough that disputes persist in many environments, to the extent that the use of monitoring complies with legal and ethical standards and serves to ensure the security of citizens. The boundary between security protection and the right to privacy is also important. The author points out that there is still no law on video monitoring, despite work on its content for over 5 years. It shows how widely used monitoring is and how it affects the right to privacy. The main thesis was assumption that access to modern technologies and information techniques significantly changed the perception of human rights and the use of monitoring in the context of, in particular, the right to privacy – significantly limiting them. The author notices that privacy as a good of special significance for a man but also in a specific scope of a legal person takes the form of constitutional value resulting from several provisions of the binding constitution, including the most important article 47 and others, ie article 48–51, 53.

At the beginning 2020, the vast majority of countries worldwide were forced to confront and face the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The rapid spread of this new disease resulted in radical changes in the basic principles of the functioning and organization of states and entire societies. The novel circumstances which both nation states and the international community are facing induce reflection on the need of redefining the right to privacy. This paper aims to answer, whether the current situation will lead to lasting changes in the way privacy is now perceived in Europe and what threats may be associated with the possible changes.

Professional Secrecy of Lawyers as a Way to Protect the Private Sphere of an Individual

The private sphere of an individual is legally protected by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 as well as civil, criminal and administrative law. The paper discusses the duty of confidentionality of lawyers and the role of that duty to protect the private sphere of an individual. The positive aspect of professional secrecy and the so-called internal aspect of the protection of professional secrecy of lawyers prompted the consideration of the horizontal effect of onstitutional norms. Likewise, the negative aspect of professional secrecy and its external perspective prompted the examination of the vertical effect of onstitutional norms that protect the private sphere of an individual.

The importance of surveillance carried out by state authorities - especially in connection with the increasing threat of terrorism - is not disputable. State authorities, inciting the need to ensure the security of the state and citizens, often take measures to limit human rights, including, above all, the right to privacy. This paper aims to present the most important judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights based on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (sanctioning the right to respect for private life) regarding surveillance and the position of the Court in this matter. Of course, the article also presents the position on the surveillance of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal.

Change in the Status and Powers of the Pool Watchers after the Enactment of the January 26, 2023 Amendments to the Election Code

The amendment to the Election Code made on 2023 significantly changed the status and powers of the pool watchers. If they observe the voting for at least 5 hours and observe the entire process of determining the results of voting until the signing of the voting protocol, they will receive 40% of the flat-rate allowance of members of ward electoral commissions. The chairmen of ward electoral commissions are obliged to keep records of the working time of the pool watchers. The most controversial issue is granting them the possibility of registering all activities of ward electoral commissions on election day using their own devices recording all activities of the ward electoral commission also during voting. This solution violates the principle of secrecy of voting, the right to privacy, and may be treated as an unacceptable form of pressure on the voter regarding the content of his vote.