This paper discusses judicial duty of improving the law on epistemic grounds and claims in that regarding this obligation, it is possible to give a place to free speech from an epistemic point of view. As a requirement of having epistemic agency, judges like other human beings have epistemological responsibility. Different from the others’ responsibility, judges’ responsibility is connected to their duty of improving the law, which is required by their job as well as the idea of the rule of law and judicial professional principles. Judges should improve the law’s capacity to guide the conduct of its citizens, who are obligated to obey the law. Improving the law also improves the delivery of justice. The ways of legal interpretation and justification are important to improve it. While applying the law, judges can find the law unclear or they may encounter some norm conflicts. In these cases, they
should resolve them to keep the law ‘legally in good shape’, which should meet epistemological requirements. When fulfilling this obligation, judicial free speech on epistemic grounds should not be limited.

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.

The publication examines the legal nature of wars, looks into the law of war genesis, reviews its conventions, as well as identifies the aim, objectives, causes together with the consequences of Russia’s military aggression on February 24, 2022; it provides a testimony on the war of aggression against Ukraine and identifies its threats to post-war international law and order. The aim of the article is to determine the background, nature, fundamentals and nature of the war the Russian Federation launched on February 24, 2022 against Ukraine within the context of confrontation with the values of Western democracy. Historical-legal dialectical, comparative-legal and system-structural methods, as well as methods of formal logic (induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, abstraction and concretization, etc.) were used to study the issues. The application of these research methods entails a cross-sectoral scientific nature.
Wars have accompanied the entire history of mankind. Since the 17th century the theoretical foundations of the law of war have been laid, which enshrined in international laws and customs of warfare (Geneva Conventions, Hague Convention, etc.) since the 19th century, thus forming the international humanitarian law. After World War II, violations of the latter by the belligerent party are viewed by the world community no less harshly than the mere war. The paper questions the purpose, reasons, conditions and intermediate consequences of the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Obviously, the military aggression and the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022 marked the beginning of the de facto war, under a specific formal definition by a Russian official as a “special military operation” instead of naming it an attempt to avoid legal responsibility for war crimes committed in Ukraine. The article analyses the aggressive nature of this war on the part of the Russian Federation, demonstrates numerous violations of international law conventions by the Russian armed forces during the military invasion and temporary occupied territories in Ukraine. It emphasizes that the law of war has always been replaced by signing a peace treaty and relevant international agreements, which entails the obligation to severe the political, economic, and legal responsibility of the state violating international humanitarian law. The paper reviews the key institutions and legal tools for bringing the Russian Federation authorities to justice for the war crimes committed in Ukraine. So far, the President of Ukraine, the Supreme Council of Ukraine, and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine have managed to apply legitimate international legal
mechanisms, primarily the International Criminal Court and the UN Security Council, to prosecute Russia for violating the international humanitarian law and committing war crimes in Ukraine. At the same time, on the Ukrainian territories currently liberated from the Russian army’s occupation (Bucha, Gostomel, Irpin, etc.), it is already possible to implement a special mechanism of justice, which consists in the collaboration between national and international experts: specialists, investigators, prosecutors, and judges to collect objective and impartial evidence of gross violations of international law and war conventions in Ukraine. It is obvious that for Ukraine today both the victory and just punishment for the committed and continuing committed war crimes on its territory are important. The aftermath of World War II’s “Never Again” now requires, as never before, its effective guarantee and protection

The subject of the article is an analysis of the legal solutions governing the princi-ples of handling medical waste and municipal waste produced by people under quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic together with an analysis of the impact of the instruments specified therein on the existing legislative solutions and the prospective effects of the adoption of these regulations. The paper analyses the current legal framework, highlighting the uniqueness of the legal institutions used (in the context of a province governor’s orders excluding local law regulations or statutory obligations, and contracts specifying the manner of performance of public tasks entrusted), as well as the impact of these regulations on the subsequent operation of waste management facilities. At the same time, a number of practical problems that may arise in connection with the application of solutions provided under the existing law have been brought to light.

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 paper is devoted to selected issues concerning acts from the same day, i.e. 29 July 2020: the Electronic Communications Law, and the act introducing the Electronic Communications Law. Both drafts have been prepared in connection with implementing the provisions of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 Establishing the European Electronic Communications Code (‘the EECC’) into the Polish legal order. Only selected issues from both draft acts were presented, for which the basic selection criterion was their significant practical importance in terms of their influence on the functioning of the telecommunications market in Poland. The purpose of the analysis and research was to answer the question whether the proposed regulations were compliant with the EECC and whether, from the perspective of the requirements of practice, effective solutions had been adopted. The analysis was based on comparing the projected EECC regulations and on possible practical consequences after their implementation. The analysis covers the projected provisions – from the Polish law and the EU law. The conducted analysis indicated a need for modifying them, in particular: imposing security obligations; the scope and manner of replacing the existing documents for customers with new ones; the conditions of customerv ideo verification; transitional provisions. The article presents proposals for specific amendments to the projected provisions. The presented issues are not only of theoretical importance, but also of great practical importance when it comes to the functioning of the telecommunications market and, above all, when it comes to customerswho use telecommunications services

One of the main provisions in shaping legal obligations between the parties is the freedom of contract. Although the parties are free to choose the provisions of their agreement, the content and the aim of the contract cannot contradict the essence and nature of the contract of employment, the act and the principles of the community life. Thereby, in order to engage an employee based on a long term contract of employment for a specified period, along with a short, two weeks notice termination period, justified and rational presumptions should be in place. In other words, taking into consideration current provisions of law, long term contract of employment is acceptable; however its validity is depended on the circumstances of each individual case.

The purpose of the article is to characterise the main reasons and consequences of the division of sub-central government tasks between its own tasks and commissioned tasks and the indication of some controversy related to this issue. The author analyses in particular certain types of local government tasks (concerning the most important spheres of local activity, such as welfare, education, or health) and its qualification to the category of „its own tasks”. The essential conclusion of the paper is that in many cases the qualification of specific public affairs to one or the other category of self-government tasks is determined not so much by its specific „nature”, but primarily by its fiscal consequences, including the ability to pass the obligation of its financing to local authorities. The research methodology used in the article is based on a critical analysis of the legal acts as well as literature on public finance and financial and administrative law.

In his Vita divi Augusti, Gaius Suetonius quoted four terms which were in use in ancient Rome and referred to bankers: argentarii, mensarii, nummularii and coactores argentarii. In his description of the life of Emperor Augustus, the historian mentions the rumour that the Emperor’s grandfather was engaged in usury. However, in the excerpts focusing on the genealogy of Augustus, Suetonius applied the term argentarius, which undoubtedly denoted a banker running his operations, in a professional manner, in the Forum or in another public place. Thus, the ancestors of the princeps could have been involved in specialised activities, supervised by officials and subject to particular obligations. This assumption is corroborated, among others, by the fact that the Emperor’s father, Gaius Octavius, enjoyed general public esteem. Similarly, the unintended comparison, by Cassius of Parma, of the princeps’ grandfather to mensarii or nummularii may confirm the hypothesis that he was neither a money-changer nor a moneylender. Among the ancestors of other emperors, such as Emperor Vespasian, there were also bankers referred to as coactores argentarii who conducted auctionrelated activities, and this is exactly the type of banking activity that his father and grandfather were involved in. Therefore, Suetonius was aware of various terms used in ancient Rome to describe the banking profession.

The paper analyses challenging the validity of an employment contract by the Social Insurance Institution, in the course of a control of correctness of the determination of the social insurance obligation that results from the employee status. In the first part, the author analyses the problem of a fictitious contract and acting against the law or with the intention to circumvent the law, or contrary to the principles of community life. He indicates documents and information that are most often requested by ZUS, and describes the situations which are most thoroughly examined. In the next part, following issues are examined: the existence of an employment relation, salary, employing relatives, concluding the employment contract in order to register for insurance purposes and the situation of pregnant employees or employees shortly before retirement. The paper is concluded with the most frequent arguments for, or against the existence of employment and the most advantageous practices to litigate with the ZUS are described.

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.

It has been several years since the search for solutions that would improve and increase the supervision and control of tax authorities over the taxable persons’ turnover made from selling to natural persons started. The legislative activities currently undertaken in this domain (especially the implementation of online registers) are oriented towards the increasing digitalisation of the process in question, supplementing the already existing solutions (such as the obligation to file electronic VAT return forms and SAF-T [PL: JPK] files).

In accordance with art. 55 of Directive 2012/34/EU establishing a single European railway area, each Member State must establish a single regulatory authority for the railway sector. In Poland, tasks of this body are carried out by the President of the Office of Rail Transport (UTK). Changes in position and tasks of this authority are associated with implementation of Fourth Railway Package, six legal acts which means a continuation of reforms of rail market in Europe. 4th Railway Package imposes new obligations on regulators, i.e. in matters related to rail traffic management, and planned or unplanned maintenance works on the lines. In the package it is also proposed a new model of cooperation between national regulatory bodies and European Union Railway Agency. National authorities may, among others, ask European Union Railway Agency for an opinion on safety and interoperability aspects. European Union Railway Agency may also carry out a visit into a Member State. In addition, President of UTK is also polish national safety authority and is the competent authority to issue a single safety certificate. In tasks of the national safety authority, President of UTK is also obliged to cooperate with the Agency The purpose of this article is to present new obligations imposed on the Office of Rail Transport in relation to implementation of 4th railway package, in scope of both roles.

This article seeks to explore the issue of the required form of agreement on the transfer of rights and obligations of a party to a contractual relationship by a third party, which in the Polish legal system functions as an innominate contract and is more common in foreign legislations (Vertragsübernahme, transfer of contract, cession de contract). This issue has been analysed taking into account the various possible configurations of parties to such an agreement as well as the various legal natures of the rights and obligations transferred. So far, this matter has not been thoroughly discussed in the Polish legal literature. According to the author, in line with the unity theory, an agreement on the transfer of rights and obligations of a party to a contractual relationship should be classified as a single legal transaction and not as two separate (independent) transactions of claim assignment (Article 509 of the Civil Code) and debt transfer (division theory). Therefore, it requires a written form otherwise being invalid. This requirement applicable to an entire agreement results from Article 522 sentence 1 of the Civil Code; it also meets less strict formal requirements regarding claim assignment (Article 511 of the Civil Code). In this paper, the author also discusses the question of whether Article 77 § 1 of the Civil Code and pactum de forma regarding amendments to an agreement (Article 76 sentence 1 of the Civil Code) apply to the form of the agreement in question.

The subject of this article is the analysis of reasons and results of determining as well as changing tax residence in the light of Polish personal income tax. This topic underlies a broad concept of migration, especially that of profit-driven character. The author presents this research issue on the basis of the current legislation, doctrine as well as practice of applying the law by the judiciary and the tax autho-rities. The analysis of the valid regulations of tax law leads to the conclusion that the fiscal situation of migrants is so diversified as well as complicated from the legal point of view that it raises justified practical doubts. It is assumed that tax residence is dynamic and thus may change as a result of both intended and unin-tended taxpayers’ actions which may have specific tax law effects. They are reflected not only in tax preferences but also in obligations concerning tax settlements. Apart from ordinary tax consequences of determining or changing tax residence, the author relates also to particular legal solutions such as: exit tax, taxation of foreign controlled companies or appliance of the provisions of Multilateral Convention (MLI). The described issues are significant for both theory and practice of tax law application.

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.

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.

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.