The Evolution of Classical Evaluation Standards in Competition Law: The Legal Assessment of Tying in View of Challenges Raised by Digital Markets

This paper provides a detailed review of evaluation standards for the legal assessment of tying. This practice, which constitutes an abuse of a dominant position, is a significant breach of competition law. The mechanism of this type of abuse is based on taking advantage of market power in the supply of one product to create packed offerings capable of precluding competition from superior rival solutions. Tying occurs when one product, the “tying product”, is sold only with another product, the “tied product”. In the prevailing number of cases, tying serves to consolidate the company’s dominant position on the tied product market, which usually aims to share the tying product’s large customer group with the less-desired product. However, tying is not illegal per se. In many cases, it does not lead to any anti-competitive concerns, and might be beneficial for consumers. This is why each assessment of this conduct must be carefully evaluated with special attention given to the effects, in accordance with the generally applied effect-based approach, and also potential efficiencies. An analysis of the case-law and literature reveals the basic mechanisms for conducting a legal assessment of tying. However, the use of these mechanisms will not be possible without their adaptation to the ongoing changes caused by technological development. Digital markets not only generate incremental revenues, but are also the sources of new or unusual legal arrangements. It will more frequently be the case that existing provisions will not be able to address every new practice accurately without new acts. The Digital Markets Act aims to adapt the existing legal framework to contemporary market realities and to become a modern tool for enforcing competition law rules on digital markets. The European Commission is seeking to broaden its powers to intervene at the earliest possible stage, before an undertaking affects the competition on a market.

Pozycja prawna wojewody w procesie przemian II Rzeczypospolitej

The article considers the legal status of the voivode during the interwar period, the time of the difficult restoration of the Polish identity and the creation of the Polish state in the post-Partition lands with three separate systems of territorial division and local administration. The legal situation of the office of the voivode is closely related to the establishment of the systemic foundations of the highest Polish authorities (legislative and executive) and local administration (initially, on the territory of the former Kingdom of Poland and then on the gradually annexed former Polish territories). The author refers to both spheres of legal activity of the Polish state at that time. She discusses the primary political acts, i.e. the March Constitution (1921), the April Constitution (1935) and the Constitutional Act (1926), as well as regulations concerning county administrative authorities of the first instance, situated in the then two-tier (ministries – county offices) administrative apparatus. Attention is primarily focused on the acts directly concerning the position of the voivode, i.e. the Act of 2 August 1919, the Regulation of the President of the Republic of 19 January 1928, and executive acts issued on the basis of these, and against whose background the importance of the legal institution of the voivode is presented: during the time of attempts to unify the administrative system (1918–1928), and in the period of changes leading to a uniform organisational structure of voivodship administrative authorities (1928–1939). The analysis makes it possible to state that successive legal conditions strengthened the political position of the voivode. In both periods covered by the analysis, the voivode was a representative of the government (with broader competences in 1928–1939), the executor of orders from individual ministers, the head of state and local government authorities and offices (1918–1928), the head of general administrative bodies subordinate to him, and the supervisory body over local government (1928–1939). The position of the voivode in the interwar period was unquestionably very strong.

Tytuł profesora w postępowaniu przed Radą Doskonałości Naukowej

The Act of 20 July 2018 on Higher Education and Science is the eighth Polish normative act of statutory rank since 1920 to deal with matters concerning the title of professor, not counting separate acts and their amendments. It is also the first act based on the regulations in force before 1965 to regulate in a single act matters of higher education and science. Despite their new formulation, not all of the solutions implemented by this Act imply a full withdrawal from the regulations adopted in previous years. What is absolutely new in it, however, is the simplification of the procedure and conditions of the proceedings for conferring the title of professor through: (1) a new definition of fields of science (arts) and scientific disciplines (artistic disciplines) based, following the OECD classification, on the two-tier qualification of sciences (with some exceptions); (2) the constitution of the Council for Scientific Excellence, as a new institution, as of 1 January 2021 exclusively endowed with the right to initiate proceedings for the conferment of the title of professor (including refusal) and the subsequent process, ending with a positive or negative decision of that Council. Other solutions of this law have been subject to broader or narrower changes or have been retained in their current wording. Those of such a nature constitute answers to the following questions: (1) On whom may the title of professor be conferred, and in relation to whom, despite meeting the requirements for it, is this unacceptable, for other statutory reasons?; (2) What requirements does the legislator expect from a candidate for this academic title, and to what extent do the expectations placed on them – outstanding scientific (artistic) achievements – go beyond the framework of the previously binding standards in this regard?; (3) What determines the selection of candidates for reviewers in this procedure, and what is the procedure for selecting them?; (4) What are the conditions for a candidate’s legal protection against negative decisions by the Council for Scientific Excellence, taking into account (5) the conditions for the President of the Republic of Poland’s participation in this procedure, which have remained unchanged since 1990?

Perspektywy rozwoju zawodu doradcy restrukturyzacyjnego

This paper aims to determine the directions of development of the profession of restructuring advisor in Poland. The analysis of the law regulating this profession will help answer the question of whether in its present form the profession of restructuring adviser has the character of a profession of public trust in accordance with Article 17(1) of the Polish Constitution. These findings are important for determining whether the legislator should create a self-governing body of restructuring advisors, which should be a key element in establishing the principles of the profession. A direction of the discussion defined in such a way first requires a historical and legal analysis of the legislation relating to a bankruptcy administrator. This analysis culminates in a description of the process of transformation of the profession of a bankruptcy administrator into the profession of a restructuring advisor and an analysis of the current legislation, which allows determining the nature of the profession of restructuring advisor. The paper deals with the issues of how the professional self-government functions, and the ethics of the profession of restructuring adviser. It discusses the problems of currently operating organizations bringing together persons performing the profession of restructuring adviser, their status, and the validity of the legal acts issued by these entities.The above remarks on Polish legislation are contrasted with the legal situation in the Federal Republic of Germany to show the extent of the changes in this legislation in Poland over the last thirty years. In this article, attention is drawn to the need to enact additional legislation in this field in Poland. Future directions of the development of the profession of restructuring advisor as a profession of public trust are also evaluated through an analysis of both Polish constitutional law and European Union law, in particular,Directive 2019/1023 of the European Parliament and the Council relating to restructuring and bankruptcy.

Dialog między regionalnymi trybunałami praw człowieka

The multiplicity of international judicial authorities makes their mutual interactions a challenge. In recent years, three regional human rights courts, with the competence to hear casus of violations of human rights protected by international law, have worked together to establish a robust dialogue. In spite of their normative, social or political differences, they have begun to intensify efforts to strengthen their bonds. The historic San José Declaration has provided formal conditions for the trilateral dialogue between the European Human Rights Court, Inter-American Human Rights Court, and African Court on Human and People’s Rights. The dialogue undertaken by the regional human rights courts contains not only a reference to its jurisprudence, but also a number of practices, incl. the exchange of experience. It is intended to establish consistency between human rights protection systems across the region. The initially informal cooperation has transformed into a trilateral dialogue that directly contributes to the improved understanding and implementation of human rights, which in turn constitutes a challenge to international human rights legislation. The aim of the article is to present the judicial dialogue in the field of human rights, to draw attention to its dynamics and to emphasize its role in changing some aspects of the understanding of law characterized by the principle of territoriality. This discussion is also intended to focus attention on the functions of dialogue, including penetration and mutual inspiration as well as strengthening the authority of courts.