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.

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.

The article is an attempt to analyse the relationship between private security enterprises and citizens. Explored is what access to safety information has the user of guarded premises. The paper examined the regulations of private security firms and the requirements of keeping available monitoring records. The article reviews records of interviews with employees and managers, in which their work were discussed. The material used in this article are the result of controlled experiments carried out by a student research group operating within the framework of project NCN Opus 5 and headed by prof. Jolanta Jabłońska-Bonca. Under an established scenario, in which students took on different roles, the group were able to study the tendency of security personnel to disclose information related to their work. Parts of the conversations referred to in the text have been anonymised. The authentic spelling was retained to reflect in full a profile of a given worker and to give the reader an opportunity to perceive the atmosphere of the interviewing process.

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.

Forestry Law does not constitute an autonomous branch of law – it is in fact most commonly percieved as part of the environmental law. However, this does not mean, that it is impossible to extract general principles of the Forest Law. The Forest Act contains a catalogue of explicitly formulated general principles of forest management, which at the same time are the principles of forest law. Furthermore, it is possible to reconstruct some additional general principles from specific provisions of the Forest Act, as well as to indicate those of the principles of the environmental law, which may be extended to forestry regulations. The aim of this paper is therefore to formulate and analyse the general principles: (1) expressly articulated by the legislature; (2) possible to reconstruct from the detailed provisions of the Forest Act; (3) of the environmental law, which can be applied to forestry regulations. The result of the survey is a more extensive catalogue of general principles of forest law in directive-descriptive terms, which may contribute to the extension of the autonomy of the forest law.

The problems of the Russian transformation are strongly related to the policy model adopted by the chief financial regulator, which in the case of this article is the Central Bank of Russia. It is argued here that the policy followed by the CBR is obsolete and rooted in the 1990s, and not up to date with the needs of the current economic conditions. These conditions are specific only to Russia and deserve the name of a “small cold war”. The CBR continues to pursue a liberalisation policy based on concepts borrowed from the West. Their core is a complete liberalisation of the international currency flows, at the expense of protecting the domestic market from international speculative capital, and at the price of encouraging capital flow away from Russia. At the same time this policy has managed to discourage long term domestic investments.

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 causative force of the state in the 21stcentury depends on the coherence of the law and the importance of non-legal regulations of large corporations. Multi-centricity, multi-level structure and the strength of „soft law” of corporations lead to the transformation of internal law and altering of its function. In addition states give up their welfare and privatise various tasks. They lose the essential elements of the legal, territorial and personal sovereignty. Does giving away numerous normative areas mean that the states do weaken their causative force?

Artykuł przedstawia tajwańską percepcję prawa kultury zachodniej, historyczne pochodzenie procedury administracyjnej Tajwanu oraz jej rozwój od końca XIX wieku do czasu reformy w 1998 roku. Przedmiotem analizy jest rosnący zakres ochrony praw jednostki wprowadzany w drodze kolejnych reform – w kontekście tajwańskiej demokracji. Przedstawiono porównanie tajwańskiej i japońskiej drogi westernizacji systemów prawa administracyjnego ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem przyjęcia rozwiązań prawa niemieckiego. Dyskusja prowadzona jest na tle prawa międzynarodowego i poparta została danymi statystycznymi. W artykule wskazano, że Tajwan uniknął losu krajów, w których westernizacja prawa doprowadziła jedynie do tworzenia „martwych przepisów”. porównanie danych statystycznych prowadzi do wniosku, że obywatele Tajwanu wykorzystują możliwości prowadzenia sporów na gruncie prawa administracyjnego częściej niż w Japonii. System sądownictwa administracyjnego dobrze funkcjonuje i cieszy się rosnącym zaufaniem obywateli.

The article applies the theoretical analysis of general clauses and phrases vague with respect to the amended Article 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Testamentum holographum denotes a testament written by the testator in his own hand. It is in this sense that the term is found in papyrological texts in Greco-Roman Egypt. In Roman Law, it appears as late as the fifth century in the constitutions of the Emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian III as an acceptable form of testament written in the testator’s own hand – per holografam scripturam, without witnesses. Emperor Justinian failed to accept this novelty into his code and restored the classical forms of drafting a testament. However, the concept of holographic testament survived in Germanic legal codes (Lex Romana Burgundionum; Lex Romana Visigothorum) and it was through them that it has found its way into modern legislations, indirectly into the Polish civil law as well.

This article deals with the specialised organ of constitutional review – the Constitutional Court of Georgia and analyses the possibility of granting the Constitutional Court the right to consider and adjudicate upon the decisions of common (ordinary) courts. The Constitutional Court mainly carries out repressive and abstract control. In general, it considers the constitutionality of normative acts. Most of the constitutional claims apply to compliance of the normative acts with the second chapter of the Constitution of Georgia, which guarantees basic rights and the freedom of individuals. Recently, the Public Defender of Georgia launched an initiative to add to the power of the Constitutional Court to consider the constitutionality of the decisions of the courts of last resort. Granting the Constitutional Court this authority is associated with many positive factors. First of all, the Constitutional Court will become the court of last resort in terms of the European Convention on Human Rights and thus, the number of applications against Georgia will be reduced. It will require less financial resources than in case of making application to the European Court of Human rights and the final decision will be adopted in shorter terms. Consequently, the new authority of the Constitutional Court can become a more effective human rights protection mechanism. The new authority may interfere with the common court’s competence; however, finally, the initiative should be positively evaluated.

The paper analyses a referendum on Scotland’s independence held on 18 September 2014, in particular within the legislative and political framework of the devolution settlement, implemented across the United Kingdom since 1997. Development of Scottish political separatism under the Scottish National Party and its long-time leader Alex Salmond has led to radical changes in the pattern of politics in Scotland. The pro independence SNP has ruled in Edinburgh since 2007, first through a minority government and then securing an absolute majority at Holyrood. It had consistently pushed for a referendum on independence and, after several months of negotiations, managed to sign on 15 October 2012 the Edinburgh Agreement with the British government. The Agreement paved the way for legislation regarding the referendum, in the form of the Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) Act and the Scottish Independence Referendum Act. “Yes” vote on 18 September would undoubtedly have enormous constitutional, political, economic, and social consequences for everyone involved, including the complex issues of Scotland’s EU and NATO membership, the exploitation of massive North Sea oil and gas reserves and retaining the British pound as future Scottish currency. But “No” vote would also mean significant adjustment of the British territorial constitution and considerable changes of Scotland’s relationship with the rest of the UK.

The purpose of this paper is to answer how the issue of transparency has been dealt with in the Arms Trade Treaty. Analysed provisions will also be assesed. As a point of reference other instruments regarding arms trade will be used. Uncontrolled arms trade poses a significant threat to international peace and security. The General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted the Arms Trade Treaty [hereinafter ATT]. The ATT entered into force on 24th of December 2014. For the first time in the history a global and legally binding instrument regulating ams trade has been adopted. Transparency is a key element of ATT. Firstly, observing inflows and outflows of arms allows to determine whether provisions of a treaty are used in practise. Furthermore it makes assesment of state’s intentions possible.
Extensive armament is correlated with war preparations. Secondly, transparency shows if a country has implemented the treaty into its law.

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 article focuses on the rules for the operation of air services in the EU. It presents the process of liberalisation of the air services sector and analyses the particular requirements associated with the undertaking of such activities. Firstly, the author focuses on the conditions for obtaining an operating license for air transport services which are common in all Member States. Then, legal acts designed to ensure equal access to airports for all air carriers are analysed. In the conclusion, the author evaluates the introduced solutions.

The creation of a unified empire by Charlemagne required quite a number of victims, one of whom was Tassilo III, the last duke of the Agilolfing dynasty reigning in Bavaria for two centuries. The history of his fall may awake the legal historians’ interest because the Frank monarch dethroned him not by means of a bloody military defeat but by a legal trial (now called show trial1) in 788. Before the trial Charlemagne isolated Tassilo both in foreign and home affairs by means of carefully measured diplomatic steps. Finally, putting him under his jurisdiction in 787, he made him his vassal. The main charges brought against Tassilo were infidelitas, i.e., unfaithfulness to the liege lord and harisliz, i.e., desertion – though the latter was claimed to had been carried out a quarter of a century before the legal trial. The given work aims to enlighten the legal background of this rather opaque case by contouring the historical context. First we consider Tassilo’s reign and the historical background of the trial, then we investigat the Franko-Bavarian conflict and the iuramenta fidelitatis of Tassilo. In the end, after highlighting the question of infidelitas and of harisliz we analyse the show trial itself.

The principles of „Public Procurement” are important for the proper functioning of the public procurement system. There is no doubt that principles of public procurement system have a special significance for the above mentioned system, since they indicate the direction of interpretation of provisions of the public procurement law as well as they allow a proper interpretation of the meaning of legal norms. The purpose of this elaboration is to present two basic principles of the public procurement law, i.e. the principle of fair competition and equal treatment of economic operators as well as the principle of transparency. The Author indicates the institutional expression of these principles in the procedure of awarding public procurement and indicates the violations of the principles which occur in the practice of law.

The main aim of this article is to classify and characterise the major factors that have influence on the choice of method of the determination of the tax base by means of assessment. The author lists four factors and assesses how each of these affects the result of the determination of the tax base by means of assessment. Their application should lead to the obtaining result of value of tax base similar to its actual size. Not all of these factors properly realises this objective, which is also a subject of analysis and evaluation.

Transfering duties customarly designated for public entities to private entities is a fact. It is connected with delegating on them a part of legal power in creating rights and duties of individuals. A vast majority of their domineeringly will is commonly stated on the grounds of by-laws. By-laws have different form, content and even different function. At the same time, depending only on the will of private entities several times interfere in the freedom and the rights of their addressee. That is why scientifical research concerning their essence and content, including a progressive and complicated process of “privatisation of public safety” seem to be more and more important. On the ground of this research, several by–laws laid down by private entities are being analysed.

The article presents the covenant marriage on the example of the state of Louisiana. This institution is a legally distinct kind of marriage, in which the marrying couple agree to obtain pre-marital counseling and accept more limited grounds for divorce. The author attempts to answer the question about the transfer of this institution as a whole or its individual elements on the ground of Polish law. This article provides some reflection about the liberalisation of divorce law in Poland and Europe.

The article discusses the essential problems related to the participation of a child as a witness in criminal proceedings. The author explains the key issue – who is a child in the light of the Polish criminal procedure regulations. In this context, also the legal and partly psychological aspects are presented, associated with determining the age limit for a child – the witness and the impact of age and ongoing developmental processes on child’s ability to testify.

Evidencing in medical trials for damages is difficult, and it requires not only knowledge in the field of law, but also in the field of medicine. The main impediment to fluent proceeding in medical matters which requires to be strongly emphasised is a vast difficulty for courts in taking evidence by an expert within reasonable time. Such evidence is generally necessary in every case because there is a necessity to learn medical facts from the perspective of specialist knowledge (Article 278 § 1 of CPC). The problematic nature of damages for so called medical errors has gained more and ore significance, both because of the growing number of claims and the damages paid in relation thereto and the rising costs of insurance against those events incurred by healthcare centers. In such legal circumstances, it is worth indicating the extent to which the evidence by an expert doctor is taken in medical proceedings and the significance thereof for a proper course of the proceedings. Nevertheless, frequently opinions by experts are rather far from being objective. Often, as a result of falsely interpreted solidarity of representatives of the profession, experts disregard the lack of knowledge and diligence of a doctor and the organisational omissions in health care centers. Their opinions are very often unclear ambiguous, posing different hypotheses and the possibilities of damage which do not assist the court in properly assessing the events in matters for compensation. Because of that, a higher standard of conduct for expert doctors should be considered, the manner in which they are appointed and an improvement of the effectiveness of their work

The difficult history of Taiwan has preoccupied politicians and scholars for the better part of the last century and is unlikely to be unraveled in the near future. The main issue is the following: are there two separate Chinas or one and if so who has the right to represent China? Both the Taiwanese and Peking governments have consistently adhered the One China theory and both claim the right to represent the country. Many legal concepts were devised in support of either party, including that Taiwan had become res nullius after Japan’s unconditional surrender, or a condominium of the Allied Powers. Several major theories are analysed in depth, based on the interpretation of public international law such as the Peace Treaty of San Francisco, the Treaty of Taipei and the Shimonoseki Peace Treaty. Parallels are drawn between the attempts to decide the legal status of Taiwan and akin attempts performed by some European territories such as bringing Alsace-Loraine in the fold of France. The paper aims mainly at exploring various concepts of Taiwan’s status according to international law. This investigation takes into account the international and the domestic situation.