The fight against a pandemic, which is a form of natural disaster, is always connected with limiting constitutional freedoms and human and civil rights. Due to the emergence of the coronavirus epidemic in Poland, a number of legal regulations have been adopted to combat it. The adopted regulations are restrictive and significantly limit the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and rights. This article analyzes the limitations of rights and freedoms introduced during the pandemic in Poland, and in particular the manner of their implementation, and assesses the process from the point of view of violating the basic standards of human rights protection. The results of the analysis lead to the conclusion that despite the substantive justification of many restrictions, the manner of their introduction violates the basic standards of human rights protection and raises fundamental doubts from the point of view of the compliance of the introduced solutions with the Constitution.

Laws Matter – Alon Harel Concept of Constitutional Obligation to Criminalize

The article will present the concepts of the Israeli philosopher Alon Harel relating to the issue of non-instrumental justification of law, including criminal law. An important aspect of Harel’s considerations is the obligation to criminalize acts that violate fundamental rights and freedoms. This duty should be expressed in the constitution, symmetrically to the content of constitutional rights and freedoms. The background to the considerations is the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of 22 October 2020 issued in case K 1/20. The article will outline the line of argumentation (following Alon Harel) in favor of the recognition that regardless of socio-ethical or philosophical issues, the Tribunal’s decision was necessary for the good not only of individual individuals, but also of the legal system.

Civil Rights and Freedoms in the Light of the Idea of the „15-Minute City”

The aim of the article is to draw attention to the rights and freedoms of citizens in the light of the idea of introducing “15-minute cities”. This idea is indicated in the UN resolution of 2015, called the 2030 Agenda. 15-minute cities are referred to as smart cities or compact cities. Under the “Horizon Europe” program, 100 cities were selected as experimental cities in the pursuit of creating smart cities by 2030, including: Wrocław, Warsaw, Łódź, Rzeszów and Kraków. The assumption of the smart city is that every resident should have access to basic life needs within 15 minutes of home. By implementing the above, a new urban planning trend in cities was also created. On the basis of these considerations, an attempt was made to assess whether the changes related to the introduction of 15-minute cities will not limit the rights and freedoms of man and citizen