This study systematically investigates the primary issues and obstacles impeding the establishment of a functional and credible judiciary in Kosovo, adopting an international perspective. The research methodology includes a combination of qualitative and empirical analytical approaches to concrete actions based on a review of relevant literature, reports, and legal documents. This paper concludes that Kosovo should be ready to reach compromises, strengthen the independence, pro­fessionalism, transparency and accountability of judges and prosecutors, and increase public confidence in justice, to achieve a successful reform in the judicial system. The paper offers several recommendations for improving the quality and efficiency of justice in Kosovo, such as promoting cooperation and coordination with international factors in this field.

Management control should be understood as the totality of measures taken to ensure that public objectives and tasks are carried out in a lawful, efficient, economical and timely manner. As a result, this control is therefore intended to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire Polish public administration. Of great importance in the control process is the stage of risk identification, as perceiving a given risk will allow to effectively counteract it. According to management control standards, an annual report in the form of a statement is recommended for this purpose. To facilitate control, the Ministry of Finance has drawn up a template that managers of units can use when assessing the state of management control. In this article, the author not only characterizes management control, but also analyzes the statements made by public finance sector entities. This was to verify whether public finance sector entities not only understand the objectives of the introduction of management control, but also whether they correctly complete the provided template of the declaration, thus contributing to the effective operation of public administration.

The amendment of Article 209 of the Polish Criminal Code, which took place on 31 May 2017 with the entry into force of the Act of 23 March 2017 on Amendments to the Criminal Code Act and the Act on Assistance to Persons Entitled to Maintenance (Journal of Laws of 2017, item 952), resulted in significant changes not only in the wording of the said article itself, but also in the picture of the statistical effects of pre-trial and court proceedings for the crime in question. From the very beginning, the said amendment raised questions and reservations among a substantial number of supporters of the established line of judicial decisions issued in the domain of criminal law. They considered it unfit to keep to the principles of adequacy and proportionality, as well as posing a threat to a significant – and ultimately destructive – increase in the burden on law enforcement authorities and the judiciary in general. At the same time, taking into account the main objectives and ideas of the amendment, which was intended in particular to improve the enforcement of maintenance obligations, it needs to be said that it proved ineffective and was actually a manifestation of penal populism.

In case of conventional vehicles, no or very little data was generated. The widespread use of autonomous vehicles, which have a large number of sensors and camera systems in addition to memory modules and carry out permanent data exchange, has the potential to reveal not only the entire living conditions of the passengers, but also those of pedestrians, and others. The increasing networking of vehicles increases efficiency and mobility. On the one hand, this networking is entirely voluntary, but it can also be mandatory, as in the case of the eCall emergency call system. Regulation (EU) 2015/758 made it mandatory for car-manufacturers from March 31, 2018 to equip their vehicles with automatic emergency call system, which in the event of an accident automatically transmits the position and other relevant data to the rescue services. Can this possibility of ubiquitous surveillance may create legal problems.? This increasing role of data requires special attention against the background of data protection based on fundamental rights and privacy.

Since 7th November 2019 most provisions of The Act of 4th July 2019 on Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure and on Amendments to the Other Acts have been applied. Among many revolutionary changes to the rules on conducting trial proceedings, worth noticing is the content of the Code of Civil Procedure Art. 2711. It concerns the admissibility of evidence that differs from traditional oral form. This paper discusses the practical problems in admissibility and examination of evidence from witness testimony in written form. The issues summoning of the witness, forms, cautions and list of questions that are demanded to be answered in a witness statement are also addressed here. Furthermore, there are proposals of practical arrangements, so this new provision would be applied by court, therefore it would contribute to the efficiency of judicial procedures. This article published in January 2020 is considered to be the preliminary proposal to academic and practical discussion about legitimacy of implementation of described solution and its effective use.

The following article provides an introduction to the issues of legal and political organization of the Roman provinces in the area of conquered territory in the time of the Roman Empire (I-III A.D). It outlines the administrative division of the empire, the relationship between them and Rome. An efficiency and well-organized management of the huge land using structured magistrate, allowed the Romans to create a world Empire which prevailed over a thousand square kilometers. The most important tasks of princeps was to ensure external and internal security of the Empire by structured and efficiency administration, as well as a guarantee of the proper/ correct jurisdiction. Not without significance was the tax collection which enriched the imperial treasury and testified to the power of the ruler. The Roman state was based on provinces, colonies and municipalities, where the last one were the primary form of local autonomy. The organization of official structure was largely modeled on the system of the Republican Rome, while respecting local traditions at the same time. Although their dependence, the residents still had full decision-making in their own affairs.

The increased effectiveness of competition law enforcement has contributed to th appearance of an atypical type of cartel, which engages not only competitors, but also their common supplier (or retailer). The so called hub-and-spoke cartel consists in the exchange of strategic information between two or more horizontal competitors (spokes) via a common contractual partner active at a different level of the production/distribution chain (the hub), who often also contributes to stabilizing a cartel. Due to the existence of the vertical element of this indirect information exchange, the question arises whether it should be assessed in the same way as its direct equivalent, i.e. as a “by-object” restriction of competition, thus, not requiring an analysis of its actual effects. Although the EU institutions have not adjudicated a hub-and-spoke collusion case yet, the jurisprudence of the national courts may provide useful guidance on what the constituent elements of the hub-and-spoke collusion are and how to assess this practice under the EU competition law. The analysis of both national and EU case law allows to contend that the hub-and-spoke cartels should amount to de facto horizontal information exchange and be assessed in accordance with the “by-object” standard. However, the hub-and-spoke collusion may equally constitute a part of a normal negotiation process (e.g. bargaining) with trading partners, as well as give rise to several efficiency gains, which should be taken into account in examining the practice concerned under the EU competition law.

As a result of a reform implemented in 2017, the National Revenue Administration was established in place of the existing tax administration, tax inspection, and the Customs Service. The tax administration was consolidated this way. Although the efficiency of collecting VAT, excise tax and fuel duty increased, there are still areas which require an analysis of the definition, statistical and legal scope, and an increase in the efficiency of enforcing compliance with both the European Union’s regulations on customs and tax and the Polish ones. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the functioning of regulations which have been applicable since 1 March 2017 and which concern customs and tax inspection of the assessment and collection of charges, which are related the import and export of goods onto the customs territory of the European Union, by the new authorities.

The paper tries to conceptualize the social and structural change that self-governments underwent during systemic transformation in Poland. First, the situation of professional self-governments before the systemic transformation is discussed, including their liquidation at the onset of communist rule in Poland as well as the beginnings of their revival at the end of it, which was described as the first wave of development of professional self-governments. Both the reasons for liquidation, as well as revival of professional-self-governments are described. After this we discuss the second wave of this development, covering the first years after the fall of communism up to the adoption of the Polish Constitution of 1997, which regulated the status of professional self-government in the “social constitution”. Next we analyse the third wave of development of professional self-governments, which lasted until 2001 and was a portent of the conflict discussed at the end of the article between two ways of understanding what professional self-governments are and what role they should play (one focused on social constitution and other on efficiency). It is argued that from 2001 onwards professional self-governments have been treated more like a tool of effective governance (and very often – as something that hinders this governance) rather than an expression of civic society.

The article discusses the issue of the conflict between social roles in the professional activity pursued by so-called liberal professions, especially by researchers. It offers a normative approach to the issue as covered in the Code of Ethics for Research Workers (Kodeks Etyki Pracownika Naukowego) and in the Code of Good Practices in Universities (Dobre Praktyki w Szkołach Wyższych). Emphasis has been placed on the types of conflicts and on their significance to the ethical aspect of professional
activity, accompanied by a simultaneous reminder that conflict tends to be a factor contributing to the axiological balance in society and to society’s efficiency.

As a result of a reform implemented in 2017, the National Revenue Administration was established in place of the existing tax administration, tax inspection, and the Customs Service. The tax administration was consolidated this way. Although the efficiency of collecting VAT, excise tax and fuel duty increased, there are still areas which require an analysis of the definition, statistical and legal scope, and an increase in the efficiency of enforcing compliance with both the European Union’s regulations on customs and tax and the Polish ones. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the functioning of regulations which have been applicable since 1 March 2017 and which concern customs and tax inspection of the assessment and collection of charges, which are related the import and export of goods onto the customs territory of the European Union, by the new authorities.

This text is a contribution to the discussion on the reform of higher education in Poland. By referring to selected examples, it shows that the planned changes are based on several fundamental myths resulting from the inefficiency of earlier attempts to heal the university system. At the same time, it aims to show why it is necessary to abandon the belief that higher education can be reformed quickly, with little financial outlays, and that the results of the implemented changes can be instant. The text offers also a criticism of the view assuming that the expected changes can be arrived at only through a reform of the law, and that it is possible to transplant solutions functioning in other countries directly to Poland. The presented considerations oppose the position according to which there exist some ideal models of education and research, whose implementation can make it possible to “breed” an ideal scholar. Arguing that education and academic success will always be an outcome of many variables, a critical analysis of selected solutions included in the law on science and higher education has been offered as well.