In 2021, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal (unconstitutionally composed) dropped a judicial bomb on the primacy of the EU law, a judicial dialogue with the Court of Justice, and a mechanism for providing the rule of law conditions by the Member States. The Tribunal, for the first time in history, recognised Articles 1(1), 2, 4(3) and 19(1) TEU unconstitutional. The text critically unpacks the Tribunal’s reasoning. It provides doctrinal explanations and a broader interpretation of the judgement in the context of the Tribunal’s past case law and the existing Polish debate about the judgment. One of the main arguments is that the current Tribunal is intellec-tually dishonest and abusive regarding constitutional law. It took advantage of recycling the previous constitutional case law, which was not so enthusiastic about the primacy of the EU law. The Tribunal follows strategies of illiberals or abusive constitutional actors, who conceal their real intentions and actions behind the veil of noble values and respected aims.

The judicial review of administrative courts covers the legality of acts and actions of public administration bodies. The oversight over the activities of bodies of other authorities is, therefore, excluded from this review. However, there are cases in which administrative courts, invoking the so-called pro-constitutional interpre-tation, attempt to extend their jurisdiction also to be able to review the acts, actions or inactions of legislative and judicial authorities. Despite the fact that according to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the executive power (equated by legal scholars, commentators, and practitioners with the exercise of public administra-tion) is exercised by the President of the Republic of Poland and the Council of Ministers, the dominant judicial practice is that the acts of the President, which constitute the exercise of his prerogatives, are not subject to the jurisdiction of administrative courts. The author argues against this practice.
The discussion addresses also the demands and proposals made in the litera-ture dealing with the subject for entrusting administrative courts with the review of decisions issued in social insurance cases, as well as the establishment of a separate judiciary in tax or – more broadly – financial cases. The author strongly opposes these demands and proposals as well.

This article is a contribution to the biography of Professor Andrzej Kabat – a prose­cutor, legal counsel, judge of the highest courts of the Republic of Poland, and a long­time academic teacher. The study discusses selected jurisprudential achieve­ments of Professor Andrzej Kabat from the period when he held the office of a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Administrative Court. Moreover, there are also references to his research on the institution of questions of law sub­mitted to the Constitutional Tribunal, which is regarded as pioneering in the science of law, despite the fundamental changes in the political system. What marks the discussed output of Professor Kabat is both the relevance of his ideas and the great significance for the practice of application of the law.

This article is a contribution to the biography of Professor Andrzej Kabat – a prose-cutor, legal counsel, judge of the highest courts of the Republic of Poland, and a long-time academic teacher. The study discusses selected jurisprudential achieve-ments of Professor Andrzej Kabat from the period when he held the office of a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Administrative Court. Moreover, there are also references to his research on the institution of questions of law sub-mitted to the Constitutional Tribunal, which is regarded as pioneering in the science of law, despite the fundamental changes in the political system. What marks the discussed output of Professor Kabat is both the relevance of his ideas and the great significance for the practice of application of the law.

The article deals with the latest amendment to the Pharmaceutical Law Act, dated 13 July 2023, which is related to anticoncentration restrictions on the issuance of licenses to run generally accessible pharmacies. On 4 October 2023, the President of the Republic of Poland, pursuant to Article 191 section 1 item 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, filed a motion to examine the constitutionality of this amendment. In the motion, the President argued that the amendment intro-duces a new ban on pharmacy market concentration (Article 99 section 3aa of the Pharmaceutical Law), which was introduced in violation of the principle of protec-tion of acquired rights and without adequate vacatio legis. In light of the President’s motion, the subject of this article is an analysis of the provisions of the amendment with regard to the changes involving the addition of sections 3aa and 3ab under Article 99 and sections 2a-2d under Article 103 of the Pharmaceutical Law in order to determine their legal nature, comply with the principle of protection of acquired rights, and to decide whether the adopted vacatio legis period is appropriate.

The aim of the article was to analyse the legal and financial status of the BBN, that is the office which carries out tasks resulting from the constitutionally defined role of the President of the Republic of Poland as the supreme commander of the armed forces and as a guardian of the sovereignty and security of the State. In the fol­lowing parts of the article the origin of BBN, as well as its legal and financial status were presented and analysed. The implementation of the research objectives made it possible to formulate the conclusion that the lack of financial separation of the Bureau creates serious problems in the course of financial management, as well as impelled to the formulation of a proposal to modify the financial status of the institution.

The issue of constitutional protection of natural resources does not arouse the interest of lawyers, including constitutionalists, in Poland. In none of the drafts of the new Constitution of the Republic of Poland presented after 1989 was this issue regulated. After the new Constitution of the Republic of Poland came into force in 1997, no draft amendment to this act dealing with natural resources was submitted either. The constitutional surveys conducted in 2011 and 2017 did not explicitly call for a complete or even very extensive amendment of the Constitution. Most often, they indicated the need for punctual amendments or concerning certain areas of constitutional regulation. In light of the experience with forest management, it would be advisable to extend constitutional protection to all strategic natural resources.

The issue of constitutional protection of natural resources does not arouse the interest of lawyers, including constitutionalists, in Poland. In none of the drafts of the new Constitution of the Republic of Poland presented after 1989 was this issue regulated. After the new Constitution of the Republic of Poland came into force in 1997, no draft amendment to this act dealing with natural resources was submitted either. The constitutional surveys conducted in 2011 and 2017 did not explicitly call for a complete or even very extensive amendment of the Constitution. Most often, they indicated the need for punctual amendments or concerning certain areas of constitutional regulation. In light of the experience with forest management, it would be advisable to extend constitutional protection to all strategic natural resources.

The publication looks into the conflict that occurs between values protected under the Constitution of the Republic of Poland – i.e. the right to privacy and the protection of communication versus the protection of property rights – in a situation of declaration of bankruptcy. Acting pursuant to Article 176(2) of the Bankruptcy Law, the legislator has a priori given preference to the protection of property rights over the right to privacy and the protection of communication. The conflict in question has been resolved in favour of bankruptcy creditors. The legislator’s adoption of a hierarchy of values in the area of bankruptcy law does not, of course, deal with all the problems arising in the field of the conflict between these values, and does not mean that the solution chosen is in accordance with hierarchically higher norms – meaning constitutional norms. In principle, the Constitution of the Republic of Poland makes the legislator free to resolve conflicts of competing values protected under this normative act. What is important is that this conflict be resolved by the – legislator in a way that meets the requirements of Article 31(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

The publication looks into the conflict that occurs between values protected under the Constitution of the Republic of Poland – i.e. the right to privacy and the protection of communication versus the protection of property rights – in a situation of declaration of bankruptcy. Acting pursuant to Article 176(2) of the Bankruptcy Law, the legislator has a priori given preference to the protection of property rights over the right to privacy and the protection of communication. The conflict in question has been resolved in favour of bankruptcy creditors. The legislator’s adoption of a hierarchy of values in the area of bankruptcy law does not, of course, deal with all the problems arising in the field of the conflict between these values, and does not mean that the solution chosen is in accordance with hierarchically higher norms – meaning constitutional norms. In principle, the Constitution of the Republic of Poland makes the legislator free to resolve conflicts of competing values protected under this normative act. What is important is that this conflict be resolved by the – legislator in a way that meets the requirements of Article 31(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

The article deals with the problem of modal inference: if some addressees are
obliged to do something, they are also obliged to realize states of affairs which
constitute a necessary condition for the main obligation. Likewise, they are obliged
to refrain from realizing states of affairs which constitute a sufficient condition for
the action contradicting the main obligation. This type of inference is called in Polish legal theory “instrumental inference”. It is argued in the article that sometimes instrumental norms in law must be fulfilled (“preparatory actions” must be undertaken) before the main obligation is fulfilled. Lawgiver helps addressees of norms by applying vacatio legis. It can lead to new paradoxical consequences – to the creation of “virtual norms” – norms which never come into force, but addressees are obliged to undertake preparatory actions. The article presents theoretical
description of this phenomenon. In conclusion one dogmatic claim is proposed:
there is a potential way (art. 4171 § 1 k.c.) of getting from public officials compensation for preparatory actions which caused burden for addressees, when the main obligation turned out to be “virtual”. In Poland this procedure should be based on the rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal.

The aim of this article is to answer the question whether taxpayers are entitled to any subjective rights that are overtly, unambiguously and legibly laid down in tax law. The author presents the title issue by analysing a broad base of judicature by
Poland’s CT, the EUCJ and Poland’s administrative courts, also discussing the relevant literature concerning subjective rights as coded in the provisions of the Polish Constitution and tax law. Taxpayers’ subjective rights may constitute an effective protection measure not only vis-a-vis the administrative discretion of tax authorities, but also in the event of their abuse of administrative power in relations with entities obliged to pay levies.

In the paper, we deal with the issue of education of lawyers in doctoral schools in
Poland. We describe the basic solutions adopted by the Constitution for Science regarding doctoral students. Based on socio-legal theory of the neutralisation of values in the law, we point out a few basic the categories of problems resulting from the regulations and the implementation of the act. They are: a vision of a doctoral candidate, a vision of a graduate, internationalization, interdisciplinarity, structure of doctoral schools and financing of doctoral education. The article is exploratory in nature, so its primary purpose is recognising and drawing attention to the problems and research questions that should be studied in further research.

Abstract The question of compensation of Polish citizens for their property left beyond the Bug river after the population exchanges is among the most complex social, economical and legal issues resulting from the World War II to be solved by the Polish State. Although more than 70 years have passed since this issue has arisen, it remains the subject of numerous national and European court rulings and legislative actions; the significance of the legal solution of the described issue is bolstered by the fact that it is being treated as a “proving ground” for the broader question of reprivatisation. This article focuses on the current Act of 8 July 2005 which was aimed at providing a final solution for settling the claims. However, during the last few years of this act in operation numerous questions and disputes have arisen leading to more than 600 administrative court and Constitutional Tribunal rulings. The subject of this article will be focused on current controversies regarding the subject including the requirements of residence on the former territory of Poland on 1 September 1939, exclusion of non- Polish nationals who are heirs to property owners from entitlement to compensation and legal consequences of nationalization by Soviet authorities during World War II and its aftermath.

The literary activity of Wenceslas Makowski (1880–1942) who was a prominent politician in the Second Republic of Poland (1918–1939) as well as a lawyer and a scholar, encompassed three main subjects: scientific, journalistic (mainly political and social), and artistic. His literary achievements in the scientific field of legal sciences are highly regarded. Of Makowski’s literary work in the scientific and journalistic field, his achievements in the field of criminal and constitutional law are noteworthy. Undoubtedly, this was associated with his extraordinary activity in the state bodies of the Second Republic of Poland. W. Makowski was also devoted to artistic activities and literary criticism.

The article presents the powers of the National Council of the Judiciary of Poland in terms of their potential impact on the implementation of the principle of the independence of judges and independence of courts. During the initial analysis of legal regulations of individual competences of the Council the author attempts to assess their potential impact or lack thereof on the implementation of art.186 of the Constitution. This may be a contribution to the evaluation of the National Council of the Judiciary of Poland and its relations with other state authorities.

One of the fundamental powers of the Constitutional Tribunal – granted by the provisions of the constitution – is to decide on the compliance of particular statutes with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The Tribunal’s rulings concern tax statutes as well, which implies specific consequences connected with the verification of the accuracy of tax settlements made under a challenged provision and leads essentially to excess tax being calculated. Such situations have not been uncommon recently, which justifies a more profound reflection on this issue in the context of rationality of verification of procedures regulated under the Tax Ordinance Act, which concern tax obligations arising from a declaration or a decision. It seems reasonable to put forward a thesis that the non-uniform nature of the Constitutional Tribunal’s rulings has not been considered to a sufficient extent in the provisions of this statute. This leads to certain practical problems with tax law, which will be outlined in this study.

The paper indicates the most important arguments raised by the participants in the dispute concerning the possibility of control by the administrative courts of decisions of the President of the Republic of Poland on the refusal to appoint a judge and an attempt to make a substantive evaluation of them. In my opinion, the refusal to appoint a judge, as well as refusal to accept the judge’s position under the amended Act on the Supreme Court (SC) should be strictly exceptional and in principle be justified at the constitutional level, which should be seen as the duty of the President to ensure compliance with the Constitution. Both of these resolutions should contain the motives of the President, which would make this act, with all its arbitrariness, more transparent. This is important not only from the point of view of the person concerned, but this also has an important social dimension. The public has the right to know, not only which candidates, who met the requirements for the appointment as a judge and were recommended by the National Council of the Judiciary of Poland (NCJ), were not appointed by the President, but also what reasons were at the heart of such a decision of the Head of State.