Więź emocjonalna ze zwierzęciem a dobra osobiste

Emotional bond with an animal and personal interests The paper looks at the legal consequences of a domesticated animal’s death in the sphere of private law. A prevailing view of the Polish doctrine excludes any claims aimed at monetary or non-monetary compensation of the harm suffered by an owner as a result of an animal’s death. Several recent cases concerning such claims, resolved by the Polish courts differently, have been criticized. In particular, most authors think that the emotional bond between a person and their animal cannot qualify as a personal interest protected by Article 24 of the Polish Civil Code. The article discusses critically the majority view and presents arguments in favor of a different approach to the civil law compensation for harm caused by a domesticated animal’s death.

Między stanem epidemii a stanem klęski żywiołowej – COVID-19 a niektóre prawa człowieka

In between a state of epidemic and a state of natural disaster – COVID-19 and certain human rights The article examines the means of restricting selected human rights and freedoms during a state of epidemic against the requirements of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The analysis particularly concerns the practice of restricting these rights and freedoms through ordinances as well as the imposition of fines and penalties for violations of epidemic orders and bans.

Jawność postępowania sądowego w świetle Europejskiej konwencji praw człowieka

Openness of court proceedings in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights The subject of this article is the right to open court proceedings as guaranteed in Article 6(1) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The most important elements of this right are: the right to participate in a court hearing, the right to access to the case files and the right to acquaint with the ruling. This right applies not only to the parties to the proceedings, but also – albeit to a lesser extent – to every citizen. The text discusses the findings of the doctrine and the European Court of Human Rights, at times criticizing them especially with regard to the too narrow definition of the obligation to publicly announce the judgment. In addition, the article analyzes the extent to which the Polish law encourages openness in civil, criminal and judicial-administrative procedures.

Zamknięte stolice imperium prawa. Znaczenie jawności postępowań sądowych dla społecznej legitymizacji władzy sądowniczej

Closed capitals of the empire of law. The importance of openness of judicial proceedings for social legitimacy of judicial authority The article focuses on the openness of judicial proceedings, in particular the openness of the trial, considered as an important element of the constitutional right to a trial, the requirement of procedural fairness and the condition for maintaining the social legitimacy of the judiciary. The immediate context for the considerations is determined by the changes introduced by the Act of May 28, 2021 amending the Act – the Polish Code of Civil Procedure and certain other acts, making it possible to limit the openness of court proceedings in relation to the occurrence of an epidemiological emergency. The author draws the attention to transformations in the constitutional position and ways of perceiving the legitimacy of courts in modern constitutional democracies. The increasing role of courts in settling major political disputes, resolving social conflicts, controlling governmental authorities and enabling citizens to hold representatives of the authorities accountable for their decisions renders participation in judicial proceedings one of the fundamental democratic activities nowadays. The author also indicates that the trial (as a fundamental form of communication between judges and citizens and a special phase of proceedings allowing the court to deeply examine the facts of the case and to learn the prevailing understanding among citizens of the values and principles on which the legal order is based) is a key measure to achieve the principles of procedural justice during the course of specific proceedings and to establish trust in the third power before the public. Openness of judicial proceedings, especially the trial, is a condition for the courts to maintain a reflexive attitude in the process of ruling and thus to deepen the social legitimacy of the judiciary based on trust.

Problematyka uzyskania dostępu do notatek służbowych (urzędowych) funkcjonariuszy policji w celu wykorzystania ich jako środek dowodowy w procesie cywilnym

The issue of obtaining access to official notes of police officers in order to use them as evidence in a civil trial The problem of obtaining access to official notes of police officers is an important practical issue, particularly in a situation where there is a need to use these documents in a civil trial. Such a document may constitute essential means of evidence in a civil trial, confirming the facts presented by a party to the proceedings. In practice, however, police officers do not always automatically provide access to the documents in question at the request of a party; therefore, the purpose of this article is to analyze the provisions under which a party may request access to such documents. The article examines the standpoint of the judicature, which indicates whether police officers are obliged to provide access to such documents to a party or third parties and whether such an action is consistent with the provisions of the GDPR as regards the protection of personal data.

Odpowiedzialność karna urzędnika za szkodę wyrządzoną przez drzewo lub krzew wskutek niedopełnienia obowiązków służbowych

Criminal liability of an administrative official for damages caused by a tree or a bush as a result of professional negligence The article focuses on the analysis of the dogmatic grounds of criminal liability of administrative officials that manage urban green areas for damages caused by the fall of a tree or a bush. The main focus of the discussion revolves around criminal liability for the failure to remove a plant as a result of the unintentional professional negligence by public officials (Article 231 § 3 of the Polish Penal Code). Particular attention is directed toward the issue of compliance of the crime of professional negligence with the constitutional standard of definiteness (nullum crimen sine lege certa). The text also discusses the possibility of incurring criminal liability for the aforementioned actions on the basis of certain types of common crimes and considers cases of potential concurrence of regulations and crimes.

Informacja handlowa i marketing bezpośredni bez uprzedniej wyraźnej zgody – wybrane zagadnienia

Commercial information and direct marketing without prior and explicit consent – selected issues The aim of the article is to examine legal regulations in the context of answering the question whether – and if so, then under which circumstances – marketing activities performed via means of electronic communication are legal when the party conducting these activities does not have the prior and explicit consent to perform them. In particular, the article will analyze the provisions of Article 10 of the Act on provision of services by electronic means and Article 172 of the Act – telecommunication law, which are the key legislative provisions to resolve this issue. To answer the question posed in the article, the subject and object scopes of both legal norms in particular will be compared. Such a comparison is necessary to determine whether – and if so, then what kind of – marketing communication can be made without prior and explicit consent. On the other hand, the author will not discuss more broadly the issues concerning the processing of personal data, although he will draw attention to the conditions that must occur in order for the personal data held by the controller to be used for the purposes identified above.

Prawnicze samorządy zawodowe w orzecznictwie sądu najwyższego w sprawach dyscyplinarnych

Legal profession self-governments in the rulings of the Polish Supreme Court in disciplinary cases The issue of the status of legal professional self-governments is not only of theoretical nature, but also is of significance for the practice of lawmaking in the area of regulations of the professions of public trust and disciplinary cases. This article examines three aspects. Firstly, it examines the possibility of deriving an obligation to establish self-governing bodies for certain legal professions directly from the Constitution. Secondly, it identifies the immanent competences of the professional self-government that the legislature cannot deprive it of. Thirdly, the article discusses the connections between the principle of autonomy of professional corporations and the restraint of the Polish Supreme Court in disciplinary proceedings.

Zasada jawności w postępowaniu sądowoadministracyjnym

The principle of openness in administrative court proceedings On the basis of Article 15zzs4 of the Act of March 2, 2020 on special measures to prevent, counteract and combat COVID-19, other infectious diseases and emergencies caused by them, and in connection with the recurrence of successive “pandemic waves” in the fall of 2020, administrative courts began to cancel open hearings and ordered the proceedings to be held during closed door hearings. The aim of this article is to evaluate the aforementioned “COVID regulations” introduced into the Polish legal order which restrict the right of the parties to an open hearing of a case that is pending before administrative courts as well as an attempt to answer the question whether the way judges of administrative courts apply the aforementioned regulations in the era of the widespread epidemic conforms to the principles of a democratic state of law.

Pozór zdrady w polskim prawie rodzinnym

The appearance of infidelity in the Polish family law The subject matter of this article is the issue of breach of the obligation of matrimonial fidelity. Practitioners face this problem in the context of the divorce proceedings’ analysis of the breakdown of a marriage and deciding on the guilty party in this regard. The aforementioned sphere is particularly interesting in the context of the development of communication technology, which has contributed both to the creation of new forms of and documenting marital infidelity. This, in turn, has brought new tasks to the field of collecting evidence before the trial. It has become necessary to decide in which situations the right to a court outweighs the protection of privacy and in which cases the secrecy of communication is violated – or even whether a possible illegal obtaining of information occurs. In the event of marital infidelity, it is also necessary to consider the importance of the forgiveness of acts committed by one of the spouses in the context of the breakdown of the marriage.