In the Princes Czartoryski Museum in Krakow there is a Roman headstone with the following inscription: For the best and most faithful wife (coniux) Threpte, well distinguished, put up by Eutyches, a slave of Atilius Agricola (CIL VI 27389a – 1st/2nd c. AD). They were probably slaves from Hellenized eastern regions. Eutyches is explicitly described as a slave (EUTYCHES ATILI AGRICOLAE SERVUS), while Threpte’s status is clarified by her name, which is the Greek word for a slave, conceived and raised up in the family of a master (Roman verna). In legal terms, the only relationship they could enter was contubernium. Possibly, Atilius Agricola had two slaves whom he treated in a friendly manner allowing them to maintain a relationship; he also agreed for Threpte to be buried in a separate grave with an inscription. It is one of many texts suggesting cordial relations between slaves and Roman families in the early period of the Roman Empire. Interestingly, the ashes have remained in Roman soil, while the plate with the inscription has found its
way to Krakow.

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 goal of this article is to highlight the role of a school, here understood as an educational facility, during the course of parental rights termination proceedings. There can be no doubt that the process of upbringing, especially the domestic factors and intense stimulus to which the child is subjected translate into patterns of behaviour and the way the child functions at school. Notably, prolonged learn-ing difficulties among children or periods in which the child presents complete disregard for societal norms and a lack of discipline should be a clear signal for the teachers and counsellors to review the family environment of the pupil in question. The article covers data regarding the school’s participation in the parental rights termination proceedings – e.g. opinions and recommendations formulated by the schools, teacher’s testimonies and children scorecards which reflect the educational progress of the child. The materials used include source materials (acts and ordinances, written opinions, Supreme and common court rulings), results of own research – casefile review based on a targeted casefile research questionnaire.