Evolution of Polish Legal Regulations Devoted to the Issue of Licensing Business Activities

The concession is considered to be the most important and most distressing form of business activity control for the entrepreneur. In the Polish legal order, it was the subject of regulation of every legal act which was considered to be the so-called economic constitution. The purpose of this study is to bring closer Polish legal regulations devoted to the issue of licensing business activities from the interwar period to the current law. Particular emphasis should be placed on how to regulate concessions in the applicable Entrepreneurs Law, which significantly differs from previous legal regulations. The legislator’s intention was to create an act of a very general nature, regulating only problems of fundamental importance for the issue of concessions. Other issues are regulated by special laws.

Automation of administrative enforcement proceedings using the examples of the Administrative Enforcement Act for the Free State of Saxony (SächsVwVG) and the Polish Act on Administrative Enforcement Proceedings (EgzAdmU)

This article analyses the possibility of utilizing the institution of an extraordinary complaint, which constitutes one of the extraordinary means of appeal in the Polish legal system, as a legal tool available to individuals inbankruptcy proceedings. The article also indicates that an extraordinary complaint, when examined from a systemic perspective within the Polish legal order - particularly in light of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in Wałęsa v. Poland - is a measure that raises certain legal concerns and prompts some political controversies. However, in the author’s opinion, this does not contradict the fact that, regardless of the emerging doubts and controversies (and irrespective of potential future legislative changes regarding this institution), such a measure is extremely important from the perspective of individuals (as subjects of freedoms and rights derived from such conventions as the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, including the right to a fair trial). State authorities should make every possible effort to ensure that this measure is fully effective, efficient, and accessible to individuals at the relevant moment - both in theory and in practice. The article aims to determine whether and to what extent an extraordinary complaint may be applied in bankruptcy proceedings, where the primary objective is to satisfy creditors and organize the debtor’s obligations. At the same time, considering the postulate of ensuring the full effectiveness and efficiency of this means of appeal available to individuals, the author also seeks to examine whether such a measure can be applied in bankruptcy cases that concern the sale of an enterprise under a pre-pack procedure. The article highlights that, despite the formal possibility of filing extraordinary complaints in bankruptcy proceedings, in practice, public authorities do not make use of this measure in relation to rulings issued during bankruptcy proceedings. The article emphasizes how the lack of such action contradicts the constitutional principles of a modern democratic state (including the principle of a democratic state governed by the rule of law that implements the principles of social justice, as indicated in Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, as well as the resulting principle of protecting citizens’ trust in the state and its legal system). An extraordinary complaint should be a fully effective and efficient remedy, also within bankruptcy proceedings. The conclusions indicate that an extraordinary complaint in bankruptcy proceedings should also be admissible in situations where the bankrupt’s assets are sold (including cases of enterprises sold under the pre-pack procedure), particularly when such actions may lead to violations of the constitutional freedoms and rights of individuals (both creditors and the debtor). In the author’s opinion, the possibility of filing such a complaint should be analysed on a case by-case basis, taking into account the legal consequences of decisions made in the course of the liquidation of bankruptcy assets.

The search for ways to optimize social support for people leaving penitentiary units is an incentive to consider the institution of halfway houses, which successfully reduce return crime in other countries. The idea of transitional homes is also made real in the Polish legal and social order, which is sometimes signaled in the literature on the subject. The study concerns research on the concept of halfway houses expressed by Prison Service officers dealing with post-penitentiary assistance in prisons. It raises the issues of the location of halfway houses, procedures for qualifying and directing convicts to this type of institution, organization and functioning, as well as the impacts conducted in the halfway houses. The indicated issues relate to the need to evolve the Polish model of social readaptation of convicts, as well as to conduct research on the effectiveness of the process of implementing halfway houses and their effectiveness in Polish legal and social conditions.

The liability risk for nuclear damage in the economic activity of nuclear power plant operation is a significant and costly risk that must be considered, even though the probability of its occurrence is very low. However, it is undoubtedly a significant factor influencing the decision to carry out this type of activity, significantly affecting its costs and, ultimately, the cost of the electricity produced. Liability for nuclear damage is one of the most far-reaching liability regimes in Polish law. The entire set of mandatory regulations at both the statutory and conventional levels influences the delineation of risk boundaries. In addition, there are optional legal tools that allow operators to further mitigate risks. The aim of this paper is to analyze selected legal institutions that positively impact the measurability of risk from the operator’s point of view. Based on the arguments presented, this article demonstrates how selected mechanisms specific to the nuclear damage liability regime, along with other optional instruments, positively impact the operator’s ability to define risk boundaries. This paper argues that the Polish legal order contains mechanisms that allow for the scaling of this risk—even though this liability is generally considered absolute, it is not unlimited. The paper also formulates de lege ferenda postulates to improve and clarify the legal situation of the operator, particularly regarding nuclear damage claims regulations.

The essential aim of the article is the theoretical analysis of the normative basis of the Polish state policy in the field of energy security. The analysis begins with the presen-tation of the state policy and energy policy concepts. The author argues that in the Polish legal order the concept of energy policy is concentrated around the premise of energy security. The next part of the analysis deals with the issues of categories of the norms shaping and implementing of the energy security policy in the Polish legal order.
 This part of the considerations shows that the normative basis for the determination, implementation and verification of political actions taken by the public authorities in the field of energy security requires the use of specific normative structures. The analysis refers to the conception of ‘goal-oriented norms’. The norms of this kind set binding goals, directions and conditions for the actions of state authorities as well in the field of energy policy. The types of the acts which concretize the goal-oriented norms (e.g. task-oriented norms; directional and determinative norms; planning norms) in the discussed field of state policy are also discussed.

The Implementation of the EU Legislative Package Concerning ADR and ODR in Consumer Disputes into the Polish Legal Order The present article aims to discuss the objectives of Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC (Directive on consumer ADR) and Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC (Regulation on consumer ODR), with a particular focus on their impact on Polish legal system. The contribution is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the basic principles of the Directive on consumer ADR and the Regulation on consumer ODR while the second part oers an analysis of the legal consequences of the implementation of the Directive on consumer ADR in the Polish legal system, in particular its impact on public authorities. Strengths and weaknesses of the system are identied and based on their impact it is possible to formulate some de lege ferenda propositions.

The Russian Federation's actions against Ukraine in February 2014, having - at the time - the form of hybrid warfare, followed later by an armed assault that took place on 24 February 2022, have resulted in an unprecedented influx of refugees from across Poland's eastern border. As Poland faced a major challenge (also in legal terms), additional regulations had to be introduced to supplement the refugee protection standards already in place under national and international laws. The purpose of this paper is to identify the prerequisites (conditions) stemming from the catalogue of protective instruments provided for in Polish legal regulations that can be taken advantage of by Ukrainian citizens after the Russian attack of 24 February 2022. The thesis of this study is that Polish protective mechanisms are consistent and complementary, and that, insofar as they apply to Ukrainian citizens, they fulfil international obligations under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, adopted on 28 July 1951 and secondary European Union law, mainly Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011.

The aim of the article is to present the Polish legal regulations concerning the obligation of social support to employees by employers, including the rich axiological layer having its source not only in socialist history of this country, but also in the legal principles expressed in the current Constitution. This issue may be interesting and inspiring in particular for people who, in order to better protect employees, support broader state interference in the market economy. The abovementioned obligation was regulated by the Polish legislator by the Act (and therefore for many employers is imperative) and formulated very widely (on both the objective and subjective scope). For this reason, Polish labor law, to the extent presented in this article, is in many ways unusual, compared to other legal systems, but it seems that it is still not known to a wider group of specialists dealing with labor law in capitalist countries. The paper also presents the analysis of the specific legislative solutions within the scope of the topic; for example the role of trade unions in the process of disbursement of funds from the social fund. The whole discussion is complemented by a consideration of the implementation of the social obligation to support workers by employers on the example of University in Szczecin (one of the largest universities in Poland).

The subject of the article is Fuller’s concept of the (not) good law paradigm defined by three notions: “internal morality of law,” “natural law of a formal nature,” and “formal rule of law” — in the perspective of its application in the current legal order of the Republic of Poland. The discourse was conducted in two stages: on a general, theoretical, and axiological levels as well as on a detailed, practical, and praxeological ones. The epistemological level with its retrospective view bears resemblance of two models: bad law and good law. The first, encapsulated in literary legal fiction, describes eight cases (anti-values) of King Rex’s legislative failures. King Rex is monarch with authoritarian and conservative traits who excludes the system of government based on the proportional cohabitation of three powers — legislative, executive, and judicative — in favour of anocracy, which is a hybrid regime “suspended” between democracy and authoritarianism. The second is a remedy in the form of axiological contours, postulates (values) of good law: generality, promulgation, prospectivity, clarity, non-contradiction, reality, stability, and compliance. These principles of the formal rule of law, contained in the concept of “soft” jusnaturalism, are a specific professional and ethical code for the public authority which constitutes, executes, and applies the law. The practical-cognitive level refers to subjectively selected examples of abusing the good lawstandard in the Polish legal and administrative order. It shows the omnipotent and simultaneously dysfunctional executive power in the area of governance and administration, aimed at a radical reconstruction of the social and legal system.

In the article there is presented temporary situation of coal mining dumping grounds in Poland – their inventarization, localization and environmental impacts. The coal mining dumping grounds in Poland are situated in three coal basins: Upper Silesian Coal Basin, Lower Silesian Coal Basin and Lublin Coal Basin. In all mentioned areas occur ca. 270 coal mining waste dumps, covering surface of over 4400 ha. The main environmental impacts connected with dumping grounds are fire hazards, water pollution and a danger of slope sliding. The question of recovery of coal from disposed wastes with regard to legal regulations is discussed. There are presented technical methods of coal recovery considering environmental protection issues. There is a necessity and technical possibility of recovery of coal from the coal-mining waste dumps. The coal recovery reduces hazards of self-ignition and fires of the dump. It is also economically justified. The analysis of required regulations in legal system in Poland for safe exploitation of secondary materials from coal mining dumps is done. Socio-economic aspects of recovery of coal are discussed. The valid legal regulations in Poland regulate the issues connected with coal mining dumping grounds in a very general way. It is necessary to prepare supplements to the legal provisions or new regulations concerning post-mining dumping grounds.


 
 
 The formulation of legal provisions by the administration does not have to take the form of administrative decisions. One of the legal forms of the administration is public-law contracts. This is one of the forms of administration which still requires a further scientific analysis. Contracts are useful instruments, and therefore it may be worth looking at their different types and construction. They may be classified according to the parties to the legal relationship created. There are two types of contracts, i.e. between admin­istrative bodies and between an administrative body and an entity. The doctrine refers to contracts of the latter type as administrative and legal agreements. Such agreements have developed in the Polish legal order after the systemic changes. Unfortunately, the legislator has not provided their legal definition, they are regu­lated in special laws, most often by indicating contractual provisions constituting essentialia negotii. The doctrine does not explicitly define the character of the con­tracts concluded by the administrative body and its contractor, nor has the final characteristics of the content of contracts in the administration as a whole been made. There is still a lack of consensus as to the construction of public law contracts and the rules governing them. There is an urgent need to regulate the essence of administrative contracts, and in particular to indicate their construction and legal nature, in order to better protect legal entities entering into them. The purpose of public-law contracts is to improve the quality of administration, and increase the efficiency of administrative activities. More administrative contracts also mean higher decentralisation of the state. Moreover, the idea of extending the use of public-law contracts is consistent with the principle of the participatory role of citizens in achieving public effects. The Polish legislator may draw on the regulations of other countries, for instance Germany, where public-law contracts have received legal definitions.
 
 

Motivation: The paper focuses on the legitimacy of introducing the simple joint-stock company (PSA) into the Polish legal order by referring to the financing of the initial phase of business operations. Describes the issue of capital gap, especially significant for capital-intensive innovative enterprises that have a problem obtaining financing due to high operational risk. The work also shows the importance of choosing capital financing sources due to financial risk and development opportunities. It presents an unconventional solution on raising funds for activities through crowdfunding. The paper attempts to answer questions about the legitimacy of introducing a simple joint-stock company into the Polish legal system and potential benefits and threats from the use of this type of company by startups. Aim: The paper proposes two research aims; verification of the legitimacy of introducing a simple joint-stock company in-to the Polish legal order and presentation of possible impact of the introduction of PSA on the use of crowdfunding as a start-ups financing source. Results: Thanks to the analysis of the acts and the literature on the subject, potential advantages and disadvantages of introducing PSA into the Polish legal system were identified. The authors take the position that combining the features of a limited liability company with a joint stock company may be the legislator’s response to the needs of the startup community.

The article focuses on issues related to the implementation of Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union in the Polish legal order. To this end, the authors analyze the provisions of the Directive and the mechanism for determining the minimum wage set forth in the Polish Minimum Wage Act. The purpose of the article is to indicate the legal regulations that should be introduced into the Polish law on the minimum wage in order to implement Directive 20022/2041. The article takes into account the legal and economic aspects of the issue analyzed. The research methodology of the article includes analysis and synthesis based on the existing literature on the subject.

Constitutional aspects of ecological safety in relation to offshore wind farms in the British and Polish legal systems