Social Interest in The Polish Doctrine of Monument Preservation

Abstract

The paper discusses a controversy surrounding the latest amendment to the text of the Polish Parliament Act Conservation and the Care of Monuments (2015). It is a common dictum that any edifice cannot exist without good foundations. In this particular case of the mentioned above Act, definition of monument appears to be such a basis. A social interest is one of the constituent elements of the definition mentioned above. In the first part of the paper the notion of the social interest expression has been discussed, particularly from national and international points of view. The second part of the paper comprises some examples from the Polish monument preservation experience with the use of comparison method supported by case study. Only three big Polish cities: Warsaw, Wroclaw and Szczecin are involved in the presented case study but it must be emphasized that many other places on Polish territory experienced the same. Basing on the faith of these cities, the results and discussion chapter proves fundamental discrepancy in social interest notion between national and international scopes using some analytical methods. Finally, in the discussion chapter some proposals for the future amendment of monument definition in the Act of Conservation and the Care of Monuments have been provided.