The Disciplinary and Criminal Liability of Judges in Poland. A Criminalistics Study of Cases of Disciplinary and Criminal Liability of Judges in the Years 2010–2018

The article presents basic findings about the disciplinary and criminal liability of common courts judges in Poland. These findings are presented from a criminalistics perspective. The article provides data on the following issues: the basics of the disciplinary and criminal liability of judges, the number of disciplinary cases of judges in the years 2010–2018 and the number of criminal cases of judges in the years 2001–2017, categories of the disciplinary violations and crimes committed, decisions taken in cases of disciplinary violations, and imposed penalties. The article is based on an examination of Supreme Court verdicts issued in disciplinary cases of judges and data provided by the Ministry of Justice

The Timeless Quest for Truth in a World of Doubt: Re-Examining Modes of Proof in the Medieval Era

This article presents a brief overview of historical methods of legal proof prior to and soon after the Norman Conquest of England in October 1066. Through an examination of the rituals of compurgation and the ordeal, which were techniques designed to discover truth prior to the establishment of the inquisition in medieval Europe and the common law jury trial in England, the human quest for intellectual conviction has been indelibly with us since the days of antiquity. And, whichever method to ascertain truth is ultimately utilized – compurgation or ordeal, inquisition or cross-examination, trial by judge or by jury – the law’s enduring search for certainty amidst a world of doubt owes much to the history and times of William the Conqueror.

The Country of Origin Principle and the Applicable Law for Obligations Related to the Benefit of Information Society Services

The article takes all of the abovementioned legacy of European Union Law into consideration while analysing them in depth through the prism of the principle in question and via careful comparisons of each of them as well. Particular attention is paid to the following issues, namely: the legal nature of the principle in question, its treaty sources, its scope of application, the principle in question in the light of the abovementioned directives – namely the Directive on audiovisual media services and the Directive on electronic commerce; and finally – relationships between provisions of the two aforementioned directives in the context of audiovisual media services on demand. While working on the text, all of the mentioned parts of the main subject turned out to be important enough to put them into separated sections of the text with their own individual headings. In the meantime, several interesting subject-related sentences by the European Court of Justice were also taken into account for a broadened pool of reference. To sum it all up: ultimately, the principle in question and its potential influence on the practical functioning of the European Union’s law and economy has been considered thoroughly.

Reconciliation Processes In Rwanda. The Importance of Tradition and Culture for Transitional Justice

In 1994, Rwanda suffered one of the worst genocides in history. It is estimated that up to 1,000,000 people were killed in the 100 days of mass slaughter. In 2019, 25 years after the atrocities, Rwanda and Rwandans are still involved in transitional processes aimed at rebuilding the country, handling the past crimes and, ultimately, achieving reconciliation. In the first part of the paper the significance of the reconciliation is elaborated. Reconciliation is often presumed to be one of the main goals for transitional justice and an essential element for rebuilding peace and security in post-conflict countries. It is also the process during which victims and perpetrators attain or restore a relationship and heal their trauma. In the second part of the paper, the importance of local tradition and cultures for transitional justice is discussed. The attention is paid to gacaca courts, reconciliation villages and umuganda, and to their roles in achieving reconciliation in Rwanda.

Multilingualism as the Constitutional Principle of the Equality of Languages in European Union Law

Multilingualism is a constitutional principle of European Union law. This principle is manifested in the recognition of the equality of all the official languages and Member States. At the beginning of the 1950s, the European Community addressed linguistic equality issues by providing multilingualism protocols and Regulation 1/58. Access for citizens to legislation in every official language of the European Union is a phenomenon on an international scale. The institutions of the European Union establish their own language regimes and apply various practices adapted to the specifics of the functions they perform. The purpose of this article is to analyze and assess the impact of multilingualism as a constitutional principle of European Law.

Defense Law as the Foundation of the State Defense System in the Republic of Poland

The article presents an analysis of defense law in the legal system of the Republic of Poland in the context of its importance for the defense of the state. The author discusses the role of the state defense system in ensuring national security and presents defense law as a foundation for effective organization of this system. Moreover, the author analyzes the subject matter of defense law and points out the difficulties in its proper organization. The key issues discussed in the article are the need for defense law reforms and indication of the proposals as to the direction in which changes in this field of law should go.

An Attempt to Formulate a Preliminary Definition of the Validity of Norms

The aim of the study is to formulate a preliminary defnition of the validity of norms using idealization method for this purpose. The author proposes a preliminary definition of the validity of norms and compares it with the conception of such a definition put forward by Leszek Nowak in Interpretacja prawnicza. Studium z metodologii prawoznawstwa.

The Settlement of the Bidding Contest for a Public Task Implemented by Non-Governmental Organisations and Public Benefit Entities Without the Possibility of Initiating an Appeal Procedure

The paper focuses on the financial cooperation of public administration bodies with public benefit organisations (PBOs) in the form of delegation or commissioning statutory public tasks. As a result of cooperation, a contract is concluded, which is preceded by an open bidding contest procedure. Nevertheless, there is no provision in the contest procedure which would constitute a substantive law basis for issuing an administrative decision or taking other actions referred to in art. 3(2)(4) of the Act of 30 August 2002 on the Administrative Court Procedure by a public administration body or an appointed contest committee.

Administrative Decisions in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

The rapid development of cybernetics allows the use of artificial intelligence in many areas of social and economic life. The State can also harness algorithms and machine learning for its actions. Automatic decision making should be one of the stages in the development and improvement of public administration. While it is easy to implement these solutions in the case of related decisions, decisions made under administrative discretion, general clauses or valuation standards pose a challenge. The correct transformation of paper-based public administration into automatic public administration requires a change in decision makers’ thinking, the introduction of new solutions, and building trust in artificial intelligence. Therefore, new solutions have to be built in accordance with the principles of transparency, accountability, equality, goodness and justice. Artificial intelligence making automatic decisions on behalf of the State must be a tool to support the execution of public tasks concerning citizens which is based on trust towards AI and public administration.

The Position of Local Self-Government in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland

The paper is an English translation of Pozycja samorządu terytorialnego w konstytucji by Teresa Rabska published originally in Polish in the Journal of Law Economy and Sociology from 1995. The text is published as a part of a newly established section of the Adam Mickiewicz University devoted to the achievements of the late Professors of the Facultyof Law and Administration of the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań.