The paper entitled “Counteracting Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion in Selected EU Directives on Direct Taxes” discusses the provisions of Directive 2003/49/EC, Directive 2009/133/EC and Directive 2011/96/EC that are capable of withdrawing the benefits provided under the directives in the case of tax fraud and abuse, tax evasion or tax avoidance. The paper reviews provisions of the directives and also the case law of the European Court of Justice concerning tax fraud and abuse. The jurisprudence of the ECJ plays a key role in setting standards for regulations on the prevention of tax evasion and avoidance adopted by Member States of the European Union. The paper’s centre piece argument is that the solution adopted by the EU legislator, which shifted the burden of preventing tax escape from the EU to Member States, is ineffective and falls short of fulfilling its proper role. The paper emphasises that many tax payers take advantage of the fundamental treaty freedoms and applicable directives to obtain tax benefits or double non-taxation. Limitations imposed by a strict jurisprudential approach of the European Court of Justice also pose a significant barrier to effective tackling the negative phenomenon of aggressive tax planning based on EU laws, the paper suggests. By assessing the effects of the application of the existing regulations and juxtaposing them with the current scale of the problem, the author presents an argument for changing the direction of measures taken to curb international tax avoidance and evasion.

The Author presents a legal analysis of self-determination in international law. It is presented both through a historical and a modern perspective, recalling i.a. such cases as Kosovo, Quebec, Palestinian state in statu nascendi.

Women’s rights are an inseparable part of the human rights, and human rights are an integrated part of women’s rights. The Swedish Government has adopted a concept of feminist foreign policy, aiming at strengthening these rights on a global level. Women’s rights are continued to be violated as much as ever, hindering democracy, peace, rule of law, sustainable development and economic growth – the overarching aims of international policy. Women’s rights to education, financial resources and access to the labour market are crucial in defending human rights and having a policy for 100 per cent of the world’s population. A priority task of the feminist foreign policy is supporting women’s inclusion in all decision-making structures, both on national and multilateral level. This in order to achieve wider foreign, development and security policy objectives through a new approach, different way of thinking and different solutions.

These standards were introduced at four international organizations and supranational associations: 1) the European Union; 2) the Council of Europe; 3) the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; 4) the Commonwealth of Independent States. The article states that the key reason for the introduction of standards for the regulation of lobbying at the international level was considerable corruption in the adoption of legal acts. It is concluded that latent and unregulated lobbying can seriously undermine public confidence in the institution of government, especially in the countries of the so-called “new democracy”. International regulation of lobbying takes the form of resolutions, procedural rules, guidelines, recommendations and model legislation. Notably, the first steps towards international regulation of lobbying were taken by the institutions of the European Union. Today EU standards for the regulation of lobbying is based on a series of articles set out in the EU-founding treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. EU standards for the regulation of lobbying influence not only the EU Member States, but it also extends to EU Partner Countries. Significant steps in the implementation of international standards for the regulation of lobbying are being constantly carried out by the Council of Europe. The establishment of CE standards for the regulation of lobbying is reflected in the activity of statutory bodies of the Council of Europe and its semi-autonomous bodies. In recent years a lot of work on the strengthening of international standards for lobbying regulation has been done by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. To help address the concerns with transparency and integrity in lobbying, the OECD Member Countries adopted in 2010 a Recommendation on Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying as guidance to decision-makers on how to promote good governance in lobbying. Another international organization, which began to regulate actively the practice of lobbying is the Commonwealth of Independent States. In order to intensify the work concerning legislative regulation of lobbying in the member countries of the CIS, at the XXII Plenary Session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS member states the Resolution No. 22-16 of November 15, 2003 was adopted, which approved a model law “On regulation of lobbying activity in state authorities”.

The aim of the article is to offer an insight into the problem of observance of human rights at sea in situations of fighting piracy and armed robbery against vessels. The analysis has been conducted using the example of the situation in the Gulf of Aden and piracy off the coast of Somalia. The authors have analysed international legal regulations in the field of the law of the sea and human rights, with a particular consideration of the observance and protection of human rights depending on the maritime zone (territorial sea, contiguous zone, and high sea) where these rights are violated. The subject matter of the observance of human rights in the context of maritime areas has not been so far a matter addressed in Polish-language scientific publications. Yet, given its special social and legal significance (e.g. in the light of the migration crisis in the Mediterranean Sea basin), it seems necessary to bring it to attention. In the conclusions, the authors argue that the adopted regulations affecting piracy and acts of armed robbery against vessels provide only a framework and that it is crucial to establish specific procedures to deal with pirates at an international level (considering the international standards of protection of human rights).

The study discusses the principles of awarding benefits under the Company Social Benefits Fund (original Polish name: Zakładowy Fundusz Świadczeń Społecznych) from the point of view of legitimacy of the processing of personal data. The con-ducted analysis covers the present legal framework in force in Poland, taking the European Union law – GDPR – into consideration. Given the local specificity of the institution in question, the article does not include references to regulations adopted in other countries. The article proposes two theses. One is that the award-ing of benefits under the CSBF with the participation of representatives of the stakeholder community, especially in the area of hardship benefits, should be based on anonymised applications. Documents proving the circumstances acting as the grounds to apply for a benefit to be true should be verified by an employer’s authorised representative in charge of employee welfare initiatives. The other thesis is that copies of documents proving the legitimacy of application for a social benefit, especially in the area of hardship benefits, should be kept by the data controller – meaning the employer – for a period during which Polish tax authori-ties and Social
Insurance Institution (ZUS) may verify the legitimacy of application of the impost law. In this case, this refers to the practice of non-payment of the tax on the awarded benefits and the social insurance contributions. The conclusions the said theses lead to are significant to the practical application of law, and because they are controversial, they may pave the way for a further academic discourse.

The paper aims to show that the Polish Environmental Law is an act that imposes
public imposts to protect Poland’s natural environment. This act features certain
specific qualities and legal solutions. The author has formulated a claim that some
of the provisions concerning the fees for the use of the natural environment and
the emissions surcharge breach the constitutional standards of exclusivity of an
impost act, of the right to predictable taxation, decent legislation, and a democratic
state of law.

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.

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.

Climate change is one of the key civilisational issues. This change is caused by greenhouse gas emission. Stopping this change requires multidirectional actions on a global scale, primarily limiting the combustion of fossil fuels. What reaches towards these needs is the proposals of the international community, which are determined in the protocol of 15 December 2015 (called the Paris Agreement). The legal framework for the strategy of implementing it in the European Union and the member states is formulated by the legislative package “Clean Energy For All Europeans”. The directions and terms of developing the economy pose particular challenges for Poland which plans to maintain
the significant role of coal in the energy industry for decades. Government documents show that the government of the Republic of Poland will not decide on the spectacular decarbonisation of the economy. It cannot be obligated to do it, either, due to the treaty conditions. However, the future of the coal energy industry seems prejudged. This results from the development directions of European economic-legal instruments which serve the direct (determining binding emission standards and environmental quality standards) and indirect (through influencing the prices of greenhouse gas emission allowances) rationing of the activity of entities from the energy sector in the environment.

The aim of the paper is to create an updated typology of soft law. It places soft law among mechanisms of a rather moral, sociological and political origin. This does not mean that it is completely irrelevant in legal terms, but the inclusion of the regulations of soft law in the framework of a “normative system” does not deserve to be taken into account i.a. due to the character of soft law (i.a. formulating the regulations in a general, imprecise manner, the uncertainty of introduced instruments, the lack of an obligatory force to implement them). This paper indicates the roles played by soft law in the international public law discourse. It also presents differences in their consideration on the grounds of the international law (including the Community law) as well as the internal law. Out of the whole catalogue of individual functions and tasks of soft law, special heed should be taken of the co-ordinating role of the mechanisms of soft law. Against this background, the paper makes a categorisation of the opinions of the Venice Commission in the framework of soft law. This is because they show the typical features of the mechanisms of that law: they play a binding role, relatively clarifying the international law, they are based on the undisputed authority of the creating entity. However, they are not subject to the forced implementation of them. In the conclusions of the paper, a chance, but also a fundamental threat related to the conduct of the international legal discourse on the basis of the mechanisms of soft law were indicated.

The article aims to analyse the national parliaments’ capability of exerting influence on the European Commission in the framework of the yellow card procedure. The analysis is based on the actions undertaken by national parliaments of selected Member States from Western as well as Central and Eastern Europe within the period between the announcement of the European Commission proposal for a targeted revision of Directive 96/71/EC on the posting of workers and its decision to maintain the proposal. The analysis covers three variables concerning the states selected for analysis, namely the economic interest of those states, the coherence of their parliaments’ respective positions and the actions undertaken by the national parliaments, including those of their members, on the international level.

Niniejszy artykuł dotyczy pojęcia gwiezdnych wojen, w celu pokazania, że jest to tematyka opisująca rzeczywistość, a nie tylko historia (choć z nią często kojarzona). Aktualna polityka prowadzona przez państwa w Kosmosie pokazuje, że konflikty kosmiczne są nadal możliwe. Stąd bezpieczeństwo prowadzonej przez państwa działalności kosmicznej jest zagrożone - i to nie tylko w przestrzeni kosmicznej, ale i na Ziemi. I choć aktywną działalność w kosmosie prowadzą tylko niektóre państwa, to skutki tych działań (czy to cywilnych, czy militarnych) od- czuwa cała społeczność międzynarodowa. Militaryzacja Kosmosu zaczyna powoli wkraczać w nową fazę: użycia satelitów aktywnych, przeznaczonych do niszczenia wyznaczonych celów. Taki stan rzeczy świadczy o tym, iż gwiezdne wojny to nie jest fikcja, gdyż być może w przyszłości państwa ponownie będą rozwiązywać swoje konflikty z użyciem kosmosu.

Przedmiotem opracowania jest uchwalony przez parlament brytyjski w 1998 r. Human Rights Act (HRA) i jego wpływ na rozumienie pojęcia organu administracji publicznej w prawie angielskim. Uzasadnieniem podjęcia tematu jest ukazanie rozwoju doktryny brytyjskiego prawa administracyjnego pod wpływem prawa międzynarodowego na wskutek inkorporacji Europejskiej Konwencji Praw Człowieka. W artykule ukazano drogę Wielkiej Brytanii do implementacji Konwencji i związanie się jej przepisami, a także zmianę w definiowaniu organu władzy publicznej (public authority). Wskazano również, że pojęcie organu administracji publicznej na gruncie HRA w Wielkiej Brytanii jest węższe od tej przyjętej na gruncie prawa polskiego i tym samym istnieje mniejsza ochrona obywateli brytyjskich przed działaniem administracji publicznej w tym państwie.

Artykuł ma na celu pomoc w ugruntowaniu się przekonania, iż aby zrozumieć przemiany zachodzące w polityce prawa kosmicznego i w prawie kosmicznym należy odejść od konwencjonalnego punktu widzenia i pomyśleć odwrotnie. Autor eksponuje w nim tezy, które zmuszają do innego spojrzenia na obowiązujące prawo. Przedstawia, iż w polskim porządku prawnym obowiązują wszystkie źródła prawa międzynarodowego (wyszczególnione w art. 38 Statutu MTS) i prawa UE, z wyjątkiem umów międzynarodowych, które obowiązują tylko wtedy, gdy są ratyfikowane przez RP i ogłoszone w Dzienniku Ustaw RP. Polityka prawa (prowadzona przez kompetentne władze na każdym forum w oparciu o określone procedury) jest refleksem ius, które inspiruje rozwój lex i odwrotnie. Prawo obowiązuje poza granicami jurysdykcji państw (res communis) w obszarach morskich i przestrzeni kosmicznej staje się konstytucyjnym elementem nowej cywilizacji (rynku i kultury), które stopniowo wywiera wpływ na prawo obowiązujące w granicach jurysdykcji państw (suwerenność i prawa suwerenne). Siła prawa przestaje gwarantować rozstrzyganie konfliktów międzynarodowych, co zmusza do stosowania prawa siły. Warunkiem sine qua non przetrwania nowej cywilizacji jest ochrona ludzkości i sprawiedliwy podział zasobów w procesie przemian.

Debaty o Unii Europejskiej, jej modelu i funkcjonowaniu, charakteryzują się uproszczeniami, a w wielu przypadkach przesiąknięte są ideologią lub niewiedzą. W europejskiej – w tym polskiej – dyskusji pojawia się też często wąsko rozumiany interes narodowy, a strony żonglują emocjami i lękami, które przesłaniają niedostatki rzeczowej informacji. Kontrowersje między Unią Europejską a Polską, które pojawiły się na tle oceny stanu praworządności czy też problemu relokacji uchodźców dowodzą, że przedmiotem sporu staje się w pewnym stopniu model integracji oraz jej podstawowe pojęcia prawne. Należy się zastanowić, na czym polega specyficzny prawnie charakter UE? Dlaczego zgodziliśmy się powierzyć jej kompetencje do wykonywania władzy publicznej? Czy Unia ogranicza suwerenność Polski? Czy w Unii możliwa jest demokracja? Mimo krytyki Unia pozostaje sprawnym mechanizmem zarządzającym współzależnością państw członkowskich. Parafrazując Marka Twaina: Doniesienia o jej zgonie wydają się przesadzone.