The question of human rights from an Asian perspective

The concept of human rights from the very beginning was involved in political struggle and up to now is manipulated by governments, politicians and various groupings for their purposes. Being deeply rooted in the Christian intellectual tradition its universal implementation faces various difficulties in the countries that belong to other traditions, in particular Confucian and Buddhist. Among the principal problems in the Asia-Pacific region the author points out a collectivist notion of an individual and different interpretation of “freedom”, as well as absence of the legal tradition and the emphasis on obligations rather than on rights. Therefore, in the Asia-Pacific region two elements, crucial to “human rights”, are lacking: an autonomous individual as a subject and the recognition of innate rights. Moreover, the Confucian political tradition elaborated a different concept and structure of state. Under historical tradition and circumstances political aspirations of the people were very low and the movement for human rights could not be born. It was initiated only recently under the Western impact. The author analyses potential scenarios of the future evolution and indicates that the economic development and social transformations in course will increase autonomy of an individual and strengthen legal order, as well as stimulate further democratization initiated in the region merely at the end of the 1980s. However, in order to introduce the concept of human rights to social and political practice a profound transformation of East Asian civilization is required.

One of the symbols of the Great French Revolution was the Declarations of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen-a document adopted by the National Constituent Assembly on August 26, 1789, collecting fundamental rights and the constitutional principles of a democratic state. It later became a lofty introduction to the 1791 constitution. The French had yet to receive two declarations, attached to the following basic acts-from 1793 and 1795. Their content was different, and even when some of their rights were repeated, they often differed in their approach, which indicated the changing ruling teams, their political programs, and their social background. In addition to indicating the differences between the three declarations, the article shows in particular the inspirations of the first (most important) of them-basically the influence of the Enlightenment thought and the declaration of the laws of the states of North America. The author draws attention to the differences between the American and French approaches to human rights. Despite the fact that after 1795 no further declaration of rights was ever made in France, the achievements of the Great French Revolution, and especially the 1789 document, remain today a point of reference for democrats in France and all over the world.

The concept of security, which has been popular in recent years, is an integral element of constitutional systems. Securing undisturbed human existence was one of the premises for creating legal acts limiting the arbitrary state – the first constitutions at the end of the 18th century. The tasks imposed on the constitution as a special type of legal act remained unchanged. This tendency was strengthened in the 20th century, hence the modern constitutions are characterized by strong saturation with concepts from the broadly understood field of security. The Polish Constitution of 1997 is no exception in this respect, as it lays down numerous provisions establishing far-reaching restrictions on the state and those in power. In order to guarantee security in some specific areas, the Polish constitution imposes organizational obligations on the rulers, which translates into securing the health, pension or procedural interests of the individual. The issue of respecting constitutional standards related to security is a separate issue, but this is a problem already known at the dawn of constitutionalism.

Democracy, rule of law and human rights are addressed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the European Union. Nonetheless, while the Council of Europe and the European Union develop their own legal regimes and ensue legal standards for democracy, the rule of law and human rights, the OSCE generally operates in politics and political standards pertinent to these values. However, by their very nature and definition, OSCE policy commitments are reflected in legal context, being transpired to legally binding European and international treaties. A situation hence unfolds in which a non-binding act contains content that binds beyond it. The nature of the activities of the OSCE institutions complements and corresponds to the ‘soft’ nature of the OSCE’s obligations, which is reflected in the non-authoritarian activities of these institutions: notably monitoring, formulating findings, follow-up, work of experts and reporting. This contributes to consistent relationship between the nature of OSCE commitments and the nature of the activities of its institutions.

Works of art often refer to privacy or the freedom of conscience and religion. The goal of the study is to contribute to the discussion on resolving conflict situations arising from the way of reception of art and to point out circumstances worth taking into consideration while choosing measures intended to prevent conflicts or at least minimize the effects of conflict situations that have already occurred. That is why it appears indispensable to consider difficulties in defining art-related concepts basing on social science, and to present artistic creation as a form of expression, as well as to analyze the determinants of the freedom of artistic creation as a law-protected interest in the political-legal system in the situation of conflict with other human rights.

Niniejszy artykuł zawiera szeroką analizę problemu kryteriów zgłaszania kandydatów w wyborach w systemie ochrony praw Rady Europy ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem wyroku Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka w sprawie Tahirov przeciwko Azerbejdżanowi. Podstawowe badania obejmą przede wszystkim orzecznictwo organów międzynarodowych chroniących prawa jednostki, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem Europejskiego Trybunału i Komisji Praw Człowieka Rady Europy, oraz raporty misji obserwujących wybory OBWE.

W artykule zaprezentowano główne teoretyczne i socjopolityczne argumenty tworzące tło dla inkluzji edukacyjnej. Uwypuklono w tym zakresie niektóre ważne zagadnienia związane z implementacją idei inkluzji w edukacji na gruncie humanistycznym i demokratycznym. Szczególną uwagę zwrócono na tzw. kluczowe kompetencje nauczycieli jako uczestników edukacji włączającej, a także na wymagania wobec personelu zarządzającego instytucjami oświatowymi. Artykuł prezentuje pewne sposoby rozwiązywania problemów w przyszłości, głównie poprzez edukację i szkolenie nauczycieli.

Tematem artykułu są prawa człowieka w perspektywie Europejskiej Nowej Prawicy (ENP). Alain de Benoist (główny ideolog) uważa, że prawa człowieka stały się religią obywatelską Zachodu, która zastąpiła chrześcijaństwo w zlaicyzowanej przestrzeni publicznej, stając się głównym, ideologicznych punktem odniesienia Zachodu. Artykuł omawia chrześcijańską genezę praw człowieka i krytykę praw człowieka z punktu widzenia ENP. A. de Benoist argumentuje, iż prawa człowieka są de facto bronią ideologiczną Zachodu, służącą do symbolicznego zdominowania niezachodnich państw.

Czym jest patologia? Co leży u podstaw jej zaistnienia? Jaką formę przybiera ona w rękach przedstawicieli władzy? I wreszcie jaki ma wpływ na bezpieczeństwo jednostki żyjącej w danym państwie? Zamierzeniem autorki niniejszego artykułu jest ukazanie zależności pomiędzy patologią władzy występującą w państwach dysfunkcyjnych1 a destabilizacją bezpieczeństwa ich obywateli. Obszarem poddanym eksploracji w poniższym tekście jest region Afryki Subsaharyjskiej2, z dwóch zasadniczych powodów. Po pierwsze dlatego, że właśnie tam (według corocznych rankingów Fragile States Index3) znajduje się najwięcej państw dysfunkcyjnych w skali globu, a po drugie dlatego, że z raportów opracowywanych przez różne instytucje rządowe, organizacje międzynarodowe i think tanki wynika, że skala tego problemu w Afryce zdecydowanie przewyższa niekorzystną sytuację w innych regionach świata. Odpowiedzi na zadane pytania autorka formułować będzie w oparciu o analizę literatury dotyczącej problematyki tematu, analizę danych publikowanych w wyżej wspomnianych raportach międzynarodowych, tj. Democracy Index, Freedom in the World Report, Corruption Perception Index, Human Development Index, Global Terrorism Index, i badania własne prowadzone od lat w wielu krajach Afryki Subsaharyjskiej.

When in 2020 the World Health Organization announced a COVID-19 contagious disease pandemic, it was clear that governments must take actions to limit the consequences of pandemia. Poland was one of the first to introduce far-reaching measures, limiting freedom of movement and closing an increasing number of business and activities. The Polish Constitution contains potential extraordinary measures, including the provision for declaring a “state of natural disaster”, but the Polish government has refrained from enacting it. Instead, it is based on a “state of epidemic”, which is not provided for in the Constitution as the legal ground for limiting human rights. The purpose of this study is to answer the question whether human rights restrictions introduced during the epidemic have a sufficient legal basis from the point of view of the Polish Constitution and the resulting principles.

Problems of Formation and Development of Statehood of the Republic of Karakalpakstan

This article is a study of the statehood of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, its integration with Uzbekistan and the problems faced by the Karakalpak national movements. The study can be considered relevant and innovative, since the problems of Karakalpakstan are insufficiently studied in the Polish and European scientific community. The development of relations with the countries of Central Asia, which have large reserves of natural resources, including oil and gas, is one of the priorities of the foreign policy of the European Union. Therefore, the study of regional problems and prediction of possible military-political conflicts in this region of the world, and how to respond to them, is of particular relevance to the political sciences.

This paper provides a brief analysis of Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which deals with Canadians’ “fundamental freedoms”. Provisions of the Charter guarantee freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of association.

The article refers to the right to work of people with disabilities. The author explains the meaning of the terms “disabled person”, “disability” in the context of international regulations and national legislation. He also points to the foundations of the right to work in the context of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, as well as the Act on Vocational and Social Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities. The author draws attention to international regulations of the UN and ILO in this field. The article outlines the realization of this right in the context of employment of people with disabilities in protected labor market entities and on the so-called open labor market.

The article deals with the problematic issues of human and civil rights under pandemic on the example of the practice of combating the spread of respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 civil society in Ukraine in 2020. Account has been taken of the fact that the human, his life and health are the highest social value, and that human rights and freedoms determine the content and orientation of State activities. Since every State functioned for the human, in order to protect universally recognized rights and freedoms, it was a feature of a modern democratic State governed by the rule of law. At the same time, in legal science in recent years there has been a debate about the problems of human and civil rights against the background of widespread abuse of rights, individual selfishness, conflict of rights of one person and group of people, human and society. That is to say, in the order of the day came an all-civilizational discussion about the appointment of the State, the idea of humanocentrism and sociocentrism as the fundamental foundation and expediency of the State. The problem is posed by the global challenges faced by present-day civilization: climate protection and freshwater, poverty and corruption, terrorism and military conflicts, massive ethnic displacement and pandemics. In one way or another these problems are present on all continents today, both for the world community and for each State in particular, but there is no well-established mechanism for dealing with them. With regard to combating the spread of coronavirus, it is clear that the problem is a global one in the field of medical law, and that it must be addressed both at the level of the novelization of legislation and at the level of philosophy and sociology of law, ‘cause that’s the kind of system-wide results you can use in complex under the state-creative practice today.

The right to social assistance benefits in the light of the Polish Constitution

This article discusses the right to social assistance benefits in the light of the Polish Constitution. Its purpose is to present the principles and legal norms directly related to this law. On the basis of the material contained therein, it can reasonably be assumed that among the values and norms specified in the Constitution and relating to the sphere of human social rights, human dignity deserves special attention, as well as the principle of subsidiarity, which are related to the issues of social assistance.

Artykuł stanowi próbę porównania obecności problematyki rządów prawa w dorocznych exposé ministrów spraw zagranicznych RP z perspektywy 1990 i 2019 r. Impulsem do wzmiankowanej analizy wystąpień Krzysztofa Skubiszewskiego i Jacka Czaputowicza były: 30. rocznica powołania rządu Tadeusza Mazowieckiego i – co się z tym wiąże – zapowiedź ustanowienia standardów prawnych charakterystycznych dla zachodnich demokracji liberalnych oraz, siłą rzeczy, bieżący spór wokół praworządności w Polsce. Okoliczności te sprawiły, że zagadnienie rządów prawa zajęło istotne miejsce w przemówieniach obu szefów dyplomacji. W artykule dokonano analizy wystąpień obu ministrów spraw zagranicznych. Kwestia praworządności pojawia się w nich w następujących kontekstach: krajowym (transformacja wymiaru sprawiedliwości i towarzyszący jej dyskurs) oraz międzynarodowym, obejmującym relacje Polski z innymi państwami (ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem państw sąsiedzkich) i organizacjami międzynarodowymi (Rada Europy – przez pryzmat przede wszystkim Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka, Unia Europejska, ONZ). O ile minister Skubiszewski w pewnym sensie wyznaczył w swym exposé „punkt wyjścia” polskiej polityki zagranicznej (w tym zobowiązanie do implementacji międzynarodowych standardów ochrony praw człowieka), tak Jacek Czaputowicz „punkt dojścia”, bowiem najistotniejsze cele wolnej Polski w sferze stosunków zewnętrznych zostały na przestrzeni 30 lat zrealizowane. Zmiana polityczna, jaką przyniosły wybory parlamentarne w 2015 r., sprawiła, że problem rządów prawa w Polsce stał się – także w polityce zagranicznej – na powrót aktualny.

Security problem in selected polish constitutions

The Republic of Poland is a democratic state ruled by law, and the normative basis of its functioning is legal acts of the highest order – the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997. The Basic Law has the highest rank and force among all sources of universally binding law. In the constitution, the legislator granted certain norms the status of constitutional principles, which are fulfilled by the function of program norms while being the basis for the interpretation of other regulations. Among the constitutional principles, the obligation to ensure the safety of citizens was distinguished. The article in general presents the problem of security not only in the currently binding constitution, but also in selected other Polish constitutions.

Human rights in the constitutions of selected European countries

Nowadays human rights are an essential part of constitutional regulations in the European countries. The very first universal regulation based on the rights of every citizen, was The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen set in 1789. Analysed constitutions of France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Latvia, Bohemia, Slovakia and Poland point to the developments of rights of individuals through expanding these rights from the rights of the citizens to the rights of every person on the territory of a particular country. Obviously, the rights concerning exclusively the citizens of a particular country, like for example the right to vote, have still been maintained. A modern catalogue of rights and freedoms of individuals is abundant and expanded by, for example, the right to the constitutional complaint or the right to a clear environment. Nowadays the human rights standards are widely recognised though not always respected. This results from the legal and political practise, in which the scope of the rights of individuals is still being narrowed. One of the reasons are ideological and political changes in particular countries, which are being enforced with the development of civilisation and technology.

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.

Protection of the future generations in the context of the climate neutrality goals in the jurisprudence of the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany

In this paper the impact of the current legal provisions in Germany, dedicated to achieving the goal of climate neutrality till 2050, on the human rights and freedoms of next generations will be investigated. An assumption for this reaserch task is a judgement of the Federal Constitutional Tribunal from 24 March 2021, related to the obligaton for the public authorities to provide the inter-generational justice in the framework of environmental policy. The aim of this paper is also to examine if the climate neutrality can receive a status of new, constitutional value in the German legal order.