The Legal Content of Parental Authority in Polish Family Law

Abstract

The article constitutes a synthetic analysis of the legal content and the definition of parental authority in the Polish legal system. In the first section, the author discusses the relevant scholarly findings, and quotes and comments on the existing definitions of parental authority, and the theories of its structure (content). The second section outlines and analyses the principles of exercising parental authority provided for by Polish family law. The considerations are centred around the recent amendments of the regulations that determine the manner of exercising parental authority, which are subjected to critical assessment. In the final section, the author takes into account the previous considerations, and refers to the propositions of terminological changes concerning the institution of parental authority, in particular the notions of replacing the aforementioned term with the expression “parental responsibility”. The author also offers arguments against such a modification.