The provisions of general tax law contained in the tax ordinance should be stable. In recent years, however, an increasing process of amendment to this law can be seen. An analysis of the changes made indicates that they are introduced in connection with the need to counteract tax fraud, the lack of institutions characteristic of modern acts of this type and the development of new technologies. Continuous modernization of the provisions of over 20 years of ordinance no longer brings the expected results, and in some cases leads to the spoilage of basic institutions of tax law. A new law is needed. Only its adoption can contribute to improving the stability of general tax law.

The provisions of general tax law contained in the tax ordinance should be stable. In recent years, however, we have seen an intensifying process involving amending this act. An analysis of the changes made proves that they are introduced in connection with the need to counteract tax fraud, the lack of institutions characteristic of modern acts of this type, and the development of new technologies. The continuous modernisation of the provisions of the over-20-years-old ordinance no longer brings the expected results, and in some cases actually leads to the undermining of the fundamental institutions of tax law. There is a need for a new act. Only the adoption of such an act can contribute to the improvement of the stability of general tax law.

Cash pooling is a method of managing financial resources, which works well primarily in enterprises with an extensive corporate structure and operating within capital groups. The choice of a given form of cash pooling will depend on the entrepreneur’s individual preferences. Although using this method has many advantages, it still raises legal doubts. There is a lack of provisions in Poland that would precisely regulate this type of greement. In many cases, the design of the cash pooling agreement is similar to a loan agreement. However, it is worth paying attention to the basic differences, such as the fact that the essence of cash pooling is not an obligation to transfer a specific monetary value to an entity specified in the contract. These and other specific features of cash pooling agreements mean that it is not always obvious to which entity and on what terms an entity can be granted the status of beneficial owner. An additional, verification obligations imposed on the Polish payer and the need to act with due diligence are practical impediments.

Cash pooling is a method of managing financial resources, which works well primarily in enterprises with an extensive corporate structure and operating within capital groups. The choice of a given form of cash pooling will depend on the entrepreneur’s individual preferences. Although using this method has many advantages, it still raises legal doubts. There is a lack of provisions in Poland that would precisely regulate this type of greement. In many cases, the design of the cash pooling agreement is similar to a loan agreement. However, it is worth paying attention to the basic differences, such as the fact that the essence of cash pooling is not an obligation to transfer a specific monetary value to an entity specified in the contract. These and other specific features of cash pooling agreements mean that it is not always obvious to which entity and on what terms an entity can be granted the status of beneficial owner. An additional, verification obligations imposed on the Polish payer and the need to act with due diligence are practical impediments.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a tool that allow predicting the environmental effects of a project. Undoubtedly, the basic element of the EIA is the EIA report: and if so, the question arises who is qualified to prepare the report. The purpose of the study is to present the evolution of the rights of EIA report experts from the 1970s to modern times, presented from the perspective of legal sciences. The implementation of the amended Directive 2011/92 took place from 1 January 2017 by introducing formal education criteria and/or experience for EIA experts, which were softened by the amendment of 19 July 2019. In the study, I put forward the thesis that there is a tendency in Polish legislation
to lower the requirements for EIA experts, which makes national regulation contrary
to the spirit of Directive 2011/92. Research methods used in the study include primarily the dogmatic approach, the method of consistent interpretation, and – to a lesser extent – the comparative and historical method.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a tool that allow predicting the environmental
effects of a project. Undoubtedly, the basic element of the EIA is the EIA report: and if so, the question arises who is qualified to prepare the report. The purpose of the study is to present the evolution of the rights of EIA report experts from the 1970s to modern times, presented from the perspective of legal sciences. The implementation of the amended Directive 2011/92 took place from 1 January 2017 by introducing formal education criteria and / or experience for EIA experts, which were softened by the amendment of 19 July 2019. In the study, I put forward the thesis that there is a tendency in Polish legislation
to lower the requirements for EIA experts, which makes national regulation contrary to the spirit of Directive 2011/92. Research methods used in the study include primarily the dogmatic approach, the method of consistent interpretation, and – to a lesser extent – the comparative and historical method.

Tax policy, perceived as a long-term and rational activity which aims to achieve specified legal, economic and social goals has always been connected with the problem of political power within the frames of a given tax system. Regarding the nature of membership in the European Union, issues of tax policy should be analyzed in the context of a ulticentric tax system, since both creators and addressees of political actions remain in a diverse regime of domestic, European and international tax law. The author discusses the legal basis of this phenomenon, which attributes to the complementary nature of the tax policy, reflecting on the conditions and limitations
in the light of challenges to be faced by contemporary tax systems.

One of the most effective systems of protection of human rights is the system defined in the European Convention of Human Rights. Until 2010, the European Court of Human Rights had rarely handled tax cases because, in principle, it excluded this category of cases from its jurisdiction in the field of the protection of taxpayer rights. Such cases had always been qualified – in accordance to the requirements of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights – as criminal or civil (property-related) cases. A major change in the ECHR’s approach to cases featuring tax-related aspects occurred in 2011. Given the protection of the right to property as set out in Protocol No. 1, the ECHR ranted taxpayers protection related to the return of value added tax in situations in which the taxpayer fulfilled their record-keeping obligations. The adopted trend in the issued decisions is seen to be dominant, but to be considered grounded, a greater number of ECHR judicial decisions than at present is needed. There is no doubt that the new tendency in the judicial decisions issued by the ECHR may have a major impact on the decisions issued by administrative courts in Poland.

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 is the first in a series of papers to present and analyse the meaning that is ascribed to the notions of ‘gambling’ and ‘gambling games’ in the gambling law provisions of selected European countries, as well as to confront the normative meaning with gambling characteristics from the perspective of social sciences. The following parts of the paper analyse examples of those provisions which do not contain any term for a broad catalogue of gambling activities, as well as selected provisions containing legal definitions of ‘games of chance’ (‘games of luck’). The article mainly uses methods of comparative law. The presentation of the characteristics of gambling from the perspective of social sciences is based on the achievements of social scientists. The research is based on the following research theses. Firstly, regulatory models in which the gambling law provisions specify the characteristics of gambling without indicating a name covering a collective category of gambling games in the definiendum are rare. Such solutions are typical for countries which have so far pursued restrictive gambling policies. Secondly, both in the legal systems in which there is no legal definition of gambling under gambling law and also against the background of the definitions of legal games of chance, one may notice significant differences in the way in which individual features of gambling games are specified, i.e. the dependence of the outcome of a game on chance, player’s financial involvement and the winnings.

In addition to search engines, social networks represent an important digital service for many Internet users. Social network services such as Facebook, Xing, or Twitter provide vital platforms for communication and sharing of content as part of a modern, user-friendly Internet. Public criticism of social networks is expressed in particular with regard to processing of personal data. These play a central role in business models of many social networks, with regard to their use e.g. for advertising purposes. A question is, if it can be assumed that market-dominant providers, due to a lock-in effect, can demand a wide-ranging consent for the collection and use of personal data that would be expected in a functioning competition? In the following, social networks, potential competition issues and possible legislative measures due to concentration tendencies in connection with access to user data in the area of social networks will be discussed.

The article deals with the issue concerning the place of the of sustainbale development
in the Polish Constitution. It will present the problem of sustainable development legal nature and its consequences. Obligations of public authorities regarding the implementation of sustainable development included in Article 5 of the Constitution, will also be considered with the background of the provisions contained in art. 74 section 1, 68 and 86 of the Constitution. The article will also contain references to contemporary understanding of sustainable development, which results from the acts of international law, including the Rio+20 Declaration and Agenda 2030. The aim of the above analysis is to indicate what shape it should be given today and how currently sustainable development should be understood. That should be the same an indication for public authorities what actions should be taken in order to respond the current understanding of sustainable development.

The paper deals with the issue of the legal consequences of a false statement given
by the accused in criminal proceedings. The author presents positions expressed in this matter in the literature and jurisprudence. He then presents and justifies his own view. He believes that a false statement by the accused is not criminally prohibited, because there is no such type of offence. However, such behaviour is unlawful. It is true that this is a kind of defence, but it is not the execution of the right to defence. Nevertheless, it does not appear that the false statement could result in an intensification of the penalty or in the use of a preventive measure in the proceedings (for example temporary custody). It is undoubted, however, that false statement resulting in defamation or false accusation may lead to criminal liability.

The article analyzes the idea of the so-called “golden visas” or the possibility of purchasing citizenship or permanent residency offered by some countries. There are numerous controversies about this solution, and the defenders and opponents have many rguments for and against it. Arguments presented in the article confirm that at this stage, it is not possible to abandon this solution. However, it is possible to see problems arising from the existence of this institution and to introduce appropriate safeguards so that possible negative effects are minimized.

The article presents the problem related to the manner of defining a new psychoactive substance. The definition, partly contained in the provisions of the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction of 2005, as regards the specification of the type of offense, refers to sub-statutory regulations – the ordinance of the Minister of Health. This way of defining the characteristics of a prohibited act raises constitutional doubts from the point of view of the principle of the exclusivity of the act and related rules:
1. Principles of the rule of law expressed in Article 2 of the Polish Constitution by not complying with the requirement of the principle of proper legislation.
2. The principles of nullum crimen sine lege certa arising from Article 42 paragraph 1 of the Polish Constitution, by violating the guarantee function of criminal law by violating the directive on statutory exclusivity and statutory specificity of an act.
3. Principles of the separation of powers resulting from Article 10 of the Polish Constitution by entrusting the executive authority with the powers of the legislative authority.
4. The principles of proportionality expressed in Article 31 paragraph 3 of the Polish Constitution regarding the grounds and scope of admissible limitation of constitutional rights and freedoms and the manner of limiting them.