Connection of Lands, Buildings and Structures with Business Activity - Direction Of Interpretation Changes

The article presents the interpretation of the regulation of Polish Real Estate Tax resulting from the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of 24 February 2021, SK 39/19. In this judgment the Constitutional Tribunal questioned the current interpretation of the connection of land, building or structure with conducting business activity. The author describes necessary changes in interpretation of the regulation, which results from this ruling. The article explains who is affected by the new understanding of the regulation and what is the relationship of the new interpretation with the suspension of business activity. The major part of the considerations is devoted to the effects of the Constitutional Tribunal's judgment in relation to restrictions implemented on the conduct of economic activity in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The author presents the position according to which subjects who could not conduct economic activity by the regulation should not pay for this period the higher rate of property tax provided for real estate owned by entrepreneurs.

Legal conflict between the EU and the republic of Poland regarding polish judicial reform

Problem setting. On October 7, 2021, the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland ruled in favor of Polish law over European Union law, which in the long run may violate the principles according to which the Union operates and the rights enjoyed by citizens of the state. Such a precedent can further serve as a basis for identical decisions of the bodies of constitutional jurisdiction of those states that have problems in fulfilling their obligations in the European community. Analysis of recent researches and publications. The problems of the functioning of the bodies of the European Union, the implementation of their decisions and the general status in EU law are widely studied in national science. In particular, many scholars have studied the legal nature of the EU, including: TM Anakina, VI Muravyov, NM Ushakov, A. Ya. Kapustina, NA Korolyova, Yu. Yumashev, BN Topornin, OYa Tragniuk, SS Seliverstov, IV Yakovyuk and others. Target of research is to establish the foundations of EU law in the functioning of Union bodies, especially the Court, as well as to determine the hierarchy of national law and EU law. Article’s main body. Over the years, the Court has, within its jurisdiction, issued a large number of judgments which have become the source of the Union’s Constituent Treaties and of EU law in general. Over the last two decades, the powers of the Court of Justice have changed significantly. In particular, this is due to the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, which amended the EU’s founding treaties on the powers of the Court, then the reform of the European Court took place in 2015-2016, which concerned a change in the organizational structure of the Court. Despite the generally well-established case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the unification of the observance by the Member States of the basic principles of the European Union, the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland adopted a decision on 7 October. Conclusions and prospects for the development. Following the decision of the Constitutional Court, the Polish authorities found themselves in a situation that significantly complicated its internal and external situation. The way out of which requires answers to fundamental questions about the legal nature of the EU. Undoubtedly, this is an issue not only between Poland and the EU, but also between other member states.

RETIREMENT AGE: JUSTIFIED DIFFERENTIATION OR DISCRIMINATION? COMMENTS ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE JURISPRUDENCE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL

The article deals with the issue of the differentiation of the retirement age in the Polish pension system. As part of it, the reasons for the differentiation of the retirement age among women and men were analyzed, as well as the justification for its continued maintenance in the pension system. The considerations primarily take into account the evolution of the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Tribunal in this area and non-national regulations. Attention was also drawn to the doubts that may arise from the differentiation of the retirement age in the context of the inequalities observed against this background, and stressed the need for constant monitoring of the circumstances supporting the differentiation of the situation of women and men in this respect

The Image of Women Strike in “Wiadomości” TVP and “Fakty” TVN news services from October 22 until November 2 2020, in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

The article presents an analysis of the contents of news stories broadcasted by the news services of two leading Polish TV stations dedicated to the social protests sparked by the ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal of 22 October 2020 on tightening the law on abortion in Poland. Moreover, a closer look was taken on the frequency and method of connecting the coverage of the protests with the matter of COVID-19 pandemic. The obtained results were set in the context, of the theory of the framing and agenda-setting. The outcome of the analyses presents essential differences in the methods in informing the public of the social protests used by the newsroom of ”Wiadomości” TVP and ”Fakty” TVN.

Prawo podmiotowe jednostki do środowiska. Perspektywa konstytucyjna

The article does not discuss a new research problem. However, it contributes to the discussion on the need to secure the individual’s subjective right to the environment as well as on the need to determine the scope of this right. The arguments presented in the study serve to decide whether there exist constitutional subjective rights to the environment, secured by a legal means in the form of a constitutional complaint. A number of arguments, supported both by the doctrine and the case law of the Constitutional Tribunal, lead to the conclusion that the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 does not guarantee individuals any other subjective rights related to human functioning in the natural environment, apart from the right of everyone to information on the condition and protection of the environment.

Control of the Constitutionality of European Union Law by Means of Constitutional Complaints

The subject of this article is the institution of the constitutional complaint, which is analysed in connection with European integration. It should be noted that Poland’s membership of the European Union has had a great influence, not only on the system of national law, but also on the jurisprudence of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal; therefore considerations are carried out here mainly in relation to the Constitutional Tribunal. In examining the issue of the constitutional complaint, the following assumptions may be stated. First, the constitutional-complaint procedure, is in fact, the examination of the compliance of legal norms with the Constitution, any deviation being related to the entities initiating proceedings before the Constitutional Tribunal, Article 191(1)(6), of the Constitution[1], and to the material scope of the complaint, as determined in Article 79 of the Constitution. Second, there is no doubt that the constitutional complaint can become an important legal instrument shaping the jurisprudence of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, which has to face constitutional issues related to European integration[2]. Following the example of the practice of other Member States, e.g. Germany, the Tribunal may use the institution of the constitutional complaint as a means of controlling the compliance of the secondary law of the European Union with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. [1] The Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Journal of 2 April 1997, Journal of Law 1997, No. 78, item 483, as amended. [2] The literature on the subject indicates that the membership of nation States of the European Union obliges constitutional courts to act in the field of integration. Their task is to set the boundaries and conditions for the integration process. Jurisprudence in this area is referred to as acquis constitutionnel. Cf. Aleksandra Kustra, “Model skargi konstytucyjnej jako czynnik kształtujący orzecznictwo sądów konstytucyjnych w sprawach związanych z członkostwem państwa w Unii Europejskiej,” Państwo i Prawo, no. 3 (2015): 35.

Legal institutions securing socially recognised rightsof the subjects participating in legal transactions, based on the example of legitimate expectative

The article “Legal Institutions Securing Socially Recognised Rights of the Subjects Participating in Legal Transactions, Based on the Example of Legitimate Expectative” sheds light on the concept of legitimate expectative as a separate right. It gives arguments in favor of qualifying this type of right as legitimate since it protects legally important issues connected with the transactions undertaken by the participants of the market. The article also draws attention to the decisions of the international tribunals and the European legislatives that grant the position of the legitimate expectative in the general system of law. Coined by the German doctrine of law under the names: Anwartschaft, Wartenrecht and Zwischenrecht, the notion of expectative becomes widely recognised in other European countries, also in Poland, which is highlighted in the text. The protection of the said right in the Polish law system is mainly guaranteed by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, in the described in the article decisions of 1989, 1993 and 1996. The topic of the article is not only the analysis of the said right of expectative but it also aims at a more general issue which is the creation of the new rights in very traditional civil law systems, especially in the Polish one. The summary of the analysis shown in the article leads to the conclusion that new rights and regulations are necessary, and the source of them should stem from the needs of the society, not the needs of the state.

The Contemporary Significance of the Principle of Proportionality in Tax Law

The principle of proportionality plays a key role in shaping the principles of the tax law system, as it is an important element in the protection of taxpayer’s rights. The interpretation directive related to the principle of proportionality has a doctrinal, normative, and jurisprudential character. It is an EU and constitutional standard and should become a rule used on a daily basis in the practice of tax authorities. As a general principle of tax law, it is addressed to the legislative, executive, and judicial authorities. The article analyses the case law of the CJEU, the Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Administrative Court, which leads to the following conclusions. The CJEU quite often refers to the principle of proportionality in its jurisprudence and has developed a jurisprudence doctrine based on the doctrine of law. The Constitutional Tribunal, although in a limited scope, also employs the principle of proportionality. In disputes between tax authorities and taxpayers, Polish administrative courts apply the principle of proportionality using a pro-EU and pro-constitutional interpretation.

The right to abortion in Poland in the light of the Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment of 22 October 2020

The article presents the conditions for exercising the right to abortion in Poland following the entry into force of the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of 22 October 2020, ref. no. K 1/20 (Journal of Laws “Dziennik Ustaw” of 2021, item 175), declaring unconstitutional those provisions of the Act of 7 January 1993 on Family Planning, Protection of the Human Foetus and Conditions of Permissibility of Abortion, which provided for the possibility to terminate a pregnancy due to defects in the development of the foetus. Moreover, the publication presents the arguments which were invoked in the analysed judgment and indicates its legal and social effects.