Legal Status of Minor Testator’s Parents Deprived of Parental Authority in Intestate Succession. Some Remarks on the Solutions in Polish, Russian, and Italian Law

The legal situation of minor testator’s parents in intestate succession poses a significant legal and social problem. In Polish law, parents who have been deprived of parental authority continue to enjoy their civil-law status; in other words, they maintain the right to inherit from their child under statute. Meanwhile, the reasons for which the court applied the strictest possible “sanction” in the form of deprivation of authority of parents who, in exercising their rights under parental authority, seriously violated the child’s interest or grossly neglected parental obligations, which is noticeable even to an ordinary bystander, seem to be sufficient “proof” that family ties, which are decisive for the statutory title to inherit, do not exist. If these ties are severed or seriously disrupted, the consequences should be seen in all areas of life. Simply put, persons who deliberately break apart the family should not enjoy the advantages that the law provides for testator’s closest relatives. In such a case, to consider the effect of deprivation of parental authority by “releasing” its holders from any obligation towards the child may not be considered a sufficient civil sanction, especially given that in the vast majority of cases, the reason for such deprivation is gross neglect of parental duties by one or both parents. The consequences of this type of negligence should also, if not primarily, consist in the deprivation of pecuniary benefits that the parents of a minor could enjoy after his or her death. The current legal solutions governing this area undoubtedly need to be revised. Such imperfect normative solutions adopted in Polish law prove the need to propose de lege ferenda recommendations. In this context, it is worthwhile to have a look at the normative solutions adopted in foreign legal systems and whether they can be grafted on Polish law. The reference to the Russian and Italian legal systems seems particularly recommendable due to the fact that their normative solutions directly allude to the institution of deprivation of parental authority in the context of admissibility of the title to inherit.

Gloss to the Resolution of the Supreme Court of 26 February 2021, III CZP 24/20 [on the Interpretation of the Will]

The resolution with gloss concerns the rules for interpreting a will. The Supreme Court stated in it that an interpretation of a will should be performed taking into account all circumstances, including those external to the will and using all means of evidence. The Supreme Court decided that it is the court adjudicating in the case for inheritance acquisition, assessing the evidence gathered in a specific case, that should assess whether it is actually possible to establish the will of the testator. The author of the gloss accepts the thesis of the resolution, but argues with the position of the Supreme Court contained in its justification that only the rules for evidence assessment constitute an instrument allowing one to establish the testator’s will. In the opinion of the author of the gloss the functional interpretation of Art. 948 of the Polish Civil Code (k.c.) indicates limits to the interpretation of the will. After all this is a process that renders it possible to determine the testator’s will in a manner that does not raise any doubts. Therefore, if the interpretation of the will of such fails to secure such a degree of certainty, even despite a positive assessment of the evidence gathered in the case, the court should state that the inheritance has been acquired under the Act.

On the Subject of Testamentary Burden against the Background of German Law

The making of a last will and testament by a testator is an act in law. The testator is entitled to make specific dispositions to execute their last will, such as identifying an heir, making ordinary or vindication legacies, or appointing an executor of the will. At the same time, the number of potential aims intended to be achieved by the testator corresponds to the number of possible life situations that cannot be resolved through the testator’s dispositions regarding their estate. It is therefore necessary to equip the testator with such legal means that will allow them to achieve both material and non-material objectives. This is the role of the institution of testamentary burden. It has been regulated in the Polish legal system only superficially; therefore, the author refers to the legacy of German legislation to offer a better understanding of the solution.

Succession of Digital Goods. A Comparative Legal Study

The purpose of this article is to present possible solutions to the problem of access to digital contents left by a deceased user of Internet services under different European legal systems. Discussion of this issue from a comparative perspective will allow the drawing of general conclusions about the direction de lege lata in which European legislation is heading. In my opinion there should be dedicated legal provisons introduced into the polish civil code which would pertain to digital goods. This would also facilitate the harmonization of inheritance matters in a European perspective. Technological development requires amending the civil code to fit changing reality.

Administration of the Estate under Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012

In the period between the deceased person’s death and division of assets in the deceased person’s estate among the heirs, an essential matter is administration of the estate. Persons exercising such administration should have adequate competences allowing them to perform factual and legal acts in relation to assets in the succession estate. The range of such persons and the scope of their competences differ in specific Member States of the EU. The law applicable to the administration of the estate, as well as other matters relating to succession, is currently designated by the Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012. This article is devoted to an analysis of the provisions of that Regulation on the administration of the estate. In addition, the article discusses the issue of qualifying the institution of succession administration as applicable in Poland with regard to an enterprise belonging to the succession estate. As a result of the investigations made, it can be concluded that administration of the estate is governed by the law applicable to the entirety of succession matters (lex successionis). This is the case also in respect of the succession administration recently introduced in Poland. Grounds for a different treatment of the succession administration cannot be found in Art. 30 of Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012.

Excluding Forced Heirs due to a Lack of Personal Relationship with the Deceased in Spain in a Comparative Perspective

Forced heirship is considered a limit on the freedom of will of the deceased in favour of intergenerational solidarity. It involves that some relatives, usually descendants, have the right to claim a share of the deceased’s assets or estate. Although recognized in most EU jurisdictions, authors discuss about the need to regulate this institution taking into account new family models and societal changes. In fact, this debate has been intensified due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which showed that several elders died alone in nursing homes without family support, and part of their assets shall be reserved to their relatives. This paper analyses the legal framework of forced heirship in Spain and examines to which extent it is possible to exclude this right due to a lack of personal relationship with the beneficiaries in view of comparative models.

Medieval Canon Lawyers and European Legal Tradition. A Brief Overview

The Roman Church was a leading public institution of the Middle Ages and its law, canon law, belonged to most powerful factors of European legal history. Today’s lawyers have hardly any awareness of the canonist origins of several current legal institutions. Together with Roman law, canon law constituted the system of “both laws” (utrumque ius) which were the only laws acknowledged as “learned” and, consequently, taught at medieval universities. The dualism of secular (imperium) and spiritual power (sacerdotium), symbolized by so-called two swords doctrine, conferred to the Western legal tradition its balance and stability. We analyze the most important institutional achievements of the medieval canon lawyers: acquisitive prescription, the Roman-canonical procedure, the theory of just war, marriage and family law, freedom of contract, the inheritance under will, juristic personality, some institutions of constitutional law, in particular those based on the concept of representation, and finally commercial law. Last not least, the applicability of canon law defined the territorial extension of medieval and early modern Christian civilization which exceeded by far the borders of the Holy Roman Empire, where Roman law was effective as the law of the ruler. Hence, the first scholar to associate Roman law with (continental) Europe as a relatively homogeneous legal area, Paul Koschaker, committed in his monograph Europa und das römische Recht, published in 1947, the error of taking a part for the whole. In fact, Western legal tradition was based, in its entirety, not on Roman, but rather on canon law; embracing the common law of England, it represented – to cite Harold Joseph Berman – the first great “transnational legal culture”. At the end, some structural features of canon law are discussed, such as the frequent use of soft-law instruments and the respect for tradition, clearly visible in the approach to the problem of codification.

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.

Combining Legal and Economic Theory. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Dutch and Polish Family Provisions in Succession Law

Although testamentary freedom is an important principle in succession law, legislators and judges across the world have recognized the importance of certain family members by granting them mandatory claims in the inheritance of their deceased relative (in spite of wishes of the deceased). This article focuses on these rights. The goal is to introduce the Dutch framework of imperative succession law and to demonstrate the possibilities of combining the legal and economic discipline to deepen knowledge on these provisions. Whilst examples will focus upon succession law, the concepts will be described in a general manner. This might inspire researchers to apply a similar interdisciplinary approach in other fields of law. The imperative provisions that currently exist for family members in the Netherlands can be divided into two types of claims. The first is the legitime, a fixed claim for children of the deceased. The second type are the other statutory entitlements that cover a specified range of situations in which judges have freedom in deciding upon the requests of family members. However, this discretion raises many questions on the way judges should handle such claims. A combination of law and economics can aid in describing and interpreting the law, for example by defining the need for support that is often required for a successful claim. By relying on economic data and theory, judges can come to a more consistent and substantiated way of establishing the need for support. The interdisciplinary methodology can also improve comparative legal research. The functional approach that is common in comparative legal research, assumes that law fulfills certain functions. Economic figures provide an objective basis that demonstrates what functions a law fulfills and to what extent this is done efficiently. This information can be used to compare the functioning of laws in different countries.

Death in Times of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic. Legal Regulations of the Burial of the COVID-19 Deceased in Poland

The article discusses the issues of death in times of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and burial of the COVID-19 deceased. It also presents some currently binding legal regulations as well as restrictions and obligations for the organizers of the funeral connected with the infection of the deceased with COVID-19. Moreover, it shows the influence of state law on funeral regulations in the denominational form and the cult of memory of the dead.