The article explores the outcomes of the judicial reform in Poland after 2015, which diminished judicial independence; and it has also been counter-productive in terms of the proclaimed need of judicial accountability. The changes made to how judges are appointed, disciplinary procedure and the management of the courts are discussed from this perspective, observing the capacity to give an account of the power entrusted to judges. The aim of the study is to show that the reforms introduced under the banner of increasing judicial accountability have made that accountability synonymous with the judges being held politically dependent, which is quite the opposite of accounting for the power entrusted. The research methods used in the text are the dogmatic method and case study.

This study systematically investigates the primary issues and obstacles impeding the establishment of a functional and credible judiciary in Kosovo, adopting an international perspective. The research methodology includes a combination of qualitative and empirical analytical approaches to concrete actions based on a review of relevant literature, reports, and legal documents. This paper concludes that Kosovo should be ready to reach compromises, strengthen the independence, pro­fessionalism, transparency and accountability of judges and prosecutors, and increase public confidence in justice, to achieve a successful reform in the judicial system. The paper offers several recommendations for improving the quality and efficiency of justice in Kosovo, such as promoting cooperation and coordination with international factors in this field.

The Polish Personal Income Tax Law provides for a relatively extensive group of tax exemptions related to various benefits offered to doctoral students and academics. It also includes an exemption for scholarships and assistance grants referred to in Law 2.0, as well as scholarships received under programmes or projects aimed at implementing the current state scientific policy. The rule adopted is that the exemption applies as long as the rules for granting the scholarships and grants in question them have been approved by the minister in charge of higher education and science. The research objective adopted in the gloss is to verify the jurisprudential practice regarding the issue of the tax exemption in question. The analysis and evaluation have been performed also in the context of the guidelines and ideas behind the reform of higher education and science (regulations of the so-called Law 2.0). This gloss is a critical commentary. It makes use of dogmatic-legal and normative analysis.

The aim of the article is to offer proposals for reforming and speeding up health care in Ukraine, in particular by comparing the current system with a decentralized system. The methodology of this research follows basic social science methods (formal analysis, inductive method, deductive method, analogy, synthesis, etc.). With these methods, we address the issues of the health care reform in Ukraine. The article explores the issue of improving the health care in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government is carrying out two important reforms – a health care reform and a decentralization reform that includes changes in the municipal government. These two reforms have a huge potential for improving Ukraine’s health care system. Such potential remains largely untapped.

Public administration undergoes constant changes in its basic forms of functioning and ongoing organisational structures. The introduced changes result from the necessity of adjusting to changes of scene and realized reforms of regime, which, next to changes in the public administration, concern the whole structure of a given state. The most important regime changes which are also connected with the structure of the public administration include changes in the territorial division of that state. The changes in this area result from social, economic and demographic changes, they are also very often dictated by a change in the legislator’s vision regarding the holistic system of managing public matters and the performance of public tasks. Nowadays, these traditional criteria are overlapped with dependencies resulting from computerisation processes that influence the application of administrative and legal regulations and the forms of the performance of public tasks.
The processes also concern the forms of contact and information flow between citizens and public entities. The management of a high level of computerisation in the area of administration processes, as observed in Estonia, allows for making the organisational structures of the state and public administration real while preserving, or even enhancing, the standards of the availability of public provisions and the performance of public tasks.

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.

In analysing the historical development of the Roman criminal procedure it should be observed that it followed the immediacy principle from the earliest times until the Justinian period. Adherence to this rule is best confirmed by the manner in which particular evidence was taken in the Roman criminal procedure, as well as by its judicial evaluation. The significance attached by Romans to the principle in question is corroborated primarily by an example of evidence obtained from a witness’s testimony. Already in the Republic period, testimony given personally by a witness before the court was preferred to testimony in the form of a document. Adherence to the immediacy principle in the Roman criminal procedure was manifested by the fact of preparing reports, initially comprising only certain decisions, e.g. judgements, and later all procedural actions. In the Empire period, the Roman criminal procedure was also ominated by the immediacy principle. The fact that the principle was adhered to is explicitly confirmed by the rescripts issued by Emperor Hadrian, expressing the demand that direct evidence be taken before the court, the reform of the irenarchae’s office implemented by Antoninus Pius, as well as a ban on legal assistance in criminal cases, confirmed by Justinian. Certain exceptions to the immediacy principle were allowed, such as submitting at a trial written laudationes prepared out of court and reports on interrogation of witnesses compiled during the proceedings, as well as admissibility of circumstantial evidence.

The objective of this study is to discuss the principles of the lump-sum personal income tax applied in Poland in the years 1950–1997. The analysis of the aforesaid historical legal constructs could, to a certain extent, constitute a benchmark for legislators and reformists of the current Polish personal income tax and, in practice, appear (at least for certain groups of taxpayers) to be an attractive and alternative form of income burden.

The article presents the contextual analysis of the thoughts on general education f two great minds of our times – Alan Bloom’s and Martha Nussbaum’s. It also states the possibilities of applying those ideas into polish legal education system. Therefore the article is not only a comparative study, but also the constructive criticism of legal education. Author basis is mainly the Bloom’s „The Closing of the American Mind” and Nussbaum’s „Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education”. The context of the analysis is the polish legal education. Author shows the possible practical applications of presented ideas into Polish legal education and predicts its consequences. Moreover the existing solutions which follow their thoughts are indicated.

As a result of a reform implemented in 2017, the National Revenue Administration was established in place of the existing tax administration, tax inspection, and the Customs Service. The tax administration was consolidated this way. Although the efficiency of collecting VAT, excise tax and fuel duty increased, there are still areas which require an analysis of the definition, statistical and legal scope, and an increase in the efficiency of enforcing compliance with both the European Union’s regulations on customs and tax and the Polish ones. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the functioning of regulations which have been applicable since 1 March 2017 and which concern customs and tax inspection of the assessment and collection of charges, which are related the import and export of goods onto the customs territory of the European Union, by the new authorities.

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.

The paper shows an American model of the participation of the society in the administration of justice. It is crucial for the Polish discussion about the involvement of public factor in that manner. The analysis is divided between the constitutional right to trial by jury and the institution of justices of the peace, which is unique for the Anglo-Saxon legal system. Research conducted here is the result of a detailed analysis of the case law of the Supreme Court of the United States and selected state courts that shaped the views of the American academia on this issue. Hopefully, this brief study will help to reform the Polish judicial process.

“You can get lost when standing still too.” These words of Edward Stachura are a metaphor of the main proposition of the paper. It aims to suggest a way to “set the ball rolling” by designing the paths of education for lawyers anew, with civil society in mind, and not just thinking of the requirements of legal training. Lawyers with knowledge in the field of information technology, interdisciplinary lawyers for business, lawyers-guardians of the rule of law and justice all need study programmes to take their predispositions, goals, skills, and abilities – all at different levels – into account. The purpose of the article is to shed light on the extra-legal barriers hindering the taking of a practical step ahead. The author shows three main ways of educating lawyers and explains why they are so important and why they call for changes in study programmes. Next, the author points to the obstacles faced by reformers and suggests exploring their actual impact on education in law and the level thereof.

This text is a contribution to the discussion on the state of legal education in Poland. The author refers, in particular, to the article by A. Czarnota, M. Paździora and M. Stambulski regarding a hidden program in legal education, describes the existing situation and proposes changes that should be introduced in legal studies and teaching methods for future lawyers. On selected examples, she shows how one can oppose the domination of dataism in university teaching at law faculties in
Poland and at the same time educate competent lawyers and conscious citizens.

Recent years in Poland have been marked by a heated discussion on the system of education in place. A significant contribution to the discussion was the 2018 Law on Higher Education and Science Act, redefining the current operating model of higher education institutions. Tertiary education and the way it is organised are set in a global environment with an indefinite number of stakeholders. The turbulent nature and changeability of this environment has surfaced even more strongly in the light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. All this requires looking at the design of curricula and the delivery of the process of education from a broader angle, identifying the internal and the external stakeholders and determining their expectations as well as the capabilities to affect higher education institutions and the very process of education. The article points to the area of research made in the said domain, offering a description of the current state of affairs.

As a result of a reform implemented in 2017, the National Revenue Administration was established in place of the existing tax administration, tax inspection, and the Customs Service. The tax administration was consolidated this way. Although the efficiency of collecting VAT, excise tax and fuel duty increased, there are still areas which require an analysis of the definition, statistical and legal scope, and an increase in the efficiency of enforcing compliance with both the European Union’s regulations on customs and tax and the Polish ones. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the functioning of regulations which have been applicable since 1 March 2017 and which concern customs and tax inspection of the assessment and collection of charges, which are related the import and export of goods onto the customs territory of the European Union, by the new authorities.

The purpose of the article is to discuss the new regulation provided in Art. 189d item 4 of the Code of Administrative Procedure, i.e. the impact of the circumstances of the offender’s contribution to the occurrence of administrative tort on the administrative penalty. First, after conducting an analysis, I come into a conclusion that the said contribution does not affect the very fact of being held liable, but is taken consideration only at the stage of determining the amount of penalty. This proves that its application is limited. Then, I proceed with a critical analysis of the existing limitation, referring to the fundamental principles that should be taken into account in the process of law enforcement, which involves also imposing sanctions and determining the role of administrative financial penalties.

In the article, the author discusses the basic assumptions of the reform of the Law on Higher Education and Science, which is to be has been introduced in Poland in autumn 2018, with particular emphasis on the rules of employing university teachers. One of the most important changes in this area is the resignation from appointment as a basis for establishing employment relationships with this professional group in favour of an employment contract. It is the end of the process of departing from the employment model based on the special status of university teachers, which has lasted for over a dozen years. Now, they will largely be subject to general labour law regulations. This means making the legal regulation more flexible and therefore also reducing the protection against dismissal, the right to which has been vested in the appointed teachers so far. The author also believes that the changes currently being implemented are only the first stage of the reform, which should result in a significant increase in financial outlays for higher education institutions and in the approximation of the level of salaries of university teachers to standards in developed countries.