University of Silesia in Katowice

For over a decade, most European Union countries have been at the epicentre of migration processes. Only the current armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, according to UNHCR forecasts, will cause an influx of refugees to Poland, i.e. at least 4,300,000 by the end of 2022. Considering the dynamics of these phenomena, still in October 2020, the European Commission proposed a new pact on migration and asylum, proposing new and improved EU asylum and migration system procedures. The dynamics of these events show vividly that problems that seemed to have already been solved have returned with redoubled force. In particular, the protection of the linguistic rights of immigrants who enjoy the status of beneficiaries of international protection (BIP) comes to the fore. This issue has not yet received a systematic approach and elaboration. The protection of language rights is generally considered from the perspective of minority rights. The current policy on minority and regional languages in Europe is limited to the indigenous citizens of particular states and therefore does not cover foreigners who do not have the nationality of the country of permanent residence or who do not have the status of a national minority. Consequently, the personal and collective needs of BIP in the context of their language rights are not recognised. The research project will fill this gap. The planned research aims to create a standard for the protection of BIP's language rights based on global, regional and national regulatory frameworks by answering four fundamental questions: 1. How is the understanding of the minimum of language rights presented in the literature on the subject? 2. What international and regional norms should be considered as the necessary minimum for language rights of BIP on a regional, state and EU basis? 3. To what extent does the status of national minorities match the status of BIP in their possibility to use preferred languages in the public sphere? 4. What legal instruments are designed or should be implemented to protect that minimum for BIP? The primary function of human rights is the pervasive protection of the fundamental rights of all people. However, the lack of a standard of protection for the language rights of the individual contributes to a failure to respect the cultural and linguistic distinctiveness of BIP in the procedures applied to them. As a result, integration processes often lead to unequal treatment of BIP. European countries do not apply a single, common standard for guaranteeing language rights. Often, immigration policy is not based on the gradual and harmonious integration of BIP but on the assumption of their full assimilation into the host country. This is a discriminatory approach toward BIP. It fails to take any account of the communication and cultural needs of BIP. For example, in the educational systems of countries such as Poland or Latvia, a child must obtain a positive mark in the state language to be promoted to the next grade; these regulations do not consider the lack of previous experience in the chosen language. State language examinations according to rules that do not take into account previous linguistic experience are compulsory under most state educational quality assessment systems, which can pose a severe problem for BIP children. The requirement of knowledge of the state's language can also be a discriminatory factor in hiring or in administrative proceedings. All this makes the establishment of a minimum of language rights at the transnational level a necessary condition for granting adequate protection to the communicative and cultural needs of BIP for their language rights. The research project aims to set a standard of language rights protection for beneficiaries of international protection in Europe and formulate a new legal approach to the problem of harmonisation of BIP integration into the host society. The point of reference for the considerations will be the existing legal regulations concerning language rights at the level of the universal system of human rights (UN), supranational multilateral regulations, including the law of the EU and the Council of Europe, as well as the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, the Human Rights Committee and the Court of Justice. The legal regulations in force in Europe and in the EU law will be compared with the federal legislation and the national migration policy of the United States of America. The solutions adopted in this country, both in the sphere of legal solutions and the policy towards immigrants, will be treated as exemplary due to the long-standing experience of integration processes and the application of anti-discrimination practices, as well as various possible variants of solutions in the national policy regulating language rights. As a result, the effectiveness of the current system for the protection of the linguistic rights of BIP will be established, as well as the current needs of this social group concerning language guarantees, to be able to formulate possible future legal solutions (i.e. de lege feredna proposals). The planned outcome of the project will be the creation of a model for the protection of the linguistic rights necessary (minimum) for the use of language in the public sphere and the definition of indicators allowing for a transparent assessment of the degree of protection in order to demonstrate that the required standard of linguistic guarantees is met. In this way, the research project also contributes, from a language rights perspective to the critical international debate on migrants' rights to fill existing legislative gaps in this area in both international and national law.

The purpose of the project: The objective of the research is to obtain scientific knowledge about the phenomenon known as “special legislation” (in Polish ‘specustawy’) and to discuss it from the perspective of legal theory and philosophy of law. This is aimed at expanding the discussion about special legislation on the international level. The project will establish the methodological and conceptual foundations for future comparative research. In particular, the following questions should be answered: 1) What statutes are referred to as "special legislation"? 2) What is “special” about those statutes? 3) Does the application of special legislation by courts differ from the application of ordinary statutes? 4) What are the benefits and risks of enacting special legislation? 5) How similar challenges are dealt with in other Western legal systems? 2. Planned research: The project will consist of six main stages: 1) the study of the use of the term “special legislation” (“specustawa”) and related terms; 2) the analysis of legislative acts considered as special legislation; 3) the attempt to formulate a definition of the concept of special legislation and delineate its scope from other related phenomena; 4) the analysis of the application of special legislation by courts; 5) the critical analysis of special legislation in light of legal-theoretical, constitutional and legalphilosophical concepts and values; 6) the comparison between Polish special legislation (“specustawy”) and similar concepts known in other legal systems. 3. Justification for the selection of the research topic: Special legislation (also: “exceptional legislation”, "incidental legislation", etc.) has been a permanent element of the Polish legal order since the beginning of the 21st century, although the rules for its creation have not been specified in any legal act, and the regulations contained therein often raise fundamental reservations on the part of legal theorists and legal practitioners. It has been playing an increasingly important role in recent years. As indicated in the literature, in some areas of law, incidental legislation has become the rule, and ordinary legislation has become the exception. At the same time, so far the research on the phenomenon of special legislation has been conducted mainly within the specific disciplines of jurisprudence (administrative law, constitutional law, etc.). There are no general or comparative studies, and in particular, there is no legal-theoretical and legal-philosophical reflection about incidental legislation. A legal definition of the concept of special legislation has not been developed. There is the lack of more extensive research into its application and interpretation. No recommendations were formulated regarding its creation, both in terms of the political process and legislative technique. In this state of affair, the proposed research fills a very important gap in Polish and global jurisprudence, and its results may, in the longer term, inspire changes in the creation and application of law.

Taking up this research topic results from the necessity of a broader study of this matter, along with a juxtaposition of Polish and foreign (Czech) solutions. The reference to the Czech legal system stems from its geographical proximity (proximity to Poland), similar problems (post-communist state) and membership in the EU. Despite these obvious similarities, the two countries deal with air protection in completely different ways. According to reports from the European Environment Agency, the Czech Republic has better air quality than Poland (https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/air/country-fact-sheets/2022-country-fact-sheets/czechia-air-pollution-country). The analysis within the project will allow to determine how Poland and the Czech Republic have normalized this topic, which will be the starting point for a comparative study, which is particularly needed in order to develop an appropriate (i.e. effective and protective) model of air protection in Poland. This, in turn, will give an opportunity to answer the question whether it is expedient and possible to adapt some of the solutions known in the foreign legal system to the Polish legislation and whether this could contribute to the development of effective and efficient Polish legislation in the field of air protection, i.e. effectively protecting both this component of the environment and fauna, flora, as well as human health and life.

The undertaken scientific activity is a pilot study at the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) – Amsterdam (the Netherlands) entitled Theoretical legal model of taxation of metropolises with turnover taxes, in particular VAT. The IBFD has been a leader in European, international and comparative tax law for 85 years. Its mission is to offer high-quality information and conduct independent scientific research in the field of European and international tax law. The aim of the pilot research at IBFD is to collect research material for building a theoretical and legal model of VAT taxation of metropolises in EU countries and in the world. The research material collected during the pilot studies will allow for the formulation of research hypotheses and their verification in the course of further research under the grant programme of the National Science Centre (NCN).

The project, entitled Legal status, position and significance of the so-called extra-budgetary funds in Portugal, involves preliminary research at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and at the Institute for Economic, Financial and Tax Law of the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon (IDEFF). The aim of the study is to analyse the relationship between the extraordinary instrument, which is the off-budget fund, and the standard instrument of financial management, which is the central budget, and to identify the criteria according to which in Portugal the separation of public tasks financed by the budget and the off-budget is carried out in an effective and transparent manner. The impact of the activities of off-budget funds on the basic elements of public finances in Poland, m.in on the principle of openness, transparency, detail, unity or transparency, is subject to a fairly unambiguous critical assessment. This thesis clashes with the legal status of the funds as an instrument for making the financial economy more flexible, the practical significance of which has significantly increased in times of crisis. The above implies the need to normalize the position of funds (exceptional/additional instrument) in relation to the state budget as a standard instrument of public finance management. The comparative analysis carried out as a result of the project on the example of the Portuguese system is important due to the perceived need for changes in the studied area in Poland.

Project description in preparation

There comes a moment in each person’s life when he or she gets to experience, to a smaller or greater extent, the institutional face of the judiciary. He or she may become a party, a witness, a member of the audience, a juror, etc. Regardless of what capacity a person serves in proceedings, they enter the door of the courthouse with a certain belief of their own as to what is equitable, and what is not. People have different views on the concept of equity, and virtually every attempt at specifying its meaning reveals involvement in some form of ideology and reflects discriminating in favour of certain attitudes as opposed to others. That said, despite this subjective perception of equity, it is important that each citizen standing before court expects the decision issued by the court to be equitable. From the perspective of a participant in court proceedings, and above all – taking into account the principle of the democratic state under the rule of law – it becomes crucial how the concept of equity is understood in the system of law: both in theory and in judicial decisions. It has been repeatedly stressed, ever since the ancient times, that law must be equitable. Equity should be realized both in the law-making activity (in the creation of law), and in the exercise of judicial functions (the application of law). Each mature legal system has certain methods of application of law based on the concept of equity, however difficulties involved in determination of the meaning of the term “equity” may in many cases make it impossible to indicate what in a specific system of law is treated as “equity”. Furthermore, how equity is understood in a specific legal system, depends, without a doubt, on socio-historical factors and belonging to a specific type of legal system (continental or the common law, characteristic of the English-speaking countries). In order to solve the problem presented above, the author will characterize the most popular equity theories existing in literature and will classify them using a previously adopted typology. Empirical analyses of case-law in civil cases in Poland, Germany and England will make it possible to determine how equity is construed by courts in the respective legal systems. Comparison of the results thus obtained will help to establish which of the concepts of equity described in literature are actually applied in case-law of courts and to what extent (if any) judicial practice corresponds with how theoreticians construe this notion. Ways of understanding of equity, as reconstructed in the Polish law, will be compared with their equivalents found in the legal systems of the other countries. The results of the research will contribute to the discussion on equity – an issue that, to this day, has not been a subject of in-depth legal and social analyses. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the ways of understanding and of the roles that equity plays in the respective national caselaw (Polish, German and English) – another issue that has not been raised in the discourse yet – will bring new insights into the science of law. The issue in question is of great importance for each person who may come into conflict with the law. How courts in civil cases understand the notion of equity translates into how they interpret provisions referring to this category and, what follows, how they rule in a specific case. Therefore, the research findings may not only prove important for the scientific and public discourse, but may also be useful for citizens who are not legal professions, but who have contact with institutions that enforce it.

This project aims to consider how the exclusion of Africa’s peculiarities in formulating international human rights and international environmental law has led to the breach of the rights of indigenous peoples in Africa by European multinational corporations. Its objectives are to establish why European MNCs operating in Africa behave differently and propose a new method of holding MNCs accountable using the African Approach to International Law (AAIL). This theory seeks the refocusing of international law to capture Africa’s peculiarities. The research questions are: 1. to what extent can international human rights and climate and environmental laws protect indigenous peoples in Africa from MNCs’ interference? 2. is a Eurocentric human rights approach based on protecting individual human rights sufficient to protect Africa’s indigenous peoples from MNCs’ human rights violations? 3. what responses do the AAIL have in rewriting international law to reflect Africa’s peculiarities? Can these responses be extended to indigenous peoples, international human rights, and international environmental law? In trade relationships, Africa is the destination point for many European MNCs for reasons like abundant natural resources in Africa, the cheap labour force in Africa, and fewer regulatory restrictions for MNCs, leading to high exploration of natural resources in Africa. Of course, with its attendant environmental pollution and human rights abuses of the indigenous peoples in Africa on whose territories these natural resources are located. Also, there is a problem regarding the definitional understanding of who indigenous peoples are in the context of Africa. There is also a problem with the definitional understanding of who indigenous peoples are in the context of the African continent. It is expected that the result of this project would advance international human rights regarding Africa’s indigenous peoples, increase environmental protection, and make European MNCs more responsible in their business operations. It will advance the need to recognise Africa’s role in developing international law. Expected recommendations could form a roadmap for Polish corporations gradually having a presence in Africa.

The project aims to create a universal model of legal data protection with particular attention to Big Data technologies, results generated by artificial intelligence (AI) and data collected by sensors as part of the Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. Lawrence Lessig wrote on the possibility of regulating the Internet as early as 1999. According to Lessig, there are four regulators: law, social norms, market and architecture (infrastructure). These together constitute a whole that limits our actions, both directly and indirectly, ex-post and ex-ante. However, the Internet is governed by specific differences, as the code becomes the overarching regulator. We can create cyberspace that allows us to protect fundamental values. However, we can just as well create code that makes those values disappear. At the same time, artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are developing. Machine learning involves working with small and large data sets by examining and comparing them to find common patterns and explore their nuances. For example, suppose we provide a machine learning model with many songs that match our tastes and their statistics (such as tempo, musical genre, instruments used, etc.). In that case, we should create a recommendation system to suggest new songs to the user (with a high degree of probability) in the future that match their tastes, as streaming platforms such as Spotify or Netflix do today. Virtually every internet user also has his or her email inbox, uses social media platforms or acquires virtual items in online games. However, hardly anyone reads all the terms and conditions they have to accept to start using a given solution. Meanwhile, it turns out that none of the above belongs to us as users. The operator can switch off the service at any time, cutting us off from what we have accumulated so far. In response to the dictatorship of the stronger, the IT concept of blockchain was created, i.e. "private" networks based on blockchains, operating in a peer-to-peer model, in which each user has exclusive rights to their data. For such networks, programming code takes on a special significance because their users do not sign any contract or tick any checkbox that they accept the terms and conditions before connecting - they merely implicitly agree that the boundaries of their operation are set by technology and agreement between users. Furthermore, blockchain technology has been used to create cryptocurrencies, i.e. virtual assets with no material basis. Based on these, various virtual tokens are being created today, a digital representation of specific values, a kind of certificate of "ownership" of detailed digital data. However, the law does not keep up with reality and changes. Most new solutions remain outside the scope of application of the existing standards. Many people draw attention to the term "law of the horse" formulated by Judge F. H. Easterbrook. According to its proponents, the fact that a horse can be owned, sold, rented or raced in particular does not mean that special legal regulations dedicated to horses should be created. However, in my opinion, this concept has one drawback - a horse is an animal. At the same time, most legal orders contain legal regulations concerning animals. Digital goods are digital data recorded on appropriate media. While the regulation of codes is residually covered by copyright protection, it still raises many questions. However, regulation of digital data is found in vain in the vast majority of jurisdictions. This project assumes a detailed analysis of the current regulations, searching for foundations for a universal data protection model. The main problem faced by the project manager is the attempt to answer the question of whether the existing data protection regulations are sufficient in the context of technological development, and thus whether they ensure an adequate level of protection of the interests of data "owners" and free circulation of data while protecting the public interest. In addition, however, it may be necessary to create new data rights. In that case, the project seeks to answer the question of what types of data should be protected and what kind of data rights should be created. Thus, the development of the presented problem, focusing on the key but still unsolved aspects of data "ownership", will allow to solve the fundamental issues for the further development of the field of new technology law (for the effective regulation of data processing rules, it is first necessary to identify data as an object of legal relations correctly), as well as to fill the gap in the science of law, which so far has not been able to combine the existing regulations and the above problems. Moreover, I also see potential in using the research results by the entities applying the law. Because of the above, the research results will significantly impact the development of science in the field of certainty of trade and use of data and may also become a theoretical basis for regulation of data rights at the Community and national level.

Project description in preparation

Project description in preparation

Project description in preparation

Project description in preparation

Project description in preparation

Project description in preparation

Project description in preparation

The purpose of the project is to identify the legal nature and the meaning of joint physical custody in the Polish family law and to determine the legitimacy of introducing into Polish law a developed substantive or procedural regulation of this institution as the primary model of custody of the child when parents divorce, officially separate or factually part. Put in most general terms, joint physical custody means a temporary change of a child’s place of residence between the parents. The main hypothesis of the project is that joint physical custody does not only mean the systems of symmetrical child care, and the possibility to award joint physical custody will require the courts to carefully weigh the pros and cons of such an arrangement in each, individual case. This form of guardianship is permitted by provisions of the Family and Guardianship Code, however not explicitly, but as part of the so-called parenting plan. The term “join physical custody”, although not mentioned in the text of the Family and Guardianship Code, does appear in the text of the State Aid for Child Support Act, but without a definition or any specification. Furthermore, provisions of Art. 5821 § 4, 59822 and 7562 § 1 point 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure make reference to “a judgment, in which the court deemed that the child would reside with each of the parents over recurring periods of time”. It is appropriate to presume that these provisions are intended to apply to joint physical custody, although it should be stressed that the term in question is not used in the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, either. Hence, the matter in question is surrounded by considerable legal uncertainty, causing citizens to be treated differently by courts and public administration authorities. The project is conducted because of the ongoing process of modernising family law regulations and their adaptation to changing social reality in Poland. The study plan consists of following four parts: 1) custody of a child; 2) joint physical custody - general assumptions; 3) joint physical custody in the legal systems of other countries; 4) practical challenge of correct regulation of joint physical custody in law.

The AdTech sector (advertising technology) is one of the fastest growing areas in which user data is the main trading means (also referred to as “currency”1 ). According to the expectations2 of the European Commission, the market value of online data processed in the European Union in 2020 will be at least EUR 739 billion. User's activity on the Internet, thanks to tools dedicated to behaviour tracking (e.g. cookies, behavioural biometry), allows the creation of consumer profiles. The collected information becomes the subject of the ad exchange, which enables offering personalized advertising content. The effect of these mechanisms is the displayed content personalisation both in terms of advertisements and the results of search engines (e.g. Google), which in the applicant's opinion, among others in the light of the emerging postulates of understanding the right to privacy as a human right3 or the concept of digital privacy [Brumis, 2016]4 violates that privacy. Such market activity may result in price discrimination5 , exclusion, emotions manipulation6 , 7 or misinformation, e.g. user’s electoral misinformation8 . The problem of respecting the right to privacy is more intense, because nowadays it is not enough for the user to be restrained before sharing data about himself. Data is collected automatically, regardless of the will, and often the awareness of users. It is important that the user does not work in isolation. Collecting data about one user, information about other people with whom the user communicates is also automatically collected. As a result of this observation, it should be stated that the Internet user, regardless of his will and consciousness, may be profiled, even if he deliberately avoids providing his data, as he participates in a global network of connections. The process of selecting advertising content for a profiled user lasts a fraction of a second, less than a blink of an eye - it happens during the auction, in which many entities participate. Auctioning takes place during the ad exchange - through the intermediary software in advertising transactions between the publisher of the website and the advertiser. The source of knowledge about users is their profiling using an automated process of user behaviour analysis (using, among others, large data sets - Big Data or artificial intelligence algorithms). Data about the user become the subject of the auction - they turn into currency, where the dependence applies: the more information about the user, and thus the possibility of better selection of advertising content, the higher the probability of clicking on the advertisement and profit. The national and European regulations in an insufficient way protect the users’ privacy, because currently functioning standards collide internally in relation to technical capabilities, despite the adopted technological neutrality. Moreover, national regulations have low effectiveness in protecting privacy in the digital economy, due to the lack of attachment to the territoriality of data transmission and the nature of the IT tools used. The objective of the project is to create a model of the functioning of the right to privacy and the right to be forgotten in the process of selecting internet advertising via the ad exchange involving entities of different territorial origin. The project provides the analysis of legal regulations of the national and the European Union law (issued regulations and directives), taking into account the legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany on the protection of privacy in the advertising sector, with particular emphasis on digital advertising tools on the example of the auction process using the ad exchange. As part of the research, US law will also be taken into account through the prism of California state law. 1 The European Commission, European Data Market Study. 2 Ibidem. 3 Is Internet Privacy A Human Right?, online: https://secureswissdata.com/internet-privacy-human-right/ 4 Also: W. Lis, Zjawisko profilowania jako przejaw naruszenia prawa do prywatności w środowisku cyfrowym [in:] Prawo do prywatności jako reguła społeczeństwa informacyjnego, [ed.] K. Chałubińska-Jentkiewicz, K. Kakareko, J. Sobczak, C.H.Beck, Warsaw 2017, s. 175. 5 Raport Executive Office of the President of the United States, Big Data and Differential Pricing. 6 D. Dudek, Jak znaleźć zadłużonego właściciela mieszkania, który chce je sprzedać? Możliwości ultraprecyzyjnego targetowania reklamy na Facebook. 7 Fundacja Panoptykon, Prześwietleni przez algorytm. 8 Fundacja Panoptykon, Polityczny marketing – nieoczekiwane zagrożenie dla demokracji?

Project description in preparation

considers it from the perspective of both its creation and application. Symbolic provisions of law are understood in two ways. Traditionally, this name was used with reference to provisions that did impose on their addressees certain obligations, but at the same time did not provide for any mechanisms for the enforcement thereof. Provisions of this type can therefore be labelled as symbols, or substitutes of “real law”. Absence of enforcement mechanisms means that symbolic provisions are ineffective in achieving their officially proclaimed goals, which is not to say, however, that the enactment thereof is pointless. If, for instance, in a state of crisis caused by fear of terrorist activity, the legislator hastily adopts anti-terrorism provisions, they won’t necessarily lead to the achievement of the officially proclaimed objective that is fighting terrorism. What they can do, however, is lead to accomplishment of a disguised political goal: eliminating the social feeling of threat from terrorists, a thus calm public opinion. This is certainly merely one example of a disguised political goal; other examples may as well include striving to win public support during a campaign through enactment of a statute seemingly solving a major problem. Symbolic legislation can therefore be perceived as a type of social manipulation and for this reason it has traditionally be viewed negatively by science. However, the theory of law has also identified another, “positive” dimension of symbolic legislation: as legislation enacted in cases where the use of order of the state is either impossible or undesirable, but enactment of provisions can have a positive socio-educational effect and thus contribute to the achievement of undisguised and officially proclaimed aims. Examples may include Article 1(1) of the Polish Animal Protection Act, which does not provide for any mechanisms for the enforcement of the obligation to “respect, protect, and care for” animals, but may still have an educational effect and promote pro-animal attitudes. Other manifestations of “positive” symbolic legislation may include phenomena that have not yet been directly associated with this concept, but are in fact similar in character. These are (1) soft law – a concept known in international and European law, (2) programmatic norms – a landmark in constitutional law, and (3) leges imperfectae – concept researched in the theory of law and functioning e.g. in family law. The discussion on the issue of symbolic legislation is vivid and far from complete, to which the discovery of its “positive” dimension has certainly contributed. What is more, it appears that the role of symbolic provisions of law is set to increase due to the overall evolutionary tendency in law, which seems to depart from behavioural regulation methods to more “soft” regulation through stimuli. Symbolic provisions of law may find application especially in those spheres of legal regulation that are affected by strong axiological conflicts: bioethics, animal protection, and environmental protection (including climate protection). For this reason, the various problems selected for solving in this project will be analysed not only theoretically but also empirically – through examination of specific cases from international and domestic law from these three areas of law. The project will concentrate on issues falling within five categories. It will begin with a theoretical analysis of the concept of symbolic legislation. Secondly, it will be interesting to identify what causes the legislator to enact symbolic provisions instead of regular ones. Thirdly, it is essential to examine the consistency of symbolic legislation with the values associated with a state under the rule of law. Fourthly, the research is intended to establish possible ways of identification of a symbolic character of provisions of law. This is necessary for the fifth, and final, area of research, i.e. analysis of possible ways of factoring in the “symbolicness” of provisions of law by courts in the process of application of law. The research planned under this project can lead to the development of legal science in several ways. First of all, it will contribute to increasing awareness of the diverse methods of influencing the society through law. Secondly, it will offer a clear and coherent conceptual and terminological network for both the description and evaluation of symbolic provisions – in the broadest possible sense, encompassing also such phenomena as soft law, programmatic norms, or leges imperfectae. Thirdly, the project contributes to the development of knowledge on the relation between symbolic-ness and values of a state under the rule of law. Fourthly, it leads to determination of ways of identification of symbolic provisions and factoring in their existence in case-law and the judicial decision-making process. The findings, to be published in periodicals having an international outreach, will therefore make a significant contribution to the development of the theory of law and sociology of law. Furthermore, as the analyses will be based on specific instances of issues from the area of bioethics, animal protection, environmental protection (including climate protection), and criminal law, the findings will help to gain a better understanding of the nature of legal regulations created in these spheres of reality.

”No man is an island,” Ernest Hemingway wrote in his novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Christian personalism suggests that every individual is a relational being, i.e. created to live in a community as a human being functioning in a network of various relationships with other people. Given that all individuals live in relation to others, they must assume responsibility for their actions towards others. Only in such a system can the individual’s actions be subject to a specific assessment (moral, legal, social). When individuals ‘act,’ their activity leads them to achieve the intended result, either positive or negative. In contrast, where a person "does not act," such omission may lead as a result to the occurrence of a specific, most frequently negative effect. Truly, both positive and negative effects can be more easily linked to action rather than to omission. The individual who committed an omission resulting in the occurrence of effect defends oneself by stating ‘I did not do anything,’ and ex nihilo nihil fit. Although omissions will most often be regarded negatively in criminal law, they do not always have to draw condemnation. Criminal law admonition is the ultimate last resort (ultima ratio). Therefore, the attempts by the legislator to limit the number of entities capable of bearing liability for omission that produces a result do not come as a surprise. The rational formulation of the limits of criminal liability within the indicated area appears to be a formidable task. As a matter of fact, it requires resolving, for instance, the following practical and tangible doubts: Are parents always the guarantors of safety for their children? Are both the parents equally responsible in a situation where one of them works abroad and only the other takes actual care of the child? In what circumstances is a doctor obliged to give the patient assistance simultaneously putting his own life in jeopardy? Is a driving instructor always the guarantor of road safety and is any failure to exercise supervision over the learner going to result in criminal liability of the instructor? When is the failure to inform the concerned person of being infected with venereal disease going to lead to a charge of exposure to infection? Should a physical education teacher bear criminal liability for any negative effects that may befall his primary school children doing exercises on the wall bars? The aim of this research project is to provide the answers to the above questions as well as to reconstruct the optimal model of criminal liability for consequence crimes committed by omission which produces a negative effect. Particular attention will be given to the construction of the so-called guarantor, i.e. the person obliged to undertake desired action and the conditions regulating its existence. In order to reconstruct an adequate model, the analysis will focus on the normative regulations and dogmatic opinions expressed in the Polish science as well as in the science of three German-language states (i.e. Austria, Germany and Switzerland) due to their deep rootedness in the continental legal system and common historical and legislative tradition in the indicated area. The work plan foresees tracing the evolution of the construction of criminal liability for omission undertaken from the historical perspective and in reference to the applicable constitutional standards. Apart from the literature on the subject, the statutory regulations, constitutions or, alternatively, international agreements in the absence of a relevant model in the constitution of the selected states will be subject to examination. In order to complete the planned tasks and verify the obtained results, a scientific internship in a foreign center (Germany) as well as dialogue visits (Austria and Switzerland) are scheduled to take place. The main reason for undertaking research on criminal liability for consequence crimes committed by omission is the growing anticipation in the doctrine of criminal law for a specific Copernican revolution. It is awaited due to the deficiencies in the normative solutions proposed thus far by science and the emergence of new challenges that call for urgent decisions. This concerns in particular the issue of proportionality, namely, whether the limitation of the obligation to act on the part of the guarantor does not infringe on the legal rights of potential victims who are protected by constitutional norms. The above condition undoubtedly favors the development of new and bold proposals. The proposed research project will allow for the identification of similarities and differences in the evolution of the approach to criminal liability for consequence crimes committed by omission and the development of a universal model of liability in the indicated area, which will be of immense importance not only for the Polish, but also Austrian, German and Swiss law as well as for other states that draw profusely from the output of the above states.

Project description in preparation

Hindsight effect (i.e. the tendency to overestimate the foreseeability of past events) is facilitated by two factors: the inability to disregard relevant information, and motivational factors – we want to perceive our cognitive capacities as best as possible. This psychological effect is one of the symptoms of so called “bounded rationality” (anchoring effect may be pointed out as the another) – it allows people to cope with complex environment under imperfect information and time limits, but often lead to systematic distortions of judgements as well. The operation of such cognitive phenomena may be much unwelcome in the domain of judicial decision-making, where choices should be based solely on the legally relevant factors. As the existing literature in behavioral science suggests, both professional judges and lay-jurors, rather than following a systematic reasoning scheme, may in fact rely on intuitive, heuristic reasoning. If so, judicial reasoning may be influenced by various extra-legal factors, including inter alia cognitive effects. Hindsight bias is exceptionally relevant in legal context. It may prove to be especially dangerous when the legal responsibility is based on the foreseeability of a negative outcome of an act. It can be a problem wherever some normative models of a prudent person or conduct are used, for example in tort law. The existing empirical literature in hindsight bias is focused (with couple notable exceptions) with either common law system or lay-people in civil law system. The civil law oriented empirical literature lacks systematic studies of this effect. Poland, as one of the country within this legal tradition could serve as a field to conduct the analysis of susceptibility of hindsight bias in judiciary. The above characterisation of the tension between the theoretical model of judicial decision making and empirically demonstrated susceptibility of judges to various cognitive biases leads to the following research problem: There is an urgent need to assess to what extent judges in the Polish legal system are susceptible to the hindsight effect and whether this susceptibility is systematically reduced by factors related to legal training or institutional design of Polish judiciary. The project will first integrate these conceptual elements to the legal studies expertise and then relate the conceptual system to judicial decision-making. Core concepts for the project such as legal reasoning, legal efficiency and justice, and hindsight bias will be worked out in an integrated common theoretical basis for the project.

The aim of the project is to create a model for regulating the transfer of personal data between the European Union and the People's Republic of China (hereinafter: China). This model is intended to consist of legal mechanisms that will implement EU law and Chinese law. At the same time, the model is intended to disregard those legal mechanisms that had already been considered insufficient to regulate the transfer of personal data between the European Union and China, and to take into account solutions that have not yet been considered. China is the European Union's second largest trading partner. China's presence on the European market is primarily associated with products and services included in the new technology category. A characteristic feature of these is the processing of huge amounts of data, including personal data. This means that if the company's headquarters, as well as the technical infrastructure responsible for the proper functioning of the product or service, are located outside of Europe – as is the case for some Chinese companies – the transfer of personal data to a third country cannot be avoided. Although the transfer of personal data between the European Union and China is a fact, the level of protection of personal data that Chinese law provides is unclear. The reason for this is the reforms carried out by the Chinese authorities since 2014. The introduced changes have significantly modified the current regulation of personal data protection. This makes a comprehensive analysis of the current protection of personal data in China necessary, especially in the context of the regulation of the transfer of personal data between the European Union and China. The provisions of European Union law on the protection of personal data contain clear rules regarding the lawful transfer of personal data to a third country. The basic, comprehensive legal mechanism for legalising the transfer of personal data to a third country is the decision of the European Commission stating the adequacy of the level of personal data protection in a third country. The experience arising from the regulation of the transfer of personal data between the EU and the US – which is the only such complex case that has had a significant impact on the current views of the doctrine of personal data protection – suggests that, where there are such intensive data flows, which undoubtedly includes the case of China, and where, for various reasons, the level of personal data protection cannot be recognised as adequate, a surrogate should be sought – a comprehensive solution. One of the proposed solutions is to use the achievements of the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development regarding the protection of personal data. However, this concept needs to be supplemented, firstly, by clarifying whether the use of the aforementioned acquis to legalise the transfer of personal data to a third country is in accordance with the law on the protection of personal data of the European Union, secondly, by indicating how the acquis of the Council of Europe or the Organisation Economic Cooperation and Development can become a tool to legalise the transfer of data to third countries. The research consists of three parts. The first is to reconstruct the test of assessing the legal system of a third country. Based on the provisions of European Union law, the achievements of the doctrine and case law, I will reconstruct the criteria that make up the reconstructed test. The second part of the research is an analysis of Chinese data protection law. Using the reconstructed test, I will analyse the provisions of Chinese law that regulate the protection of personal data. Primarily, these will be legal acts resulting from the reforms being carried out. I will start the third part of the research by discussing the current legalisation of the transfer of personal data between the European Union and China. I will refer to the concept of using the achievements of the Council of Europe or the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in the field of personal data protection to legalise the transfer of personal data to a third country. The culmination of the research will be to propose a model regulation of the transfer of personal data between the European Union and China. My research will complement the current considerations of the doctrine on the current shape of the legal protection of personal data in China, and may, at the same time, contribute to solving the problem of legalising personal data flows between the EU and China through legal mechanisms that comply with the provisions of both legal systems. Publishing the research results in international publications will contribute to the development of personal data protection law.

Climate change and its negative consequences represent a common problem of all the people on Earth and are likely to become one of the most serious challenges that humankind faces. The expected and already observed impacts of climate change include an increase in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising of global average sea level. We are all familiar with changes of climate – in some parts of the globe the summers are hotter and drier than they used to be, there is less snow in the winter, while in others there are heavy rainfalls and the frequency of extreme weather events has intensified. In the words of a member of an Indigenous community of Araracuara, Colombia: It rains when it should not, it is hot when it should not be. Although climate change has severe impact on the whole population, there are groups which experience the climate change in much more direct way. The total population of Indigenous Peoples is estimated to be over 370 million people living in over 70 countries worldwide, such as Canada, the United States, Finland, Kenya and Peru. Although at the international level there is no agreed definition due to the principle of self-identification, Indigenous Peoples share some commonalities, such as: they are cultural groups, that are characterized by cultural continuity and they have a special relationship with their territory, inhabited since the time immemorial. As the primary activities of Indigenous Peoples are fishing, hunting, and livestock herding, their survival is entirely depended on natural resources and habitats. Increasing droughts in Africa and Latin America result in water scarcity. In the Arctic region rising temperatures accelerate the melting of snow and ice, which changes the breeding and migration patterns of many animals, especially caribou, that are central in the diet of many northern Indigenous communities. Moreover, melting ice makes hunting and navigation more dangerous, and makes constructing igloos and food storage almost impossible. Without the traditional ways of acquiring the food, Indigenous Peoples face extinction, as traditional foods provide the components of a high quality diet at relatively low monetary cost as according to the Canadian government the annual cost of substituting imported food for that obtained from subsistence hunting and harvesting would be C$35 million, which is well above the average household income of Indigenous Peoples. Moreover, the oil extraction in Ecuador, deforestation in Brazil or construction of dams in Nigeria, are associated with displacement, leading to loss of livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples. As such, climate change leaves only two possibilities to Indigenous Peoples – migration or death. Although the issue of Indigenous Peoples’ special relationship with environment has been acknowledged by the international community, the first documents, usually soft law, were adopted less than 40 years ago. As such, the main role in achieving international justice until now has been played by the international human rights tribunals. Therefore, the hypothesis of the project is that comparison of case-law of regional human rights tribunals will allow to find possible gaps in international law and establish what are the legal possibilities of redress for Indigenous Peoples in the case of violation of human rights arose from the changes to environment due to the climate change. The project aims to establish, through the analysis of international instruments, especially referring to the right to environment, the right to water, the right to food and the right to culture, what is the role of international law in the protection of Indigenous Peoples against impacts of climate change. As most of the development projects are undertaken by private corporations, the question of responsibility arises. In the light of the above, the second research question is, what are the state obligations considering that the vast majority of the greenhouse gas emissions and pollution related to gas and oil extraction can be attributed to the non-state actors and if there is any business responsibility towards human rights? The analysis of international law together with the analysis of the case-law of international tribunals will allow to establish whether international law if effective in addressing special needs of Indigenous Peoples in coping with the climate change. Lessons learned now in the context of Indigenous Peoples about the complexity and unpredictability of change are of crucial importance for all world regions. Moreover, the model of protection of Indigenous Peoples could constitute a minimum benchmark for the future protection against climate change impacts. As such, the outcomes of the project may not only initiate a fresh look at the topic, but also introduce new paradigms that may advance the normative debate on the fight against climate change.

Close interpersonal relations, which are shaped over the lifetime, are an important part of each person's life. Law makes extensive references to interpersonal relations, moulding them in a specific way. In order to describe relations between people, the legislator uses terms such as "close person" or "closest person", and so a question arises whether a person who is "close" under the law is also "close" in the sphere of actual relations and everyday life. The categories of individuals the legislator labels as "close" are such irrespective of the actual dimension of interpersonal relations. In determining the scope of individuals falling into the category of "closeness", the legislator refers predominantly to family relations, and to a lesser extent of actual relations. However, modern reality is primarily about actual bonds and facts, which the law does not always manages to keep abreast with (e.g. status of single-sex relationships, the development of new technologies – status of humanoid robots, surrogate motherhood, so-called families of choice). While the popular meaning of "closeness" suggests a certain degree of intimacy and a special character of the relation between people, the legislator distances himself from that, instead emphasising verifiability of bonds. Paradoxically, this may lead to a situation when a person who is actually "close" may turn out to be a stranger under the law and vice versa (between the sphere of facts and law). It should therefore be considered what vision of "closeness" the legislator shapes and based on what criteria. The category of closeness goes far beyond single references in legislation, it is a sort of "channel" through which the legislator shows what values he considers to be important and close in people's lives. By collecting all the "bits and pieces of closeness", as created by the legislator, one can establish the concepts of interpersonal relations in law. The legislator uses different terms to describe interpersonal relations. These do not make up a homogeneous category and include notions such as "close person", "closest person", "next of kin", "closest family", "person in a close relationship, "having a particularly close relationship, "close ones". They can be divided into defined ones and undefined ones. The scope of the former is determined e.g. by persons such as the descendants, ascendants, spouse, relatives, or persons actually living in cohabitation. The terms that determine the scope of "closeness" are in most cases undefined, which causes interpretive discrepancies. In case of undefined terms, a question arises as to what sources and reference materials to look up in order to determine the meaning of "closeness": language of the law, legal language, or perhaps general language? Another question to be answered is whether, given the social changes that are taking place, the legislator should redefine the existing terms denoting "closeness" or whether it is up to the practice of application of law to give them their current meanings. Furthermore, the legislator treats the categories of "close" and "notclose" ones differently, and grants the former a number of rights and obligations. In the light of the above, it should be considered what values determine the special treatment of relations regarded as "close". The first stage of the research encompasses collection and analysis of terms directly expressing "closeness" and of equivalents of the term "closeness". Once this is done, the subjective and temporal scope of "closeness" as well as the criteria through which the legislator defines "closeness" will be determined. More specifically, it will be established whether these criteria are repetitive, and in what configurations they appear (identification of types of closeness and criteria preferred by the legislator). In addition to the above, reasons for the introduction of different formulas of "closeness" will be determined through comparison of the various existing formulas (examination of the purpose of introduction of different formulas of "closeness"). Given the specific nature of regulations, through which the legislator refers to "closeness", it is necessary to carry out an analysis of ratio legis of legal regulations using the category of "closeness". The results of this analysis will be the basis for reconstruction of the vision of "closeness" in legislation and case-law, which will be supplemented with remarks as to the law as it now stands and postulates as to future legislative solutions. Thus reconstructed concept will be complemented by an analysis of how normative "closeness" affects the quality of life of individuals. The final stage of the research will encompass reconstruction of "closeness" from the perspective of evolution in time. Law cannot regulate interpersonal relations independently of social realities. At the same time, the legislator must be attentive to what happens between people. If we need closeness to live, then law should regulate it in such a way as to ensure that it positively affects the quality of life. Reflections on "closeness" go beyond the analysis of the law as it now stands; instead, they also encompass past and future perspectives.

In everyday life, there are situations in which people, by their behaviour, violate or expose to danger different legally protected interests. This happens during such prosaic activities as doing sports, raising children, or even celebrating. For example, during a football match one player may cause health impairment to another. A parent taking care of a child sometimes deprives the latter of freedom, by compelling them to stay home rather than go out with friends. An adherent of the wet Easter Monday tradition violates bodily integrity of other persons by splashing them with water on Easter Monday. These acts, in the opinion of most criminal law scientists, are not crimes because they are committed in the framework of so called non-statutory countertypes. According to these academics, such countertypes make circumstances, unnamed in any legislative act, legalizing behaviour prohibited by law. However, not all authors agree with that opinion. Few criminal lawyers believe that acts committed in such circumstances are permissible from the beginning, and there is no need for their legalization (something that is legal may not be positively legalized). Others are of the opinion that so called non-statutory countertypes are incompatible with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland because they have not been provided for in any universally applicable piece of legislation and make a mere invention of lawyers. The author of this project assumes that circumstances collectively defined by most criminal lawyers as non-statutory countertypes are heterogeneous in nature. A part of them may refer, as argued by some representatives of the doctrine, to primarily legal acts. Then, the perpetrator’s behaviour, as long as certain conditions are met, does not violate any legal prohibition, and is neutral from the criminal law perspective. On the other hand, it is not excluded that a part of those circumstances involve situations in which the act violates a prohibition – and is unlawful. Then, they may exclude unlawfulness. If it so turns out, it must be decided if, in the context of provisions of the Constitution and international law, it is admissible for courts to take advantage of so called non-statutory countertypes. In the mind of the author, as long as the above question is not resolved, there are no grounds to use the concept of non-statutory countertype without putting into question the legitimacy of such usage. For the above reason, in the application, the author uses the term so called non-statutory countertypes. To solve the problem outlined above, the author will characterize selected, most frequent in practice, so called non-statutory countertypes, namely consent, custom, punishing of minors, sport risk and artistic activity from the point of view of his previous assumptions and findings. He will do this by analysing pieces of universally applicable legislation and studying literature and court decisions, which form the principal source of so called non-statutory countertypes. Additionally, he will invoke the history of the discussed criminal law institutions to properly depict their shape, taking into consideration the transitions taking place in the society and law. The conditions influencing legality of an act, as reconstructed in the Polish law, will be compared with their counterparts in other countries. The results of the implemented research will make a voice in the discussion about the concept of crime and circumstances which give rise to the possibility of being held criminally liable or exclude such option. In the literature, there are no holistic studies of the undertaken topic. The undertaken subject is highly important for every individual who may get in trouble with the law in their everyday life. The results of the project will show which behaviours are permissible from the legal perspective and which may give rise to criminal liability. The fact that the project concerns “criminal law in everyday life,” that is situations faced by people on everyday basis – when expressing consent to violation of their legal interests, punishing of children, doing sports – means that the outcomes of the research may prove significant not only in the scientific discourse but also in the journalistic one and be useful for citizens who are not legal professionals.

Within the framework of the "Miniatura" grant received, a library search was conducted at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. The research concerned the problem of adjudicative actions non existens (non-actions) in general administrative proceedings. The problem of non-actions as an administrative-legal phenomenon, although it is part of the global trend of research on the institutions of administrative procedure, has yet to be the subject of in-depth analysis in the doctrine of administrative law in most European countries, including Poland. This is even more incomprehensible since non-existent adjudicative actions still cause many problems in the practice of applying administrative law. Authorities or adjudicating panels of administrative courts very often in their adjudicatory practice are faced with the dilemma of whether a given action (act) can produce specific legal effects at all or whether, due to defects existing at the time of its taking or concerning its very content, it should be considered a non-existent action. The problems that arise against this background also produce not inconsiderable consequences in the legal sphere of individuals. It is possible to imagine a situation in which a final and even executed "administrative act," after going through the instance route, is appealed to an administrative court, in which the judges conclude that due to the specific defects with which it is burdened, it cannot be considered an act at all, but precisely the legal action in question non-existent. In such a case, should its execution be considered unlawful? The research within the framework of the grant received provided an insight into the contemporary doctrine of German administrative law on the subject of non-acts.

The significance of the problems of the legal protection of animals has been growing for the recent decades. It attracts attention of the public opinion, legislatures as well as legal sciences. Changes in the laws governing animal protection and questions of its proper operation spark intense public controversies and debates among legal expert and general public. An example of such situation may be the case before the Constitutional Tribunal of 2014 concerning the constitutional admissibility of the ban of ritual slaughter of animals. At the same time, most legal scientific research on animal protection law are fragmentary and focus on detailed issues of criminal. Civil or administrative aspects of animal protection legislation It is not supported by the sufficient development of theoretical elaboration of the foundations of the animal welfare law understood as newly emerging domain of the legal systems. The objective of planned project is to fill this gap and undertake comprehensive exploration of the theoretical foundations of animal protection law. They include basic conceptual issues relevant for this field of regal regulation, working out the set of principles reflecting its axiological underpinnings and guiding interpretation and application of its detailed rules. Furthermore, its important part is also examination of the legal material to reconstruct and explain the main legal institutions organizing the contemporary animal protection legislation. The project shall include elements of dogmatic and conceptual research as well as historical and comparative analyses. The outcomes shall be presented in scientific publications based on detailed and comprehensive studies on the Polish animal welfare law contributing to the domestic legal science as well as English-language publications focused on universal aspects of the theoretical foundations of the contemporary animal welfare law addressed to foreign audience and taking part in the international discourse on this kind of legal problems rapidly developing in many countries in Europe and around the world.

Anybody can make a mistake and come into conflict with the law. Sometimes the violation of rules can be so unpardonable that it must entail isolation of the perpetrator from the rest of the society by placing them in a penitentiary institution, youth detention centre or youth educational facility. It must not be forgotten that the penalty or reprimand and corrective measures should be enforced there in such a way so as to arouse in the detainee the need to abide by the principles of the law and instil in them elementary moral norms, as this is in the interest of not just the perpetrator of an offence but of the entire society, which the perpetrator usually re-enters at some point in time. It is also unquestionable that placing a person in a detention facility does not deprive them of their dignity and of elementary rights vested in each human being, including the right to practise religion. This research project does not concentrate on the influence of religion on the rehabilitation of detainees, as separating this factor from other determinants is exceptionally difficult. Instead, it focuses on respecting their right to manifest it and worship. Institutionalisation in prison or another type of facility is doubtless a difficult situation for any person, especially one maintaining close relations with his family environment. Safeguarding the right to participate in religious practices to believers my help them restore internal balance, whereas atheists, given the considerable amount of free time and more opportunities for reflection on their own life choices, frequently turn towards religion, and the state is compelled to enable them to practise it and worship. Research into standards as regards the right to participate in religious practices and services, which ought to be respected in prisons, has not been conducted in many years. What is more, safeguarding minimum rights in this respect for juveniles placed in youth detention centres and youth educational facilities has never been examined by Polish researchers although the situation of juveniles is even more difficult given that it is necessary to reconcile their right to have their own religious convictions with their parents' right to raise them according to their own religion. These issued have not been examined by foreign researchers, either. Hence, the research planned under this project is intended to determine which, if any, religious practices and services are restricted in penal isolation settings, and to establish to what extent such restrictions, if any, are legitimate. The research requires conclusions to be drawn on two different levels. First, it is necessary to identify the judicial model by determining to what extent the state safeguards prisoners' right to worship and participate in religious practices and services in all types of penitentiary facilities, youth detention centres and youth educational centres. The special status of some of the detainees will also be taken into account in this regard. The normative analysis, to be performed under the principle of specificity of criminal law provisions, also requires establishing to what extent the regulations in force precisely define a minimum list of religious rights that facility authorities must safeguard. In the next stage of the research, survey questionnaires will be carried out among the detainees in selected facilities and with staff working at these facilities (using a standardised questionnaire), including correction officers, educators and chaplains, to verify this model. In other words, the objective is to determine whether the rights that are normatively vested in each person are actually respected, whether detainees perceive them as sufficient, and if not, what the reasons for this are. The questionnaires will also help establish whether special rigors, applicable to some of the detainees, e.g. those designated as especially dangerous offenders, result in restricting these detainees' right to participate in religious practices and services and if so, whether this is legitimate and necessary. Furthermore, given the dominant position of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, it is important to examine whether persons declaring affiliation with other religions have the same or similar rights to worship and if not, whether this is justified. The research team, in April 2016, conducted pilot research (subsequently published in Archiwum Kryminologii [Criminology Archive] in two penitentiary institutions. The research highlighted differences in the minimum rights to participate in religious practices and services among persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty and those held under pre-trial detention with respect to religious freedom, thus showing research potential to carry out further scientific analysis in this sensitive and important for many people sphere of life. The research carried out both in the normative and empirical sphere will make it possible to develop a postulated model of standards for the protection of religious rights of persons deprived of liberty.

How to make decisions in order to be healthy, live longer and in the same time simplify people’s life? How to make people choose what is good for them in a long term? How important it is to let people decide for themselves in the area of retirement, diet, organ donation or energy saving? These questions are the examples of the main concerns of the research I plan to lead. The objective of this research is to examine the concept of a ‘nudge’ - a tool of influence people’s behavior - and evaluate its applicability to the public policy-making. The main premise of this project is that the nudge could be an innovative and beneficial instrument in many areas of the law-making process. The concept of a nudge has been proposed in 2008 by American scientists: constitutional lawyer Cass Sunstein and economist Richard Thaler. The authors define the nudge as a “simple, lowcost, freedom-preserving approach, drawing directly from behavioral economics, that promised to save money, to improve people’s health and to lengthen their lives.” (Sunstein, 2013, 2). The goal of the research is to point the possible advantages that the law-making and regulatory policies could derive from the use of the nudge. The reformed procedure would assume an elimination of unnecessary costs and interventions in people’s liberties and significant extension of predictability of rules. Consultations with members of nudge units can contribute in an important way to collecting the information about nudging. The studies of the work of nudge unit in Great Britain will be followed by a comparative analysis of the effects of regulations based on nudge and those caused by traditional legislative instruments. The differences between the process of elaboration of legal documents with and without the use of nudge philosophy linked with the analysis of predictability of the impact the policy has on people’s lives in this different systems will allow me to draw conclusions about useful methods of potential improvement of the Polish lawmaking process. I choose the topic of nudge because the results of this project can enrich the worldwide knowledge about rational policy-making. What’s more, an eventual introduction of philosophy of nudge into the law-making has potential to eliminate unnecessary costs of regulations, facilitate to generate more targeted and precise regulations, eliminate political polarization in law-making process, avoid unintended side effects of regulations, make legislative procedure more transparent and open to outside voices, and much more. This research could serve as a handy manual for legislator providing overall strategic guidance, capacity building, and direct support to government agencies.

The purpose of the project is to identify the most reasonable (i.e. economically efficient and simultaneously legally acceptable) model of balancing the interests of expanding air travel and growing airports with the interests of real estate owners. In order to achieve this purpose it is vital to determine what models that are applied in various countries today meet the objective of protecting: the public interest of increased mobility provided by air travel and the private interests of landowners in the context of airport nuisance and possible compensation claims. This difficult task of balancing private and public interests is of international importance, and therefore it is vital to find a model of compensating landowners or placing restrictions on the operation of airports that will be applicable not only today, but also in the future. From a legal perspective, nuisance caused by increasingly active or entirely new airports is becoming onerous to neighbouring landowners. The problem that naturally arises is a conflict between neighbouring uses of land that cannot in its entirety be solved by spatial planning and neighbour law. The legislator thus faces the need to legally resolve this inevitable (but not new) conflict in a manner that takes into account the interests of both landowners (including the issue of human rights, particularly the protection of property and the right to respect for private and family life) and the airport itself, which provides services that qualify as ones of public utility. The project seeks to identify and compare viable legal models applied in selected foreign countries regarding compensating landowners in the vicinity of airports in an effort to balance private interests and the needs of growing air-transport demand. Due to recent developments concerning compensation payments to aggrieved landowners in the vicinity of Polish airports, the chosen point of departure are Polish regulations and their practical application. The hypothesis of this project is that current Polish legal provisions and practice not only do not achieve the aim of properly balancing private and public interests, but also stimulate speculative behavior and fail to protect human health, thus foregoing one of the main aims of provisions regarding the protection of the environment. Simultaneously, little or no comparative analyses have been conducted in order to ascertain whether compensation should be payable for noise or for restrictions in land use and no compelling arguments, including ones pertaining to comparative legal studies, have been presented to justify the current Polish practice and interpretation. The ratio legis of the provisions currently applied to solve the conflict between Polish airports and neighbouring landowners has not been considered and thus the legal as well as economic purpose of intervention remains overlooked. This project focuses on comparative research regarding possible models of resolving conflicts resulting from airport operations. This is done in order to contrast the Polish perspective with that of other countries in an effort to find similarities and differences that will allow to form a conclusion as to the optimal manner of managing the conflict between airports and landowners. In particular, black letter law, law in action and soft law will be analyzed in order to identify whether there is a prevalent manner of reconciling the interests of airports and landowners and if not, whether there is a common denominator in the form of an aim foreign legislators strive to achieve. The project is conducted because of a visible lack of a comprehensive approach to compensating landowners in the vicinity of airports that takes into account the purpose and the economic justification of legal intervention, the public and private interests at hand, the human rights that need to be protected, and the proportionality of awarded claims (whether in public or private law). Neglecting the above can lead to market speculation, the lack of balancing private interest with public utility, the overcompensation of landowners, and an unfounded stifling of air-transportation. The Polish model and its application thus needs to be tested against approaches taken in other countries, with more experience concerning these conflicts, in order to determine the possible and sustainable methods of balancing the interests of airports and landowners, both in a national and an international context.
• Purpose and results of study

Objective of the project: The aim of this project is to apply selected linguistic theories into the study of the meaning of statutory language. The selected theories come from an important linguistic movement called cognitive linguistics. They will include cognitive grammar, prototype theory, and Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) theory. These theories will be used to discuss problems of statutory interpretation and legislative drafting: 1) Prototype theory offers an innovative account on categorization. According to this theory, linguistic categories cannot be defined by a list of properties, but are built around the most typical member of a given category (called a “prototype)”. This leads to the conclusion that categories are fuzzy and may have “better” and “worse” members. Such a view can influence the application of law, because the crucial role of judges and other officials is to categorize a given factual situation as an element of an appropriate legal norm (i.e. that paying in a shop with someone else’s credit card is considered theft). 2) Cognitive grammar renders grammar as an important tool for creating meaning. It is not abstract, but reflects more general human cognitive capacities, such as perception or memory. Therefore, it will be used to analyze the grammatical features typical for statutory texts, which are often disregarded by legal scholars as purely technical issues. 3) NSM provides a list of words that are common for every human language (universal) and easily understood by anyone (primary). They can be used to paraphrase any sentence in any language and explain its meaning in extremely simple terms. Therefore, it will be used to verify whether there is any difference between the legal and ordinary meaning of words used in statutes. 2. Planned research: The selected linguistic theories will be introduced, discussed and compared with theories of meaning popular in legal theory. Polish case law will be researched in order to test prototype theory in a legal environment and to examine the common problem of polysemy (ambiguity) in statutory language. A sample of judicial decisions will be selected using keywords, and then analyzed in light of the linguistic theories employed. Such analyses will provide a detailed illustration of the problems discussed. Using cognitive grammar’s theoretical tools, an analysis of the typical features of the grammar of statutory language (i.e. nominalization, generality, normativity, the specific use of verbal tense and aspect, syntactic discontinuity, etc.) will be conducted, in order to explain their influence on meaning. It will be based on legal-linguistic literature and the results of research conducted by the author of the project as a part of his doctoral thesis. The application of NSM theory will be based on its own methodology, namely formulating paraphrases using primary and universal words. It will be used to help detect the existence of polysemy and to examine the differences between the legal and ordinary meanings of words used in statutes. Other potential applications of NSM, including the topics of statutory definitions, legal translation and the intelligibility of legal texts, will be proposed. 3. Reasons for choosing the research topic: Law is a linguistic phenomenon. The meaning of legal texts (statutes, regulations, constitutions, contracts, testaments, etc.) plays a crucial role in both legal practice and legal theory. To determine the meaning of a statutory rule means granting a right or imposing an obligation on a legal subject. While doing so, legal scholars and practicing lawyers often rely on their common sense (i.e. they simply refer to dictionaries) or formal (and usually outdated) theories of meaning. Cognitive linguistics remains relatively unknown in legal theory. Prototype theory has been applied in several theoretical and dogmatic areas, but usually on a very general level and without a detailed discussion of its many controversies. Cognitive grammar and NSM have not been discussed in legal literature. Therefore the project will result in the introduction or the broader application of important theories from cognitive linguistics into legal theory. Consequently, it will equip legal theorists with new tools for studying the meaning of language in law. In the case of statutory interpretation it will enable a deeper understanding of the complexities of statutory language, which can enrich legal debate in this topic. In the case of legislative drafting, it will enable more informed decisions, based on a better understanding of human cognitive capacities.

In a modern world, the process of population ageing is progressing at an unprecedented rate. By 2025, the number of over 60 year-olds will have risen to one billion two hundred million, and in 2050 will have exceeded two billion, thus drawing level with the number of children. Given the pace of the demographic changes taking place, a large proportion of the world's population will find themselves on the margin of society, if only for economic reasons, which in turn will affect the condition of all social groups and state budgets. Society ageing is not just an economic or political problem, though; it is also a human rights issue, for ageing often means exclusion from social life and thus limited enjoyment of personal, political, social, economic, and cultural rights vested in each person. In many cases, the barriers to enjoyment of all human rights follow from stereotypes, biases and categorising older adults as decrepit, ossified in their views and behaviour, and old-fashioned in their morality and skills. This kind of attitude towards old persons, leading to discrimination and exclusion, and preventing them from enjoying all human rights has been named ageism (like racism and sexism). In addition to ageism, which leads to discrimination, different types of exclusion, another barrier preventing older persons from enjoying all of their human rights is digital exclusion. Older persons, since they were "born too early", were not schooled and trained in the use of new technologies. This, combined with stereotypes, means that their digital exclusion progresses due to commonly held beliefs that it is not worth investing in training of older workers since they take much longer to learn, are unable to keep up with technological advances, and are generally "low-value workers". Spreading awareness in this regard, followed by measures intended to eliminate ageism and digital exclusion, are therefore prerequisites to older persons' social inclusion. Raising awareness of states, societies and individuals of all ages is also a major challenge for international law, which should respond be able to respond to newly-emerging social phenomena. For this reason, this project is intended to determine whether current international law and EU law offers a model for the prevention of social and digital exclusion of older adults. A special role in the elaboration and development of such a model is played by non-governmental organisations, which are particularly receptive to human rights violations, abuse, exclusion, and discrimination. hence, the project will set out to identify mechanisms that allow NGOs to operate on the international arena. As far as the protection of older persons is concerned, non-governmental organisations (especially the largest ones, referred to as umbrella NGOs) are facing an enormous challenge. This is due to the fact that while the United Nations has adopted treaties for the protection of the rights of women, children, migrants, refugees, and persons with disabilities, states, irrespective of the global demographic situation, are not interested in the adoption of a convention on the rights of. They are also reluctant to bind themselves with provisions of agreements adopted in Africa and America. In the light of states' reluctance, NGOs become the engine rooms for the creation of international law in the area of protection of rights of older persons. Given their participation in control procedures, they are also able to hold states accountable for their actions for social and digital exclusion of seniors. This assumption constitutes the project's main research hypothesis, to be verified through the research. The project is intended to establish, through analyses of regulations and doctrine's acquis, how international law and EU law fulfil their educational role as regards the combating of ageism and digital exclusion. Furthermore, the project envisages examination of how non-governmental organisations can contribute to raising the international community's awareness as to social and digital inclusion of older persons and encourage states to take affirmative action in this regard. The subject matter of the project is new as documents devoted to older persons’ rights only began to be adopted on the international arena less than 40 years ago, and works on a universal convention are yet to be completed. The first review of good practices, provided for in the resolution of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the rights of older persons, is scheduled to take place in 2019, which means that the project will allow for "live" observation of the functioning of international law instruments. Since the science of international law does not offer publications devoted to awareness-raising role of international law in the context of social and digital inclusion of older persons and the role of nongovernmental organisations, articles, monograph and presentations at international conferences, all of which are planned outcomes of this project, will help to fill this gap.

The research was undertaken as part of the search to fill the gap regarding 'vulnerable persons' (IDPs) in a migratory situation due to the migration and refugee crisis in Europe. While the causes and circumstances surrounding forced migration may vary individually, both universal and regional sources of international migration law demonstrate the need to level the playing field for vulnerable persons among IDPs, refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants has been recognised by the international community. Moreover, the literature is also beginning to point out that the role of international law in this area is complex and often ambiguous: indeed, there is no single source for international law governing migration, and the current legal framework is scattered across refugee, human rights, and humanitarian law, among others. The search carried out at MPIL in Heidelberg was therefore essential to establish that it is already possible to speak of a distinctly protected group, vulnerable persons in a migration situation, and to specify how this protection's personal and material scope is shaped.

Project description in preparation

Project description in preparation

Project description in preparation

Popular science project summary The project entitled “The legal status of the metropolitan association in Poland and the metropolis in France. Comparative legal study” is the first title, in the form of a monograph that would aim for a holistic approach of the issues related to the determination of the legal status of the metropolis in France and the metropolitan association in Poland in a comparative aspect. This institution constitutes a normative novelty in Poland (introduced under the Act of 9 October 2015), which correlates with the effective management of the local government community and the performance of the associated tasks. The creation of a strong metropolitan center, which would lead – by the common performance of the tasks of the units and by solving the problems – to the improvements in the management in agglomeration, can be treated as the answer to the current needs of the local government. Hence, the problem of the metropolitan areas is seen as very important. The aim of the study is an attempt to answer, among others, the following questions: 1) What is the institution of the metropolis and the metropolitan association in the local government in Poland and in France; what are the legal basis for establishing this mechanism of the cooperation of the units of the local governments in the management of local government community, and what is their legal nature; 2) Have the legal assumptions of the political system of metropolitan areas been adapted to their structure and local characteristics in both legal orders? Do the legal regulations in respect of the organization and functioning of the metropolis and the metropolitan association require significant legal modifications, in order to increase the efficiency of the implementation of tasks and to create real normative guarantees of managing the metropolitan area? 3) What is the scope of the tasks performed by the metropolis and the metropolitan association? Has a new formula of carrying out tasks and forms of their implementation been adapted to the needs of the community? What are the rules for the establishment and operation of metropolitan poles in France (pôles métropolitains)? The normative analysis of the legal status of the metropolis in France and the metropolitan association in Poland will allow to assess their internal organization and the tasks which the legislator conferred on them to perform. There will be presented the place of the metropolis in the structure of the local government in both legal systems, the legal subjectivity of the metropolitan areas, the normative context (including the legal basis of their functioning and the evolution of the regulations of these institutions – from the forms based on voluntary cooperation to the establishment of general metropolitan units), subjective and objective scope of their activities and forms of the realization of their tasks. The analysis of the discussed problems in the project will be made based on the historical and comparativelegal dogmatic method which is to constitute the basis for proposing legislative solutions in this regard. The research project will contribute to expanding the scope of knowledge about the legal position of the metropolis in France and the metropolitan association in Poland, the management of the metropolitan area and the performance of the tasks imposed by the statute in this form of cooperation of local government units. The analysed issue constitutes a certain scientific novelty concerning the discussed topic in the field of administrative law. The state of the academic literature cannot be considered as satisfactory in this matter. The project includes the analysis of the issues which are not only momentous from the legal, scientific and social point of view, but also not yet examined properly. At the same time, the project meets all the features of scientific novelty. The aim of the research project is to standardize and propose normative solutions concerning the organization and functioning of the metropolitan association in Poland, with the aim of effective governance in the local community, which will contribute to the discussion on the role and significance of this institution in the structure of the local government in Poland and in France. The project will contain a proposal of modifying the normative shape of the institution of the metropolitan association in Poland.

The project’s objective is to examine the reality of occupation in the area of General Government (GG) through the prism of judgments of German special courts. Out of a part of the Polish territories captured in 1939 which were not directly incorporated into the Third Reich, the German occupant created the General Government under the leadership of Hans Frank. In the GG territory a duality was introduced in the area of the judiciary, i.e. division into German and Polish courts. As a part of the German judiciary, among others, special courts were established, which followed the pattern of special Courts founded in Germany already in 1933. Those were courts of one instance competent in criminal matters, adjudicating in panels of three professional judges, applying German criminal law in modified criminal proceedings. The task of special courts was to “pursue assaults on the safety and authority of the Reich and the German nation, as well as life, health and property of citizens of German nationality.” They were initially created in Częstochowa, Wieluń (the court was then moved to Piotrków Trubunalski), Kielce, Cracow and Radom. Then, their structure and seats were modified, by creating such courts also in Warsaw, Lublin, Rzeszów, Zamość (moved to Chełm), Lviv, Stanisławowo and Tarnopol. Special courts in GG enforced German criminal law and adjudicated in criminal, economic (e.g. illegal slaughter, black-market trading) and political matters (e.g. illegal possession of a radio receiver, spreading false news, or in relation to the police regulations adopted in relation to Jews). Judgments of special courts have not been so far subject to any comprehensive research, although their exploration will enable conclusions on not only the legal but also factual position of the population. The case-law will allow to explore not only the quantitative but also the qualitative dimension of the examined phenomena and, for example to answer the question to what extent Poles, when committing economic offences, were motivated by greed and to what extent they were forced by the food ratios lowered by the occupant, and if the practice of particular courts in GG differed from one another, for example, as to the degree of penalty imposed on defendants of different nationality. The main object of the research is case-law – preserved judgments of special courts in GG. In addition, the investigations will cover the model of special judiciary in GG, administrative structure and organisation of those courts, criminal procedure before the courts and their personnel – judges and prosecutors. The sources for the investigation are located in Polish, German and Ukrainian archives. The effect of the research will be not only primary findings on the operation of special courts in GG. It is also my aim to compare them within the GG borders and to juxtapose special courts in GG against special courts of the Third Reich. Implementation of the project will enable to fill a serious gap in science – an issue which is essential from the point of view of the activities of the occupation system of justice in Poland and the occupant’s policy in the territory of GG as well as everyday life of the population

The significance of the problems of the legal protection of animals has been growing for the recent decades. It attracts attention of the public opinion, legislatures as well as legal sciences. Changes in the laws governing animal protection and questions of its proper operation spark intense public controversies and debates among legal expert and general public. An example of such situation may be the case before the Constitutional Tribunal of 2014 concerning the constitutional admissibility of the ban of ritual slaughter of animals. At the same time, most legal scientific research on animal protection law are fragmentary and focus on detailed issues of criminal. Civil or administrative aspects of animal protection legislation It is not supported by the sufficient development of theoretical elaboration of the foundations of the animal welfare law understood as newly emerging domain of the legal systems. The objective of planned project is to fill this gap and undertake comprehensive exploration of the theoretical foundations of animal protection law. They include basic conceptual issues relevant for this field of regal regulation, working out the set of principles reflecting its axiological underpinnings and guiding interpretation and application of its detailed rules. Furthermore, its important part is also examination of the legal material to reconstruct and explain the main legal institutions organizing the contemporary animal protection legislation. The project shall include elements of dogmatic and conceptual research as well as historical and comparative analyses. The outcomes shall be presented in scientific publications based on detailed and comprehensive studies on the Polish animal welfare law contributing to the domestic legal science as well as English-language publications focused on universal aspects of the theoretical foundations of the contemporary animal welfare law addressed to foreign audience and taking part in the international discourse on this kind of legal problems rapidly developing in many countries in Europe and around the world.

The applicant’s research objective concerns party autonomy in private international law, thus the autonomy of the parties in their legal relations that are both private law and international in nature, and where those relations arise from transnational contracts. Party autonomy is understood here as a possibility of the parties to influence the law applicable to their contract, by virtue of choosing the law of a certain State; or incorporating (choosing) a certain material legal act (this can be, for example: model law, which does not have a binding character). Studies on the international practice concerning transnational commerce prove that the chosen applicable law (and/or chosen material act) that applies to the international commercial contracts are critical for the parties. It is one of the main subjects of the negotiations, and in many cases an additional and crucial element of the dispute, as it simply influences the law applicable – needed for an assessment of a dispute that arose out of the contract. The determination of the applicable law, (or a chosen legal act), that applies to a certain contract is of crucial meaning for the parties, as in different legal systems, or in different legal material acts (including model laws), particular facts may lead to different outcomes when it comes to such things as an assessment of the validity of the contract or certain contractual provisions, such as, for example, the rights and obligations of the parties stemming from the contract. Currently, for the sake of the wide and new spectrum of possibilities as to the party autonomy in international private law, interpretative doubts often arise, along with divergent assessments as to the nature of that choice and the final outcome of the chosen instrument of private international law. The topic is very current – and in such an apprehension – not yet extensively presented. The aim of the research is formulating an assessment of whether party autonomy in private international law should be regarded as in the first part of the XX century, when the classical choice of law clause was of essential significance (on a conflict of law level), or whether in the XXI century, in light of a wide range of possible solutions as to the application of other legal instruments concerning party autonomy and the approach to the choice of law clause should be changed, and as a result to modify the methodology and interpretation of those choice of law clauses. Party autonomy can be manifested in two stages. Firstly in the traditional form, by means of influencing the applicable law (here, the applicable State law) that would apply to the international contract – i.e. the choice on the private international law level. Such a traditional choice of law means that the parties choose the law of a certain State, and its whole legal system, with all the obligatory laws. Secondly, the party autonomy can also be reflected through the choice of law on a substantive law level, thus choosing a certain material act (in particular a model law of a non-binding character, a so-called soft law act), without pointing to the law of any State. Within the choice of law on a substantive law level, in the XXI century many new material acts have come into existence, which parties can incorporate into their contracts. In addition to the two stages of party autonomy, the applicant will also make a survey over the two independent legal instruments: ‘opt-out’ and ‘opt-in’. When it comes to the ‘opt-out’ instrument, certain conventions often have an ‘automatic’ application to the legal relations arising from an international contract– they apply by virtue of the binding, obligatory law, the application of which can be excluded by the parties. Because of the fact that such an exclusion can be made by the parties, this instrument is named an ‘opt-out’ instrument. However, when it comes to the ‘optional instrument’ (opt-in), the subject of the research will be based on an example of the mechanisms proposed in the draft of the EU regulation - the Common European Sales Law (CESL). Although CESL has been withdrawn, it does not preclude from the need to analyze solutions presented therein and the research over its legal character. In accordance with the draft, for the CESL to apply effectively, the parties need to make an explicit declaration on its application (‘opt-in’), i.e. an active choice made by the parties. CESL here would be understood as a legal act that comes from the European legislator, but which has a very specific nature: a material (substantive) act, binding on all EU Member States, but not applying automatically, it has to be chosen (its specification is different from the two levels of the choice of law described above). The reason for this research topic is the intensified development of international relations within the exchange of goods and services, which justifies the importance of the consideration of legal instruments that allow parties to influence the applicable law regime, in accordance with which the contractual relation will be assessed. Therefore, the research covers the analysis of private law instruments that allow the law regime to be stipulated, which would apply to international contracts through a choice of law clause that reflects party autonomy. The appearance of new model laws in the past two decades concerning international commercial contracts and the attempt to create an optional instrument for sales contracts, prompted to consider the meaning and the scope of party autonomy in international private law. It also prompted an answer to the question about the role of the traditional choice of law instrument – on a private international law level – in the context of the new instruments currently available to the parties to international contracts. In addition, the reason for choosing the research topic is the fact, that there are opinions questioning the sense and the efficacy of the traditional instrument of private international law; in some circumstances, when the choice of substantive law level has been made, the need to search for the applicable State law is challenged. The applicant is far from sharing this view, but believes that such an opinion cannot be merely contested; in depth analysis is necessary in this respect in the XXI century.

Description for general public It seems that tax obligations shall be always created and annulled on the basis of tax law. In fact, the annulment of tax obligations may also be implemented taking into account different regulations like the Bankruptcy Law or the Restructuring Law. Current legal regulations lead to a situation in which tax obligations may be annulled by many different institutions ranging from Minister of Finance Regulation to insolvency agreement concluded before court, even against the will of tax authorities. Until now the annulment of tax obligations has usually been analysed on the basis of regulations of the Tax Ordinance while other ways of annulment were omitted. Diversity of those regulations allows to pose a question about compatibility between them. Moreover, the range of possible annulments of tax obligations seems questionable. According to the Tax Ordinance tax obligations may by annulled if they are connected with public interest or the importance of taxpayer’s interest. What is more, tax authorities are also entitled not to annul tax obligations, even if it is connected with support of public interest or important taxpayer’s interest, because they have margin of decisions. Such a situation in the state under rules of law seems to be inconsistent with article 217 of the Polish Constitution. According to this article the Parliament shall create a number of tax obligations in Poland, it should not be made by tax authorities with help of ad hoc annulment of tax obligations. The constitutional conformity of Polish regulations regarding annulment of tax obligations and their purposefulness is worth the analysis. Trying to answer above questions it is helpful to analyse regulations of other states. The change of perspective allows to understand better domestic institutions and find new legal solutions. It is especially important to analyse regulations of neighbouring states like Germany or The Czech Republic. The analysis should also take into account regulations of English law based on common law which is fundamentally different from Polish law. Regulations of the states mentioned are indeed different as for the annulment of tax obligations. In The Czech Republic there is tendency to restrict the possibility to annul tax obligations while the possibility to annul tax obligations is being extended in English law. Dynamic development of consumer insolvency in mentioned states is a contrary phenomenon. Suggested research should not only complete scientific output, but also have a positive impact on further development of insolvency law. Insolvency law which is currently developed especially by private law firms, requires analysis from tax law point of view. Tax obligations are significant for debts in insolvency. Therefore, presented problems have influence on both the amount of tax obligations and economy.

Project description in preparation

Project description in preparation

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected almost all aspects of our lives. Starting from issues related to health protection, through social and employment issues, to economic and penal issues. All the above-mentioned issues may become the seeds of disputes that will have to be resolved in court, therefore the aim of the project will be to analyze how the covid-19 pandemic has affected the justice system - cases that have already been pending, as well as cases that as a result of the new the post-pandemic reality is yet to emerge (for example expected bankruptcies related to the economic crisis). Both systemic and procedural issues will be analyzed, and the entire research will be comparative with solution in other countries (especially partners Lithuania and Ukraine)

Research planned to be done within project concerns the interpretation and the application of the Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4th of the July 2012 on jurisdication, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and acceptamce and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession (hereinaften: the Succession Regulation) in EU Member States thet apply the Regulation. The Succession Regulation, being directly effective in national legal orders, has introduced uniform conflict rules that allow to identify the applicable law in succession matters. However, the preliminary research has shown that the provision of the Succession Regulation are not always uniformly interpreted applied among Member States. This observation should be the subject of verification during the realization of the project, in case of the acceptance thereof. The choice of the partner in this research provides abundant research material – Poland and Germany belong to those states applying the Succession Regulation, whose mutual migration of citizens give rise to many succession disputes, engaging both Polish and German courts.

The aim of the project is to digitize, scientifically develop and expand access to selected collections of the law library of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Silesia in the field of private international law from the period before World War II and the early post-war years. The unique character of the resources covered by the project is manifested, apart from its completeness, m.in the presence in some publications of handwritten, substantive notes of eminent professors of the interwar period, in the form of comments, remarks, collections of thoughts, made in the margins of works or on separate pages. These notes appear not only in their own texts, but also in the studies of other authors, as if in a discussion with their views. Due to the uniqueness of the collection, in particular in connection with the indicated handwritten notes, its objective and substantive elaboration will be made. Never before have scientific studies been carried out on the basis of these materials.

Description of the project in preparation

The Centre has been operating since 2018 under the ordinance of the Rector of the University of Silesia in Katowice, Prof. Andrzej Kowalczyk. It was established on the initiative of Prof. Tomasz Pietrzykowski, Vice-Rector for International and National Cooperation, who is the head of the Centre.The Research Centre for Public Policy and Regulatory Problems is a university-wide, interdisciplinary organizational unit of the University of Silesia in Katowice, which conducts scientific and research activities in the field of the most important regulatory problems and challenges belonging to the sphere of public policies. The Centre initiates, coordinates and supports research projects supporting the improvement of the quality of solutions and decisions that make up the regulatory and legal aspects of public policies, in particular in the field of regional, urban and metropolitan policy, regulatory bioethics confessions, anti-corruption solutions and policies in administration, as well as the organization and functioning of the science and higher education system.

Project description in preparation

Partners:

Polish Green Network
Climatic Žaloba
Masaryk University
Comenius University in Bratislava
Association of Agrarian and Environmental Lawyers
Friends of the Earth Hungary


The project aims to activate young people, increase young people's awareness of climate change, climate policy and legal instruments that can be used to modify climate policy both at the local and national level.
Numerous studies and data show that awareness of climate change and knowledge about European climate policy is low in Central European societies (especially among young people). Climate education in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary is virtually non-existent at school level, and young people often get their information from social media and available popular sources.
The project includes an educational campaign on climate change and its effects, the climate policy of the European Union, and available tools to demand its implementation at the national level. The campaign is addressed to pupils and students as well as non-governmental organizations dealing with environmental and climate protection. Training is provided in the form of practical workshops. The partners aim to reach out and provide training for around 3,000 participants in four countries of the region. The project is implemented by a network of NGOs and universities from all participating countries.
The initiative deepens civil society's interest in climate and environmental issues. The young generation plays a key role in the expected reversal of climate policy in Central European countries, which is why the project aims to increase their awareness and involvement in these areas.

Materials created or presented as part of the AGIT project funded by the EU from the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme are available in the document library.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

The EU housing and real estate sector is a resilient sector with an enormous enabling impact on jobs and economic growth. In recent years, relevant drivers have impacted in the housing sector, shaping the present and future challenges: Technological revolution (i.e blockchain, Proptech business, etc) gives room for new business models, innovative work dynamics, greater connectivity and technological advances meaning that we need new skills and different ways of working. EU Parliament resolution on a European Pillar of Social Rights acknowledges housing as one of the EU social pillars and calls on the Member States to deliver on the right to adequate housing by ensuring access to quality and affordable housing. The European Professional Card (EPC) for real estate agents as well as the Implementation of Directive for the regulation of financial services appeal to a greater professionalization in this sector, characterized by an uneven regulation among EU State Members. Lessons learned from the 2007 financial crisis (i.e. consumer protection failure, evictions, homelessness) compel the housing sector for a review of the skills gaps along its value chain in order not to repeat the same mistakes in the future. “Bridging the gap in housing studies” (Housing +) aims to improve the academic training at European level of professionals, policy makers, academics and the rest of the operators in general that participate in housing and real estate sector. There are several disciplines that affect housing sector such as Economics, Law, Architecture, Psychology, Anthropology, Technology, etc. For that reason, it is essential to the professionals and stakeholders of this sector to understand the complex phenomenon of housing from that multiple perspective, avoiding ideologies or magical solutions. Therefore, the academic training in this area should consider all these disciplines at the same time. This project not only will improve academic training in this sector, but also it will improve consumer protection, housing policies and the professionalization of a sector where what is at stake is the human right to access to decent and adequate housing.
• • Housing Plus – Bridging the gap in Housing Studies

This project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 290694 Private tenancy law is existentially affecting the daily lives of European citizens, as about one third of them depend on rental housing. That notwithstanding, it constitutes a nearly blank space in comparative and European law. This is due to its national character, its political nature and its embeddedness in widely diverging national housing policies, which ultimately reflect different welfare state models. At the same time, however, different parts of EU law and policy do affect tenancy law significantly, albeit indirectly. Thus, EU social policy against poverty and social exclusion extends to selected issues of housing policy. EU non-discrimination rules extend to the provision of housing, and several consumer law directives apply to tenancy contracts, too. Moreover, if the Common Frame of Reference were one day to develop into an optional instrument, tenancy law issues now regulated by national general contract law might be covered as well - though without any legislator having co-ordinated the ensuing juxtaposition of European contract law and national tenancy regulation. Against this background, this project sets out to provide the first large-scale comparative and European law survey of tenancy law. In a first step, it analyses national tenancy laws and their embeddedness in, and effects on, national housing policies and markets. In a second step, the effect of EU legislation on national housing policy in general and national tenancy law in particular will be analysed in a comparative perspective. In a third step, a proposal for a better co-ordinating role of the EU in tenancy law and housing policy, in particular through an OMC process developing common principles of good ”tenancy regulation”, will be designed. This research matches well several priorities of the Stockholm programme given tenancy law's intimate relation to social human rights and a system of law and justice working for the benefit of European citizens, in particular vulnerable groups.
• TENLAW: Tenancy Law and Housing Policy in Multi-level Europe - Universität Bremen (uni-bremen.de)

Project objective: The research is part of the strictly European context of private law harmonization processes. The European legislator has limited powers to influence the regulation of substantive inheritance law. The harmonisation of jurisdictional and conflict-of-law rules at Union level, within the framework of Regulation No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, does not make it possible to resolve the major difficulties arising from the different approach of national institutions of substantive succession law. The idea of the project and its main objective is a multifaceted comparative legal analysis of German and Polish regulations of instruments of substantive inheritance law shaping the legal status of the heir, allowing conclusions to be drawn as to the existence of grounds and areas for approximation of both legal orders. The results of the research will form the basis for conclusions relating to two levels - harmonization and national. The project will provide comparative conclusions explaining the differences in the scope of normative regulation, their causes and effects at the level of application of the law, as well as providing a basis for eliminating existing differences. The research will also allow recommendations to be formulated for national legislators, practitioners and institutions applying the law. They will also make it possible to assess to what extent a functional methodology for interpreting and applying the law adopted in one legal order may be the basis for formulating recommendations on the application of legal norms in other legal orders. The project is carried out in cooperation with research groups of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland) and the Faculty of Law of the University of Osnabrück (Germany).

My most important achievement is to determine the status of interpretative law (hereinafter: PI) and to analyse the possibilities of codifying the interpretation of the law. The results of my research on PI are presented in the form of a monograph entitled Interpretive Law. A significant part of the research on which the publication is based was conducted as part of my independent project (2018/29/N/HS5/00648) financed by the National Science Centre. An important value of the project is the comparative legal component of the research. I analyzed the literature, jurisprudence and legislation of dozens of countries. Research on case law included an analysis of the decisions of Polish courts and Spanish courts, while in the case of common law countries I relied on existing studies on the use of particular interpretative tools in the case law of these countries. When analysing the legislation, I focused on PI Polish, Spain and selected common law countries (Australia, USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Scotland). My aim was to determine and compare the status of PI in the analysed countries. Subsequently, as far as legislation is concerned, I extended my research to the provisions of the Constitutions, Laws and Regulations in force in Italy, Hungary and Latin American countries. In total, I analyzed dozens of legal acts from many jurisdictions. Such extensive studies of the legislation not only had significant cognitive value, allowing to discover both differences and significant similarities between individual systems, but were also important for assessing the possibility of codifying PI. A comprehensive study of the subject of PI has not yet been made in the Polish theory of law. Studies have shown that PI's status is not homogeneous even within the same legal culture. Each PI is based on legal provisions, although not all of them find direct expression in them. Even in the absence of rules expressly referring to the interpretation of the law, it is possible to derive some of PI's directives from other regulations, so there is no question of absolute arbitrariness in the interpretation of the law. At the same time, even where PI (PI sensu stricto) applies, it is not the only source of directives of interpretation in a given country. There could be no normative act regulating the interpretation of the law in a comprehensive and exclusive manner, because each of the sources (written law, jurisprudence and doctrine) fulfils a specific role in the regulation of PI. I have shown that interpretative directives do not differ significantly from other legal rules. I presented the problems related to the use of PI and their possible solutions. The challenge is, m.in the evaluation of vague phrases (e.g. "ordinary meaning", "credible legislative history", "absurd results") occurring in the hypotheses and dispositions of interpretative directives, but it can it is limited to some extent (e.g. by indicating assessment criteria in "soft sources"), and at the same time to some extent it is necessary in PI, as well as in other branches of law. The second problem is the difficulty in identifying an infringement of PI in the context of a discovery. I have noticed that the correctness of an interpretation is established in two ways – by assessing the result of the interpretation and the statement of reasons. This does not mean that it is not possible to standardize heuresis or assess compliance with the rules in this regard. The third challenge is the multiplicity of interpretative directives and the lack of a clear hierarchy. It is not possible to create a comprehensive hierarchy of directives, but (1) establishing such a hierarchy is not the only task of PI, and (2) the hierarchy may be established to a limited extent (e.g. within certain types of interpretative measures or for the needs of a specific legal act). In the analyzed subject, which has not yet been discussed in Polish jurisprudence or developed in the global theory of law in the way or to the extent that I have done in my research, many problems vividly discussed in the theory of law (related to, m.in, the hierarchy of tools, the correctness of methods or the role of the judge in a democratic state governed by the rule of law) are focused. It is worth adding that the issues examined are extremely important for the practice of applying the law. The multiplicity of concepts and methods of interpretation may result in significantly different interpretations of legal regulations, as evidenced by the formation of divergent lines of interpretation in relation to the same provisions. Meanwhile, one of the most important values of the law is certainty associated m.in with predictability of decisions. The lack of a clear PI reduces the predictability of decisions and thus confidence in the justice system. An important conclusion from the research is that the correctness of the interpretation should be assessed in the light of PI. The clearer and more precisely it is formulated, the greater the chance of realizing the value of certainty. In my research, I analysed the problems associated with PI codification and proposed possible solutions. I focused in particular on the constitutionality of interpretative provisions. In many countries, there are no interpretative provisions and, according to some authors, the legislator cannot regulate interpretation. An important achievement is the formulation by me of the conditions for the admissibility of the establishment of interpretative provisions. I have also put forward proposals as to what issues PI can and should regulate (e.g. designation of an official dictionary, determination of the authorities' competence to make interpretations). In doing so, I have distinguished directives laying down correct methods and procedures for interpretation, which may or may not be laid down in the form of rules, directives conferring on courts or other authorities certain powers of interpretation (e.g. allowing the judicial authorities concerned to give a generally binding interpretation in certain situations), which must take the form of rules. The latter, although they are not able to replace the former, are their necessary complement. Addressing normative issues significantly enriches the research carried out, because I did not limit myself to the analysis of the collected materials, but formulated important and justified recommendations regarding the admissibility and possibility of codifying PI.

The subject of the scholarship is to continue the ongoing research on German special courts in the General Government; investigating cases of criminal liability of German lawyers for activities on Polish soil during World War II. The research initiated in the doctoral dissertation, the subject of which was located in the lands incorporated into the Third Reich, Sondergericht Kattowitz (Special Court in Katowice), is continued, expanding its geographical and subjective scope. Research is being conducted on German special courts in the General Government (GG). The subjective scope of the research is determined by thirteen special courts operating in the GG in the years 1939-1945. These courts had their seats in larger cities: in Kraków, Warsaw, Lublin, Rzeszów, Radom, Częstochowa, Tarnopol, Lviv, Stanisławów, Chełm, Kielce, Piotrków Trybunalski, Zamość. Due to the hostilities as well as the intended action of the occupant, the degree of preservation of the files illustrating the functioning and activity of these courts differs. As part of the research, it became necessary to examine the activities of all special courts in the GG area. The activities and jurisprudence of the Sondergericht Krakau, i.e. the Special Court in Krakow, were also examined. It is reasonable to start the research with this particular court, because in its case the organizational and administrative files have been best preserved, which in the case of other courts are preserved in a rudimentary state. Therefore, it is possible to examine and expose systemic, organizational and personal issues, which in the case of research on other courts in the General Government will be possible to a lesser extent. The arrangements concerning the organisation and functioning of the Kraków court will therefore be exemplary for the intended studies concerning other special courts in the General Government. Archival sources are collected directly concerning the Sondergericht Krakau. Examining the functioning of the German judiciary on Polish lands during World War II, there are cases of criminal liability (and attempts to bring such a lawyer to justice). Fruitful attempts took place in Poland and the German Democratic Republic, but unsuccessful in the Federal Republic of Germany. A series of articles was written in which individual cases were discussed, analyzing the evidentiary proceedings and the legal classification that allowed their conviction or legal justification that decided on their dismissal or acquittal. So far, an article devoted to the case of Gerhard Pchalek, the prosecutor before special courts in Bielsko and Katowice, has been published (Convicted Nazi lawyer. The case of Gerhard Pchalek in the Gera District Court in 1960, Acta Iuris Stetinensis 2020, No. 1, pp. 17-31), an article concerning Albert Michel, judge of the Sondergericht Krakau (Convicted Nazi judge. The case of Albert Michel before the Regional Court in Kraków (1948-1949) in: S. Karowicz-Bienias, R. Leśkiewicz, A. Pozorski (eds.), To call crimes by their name. Findings of the Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation on crimes from the Second World War, Warsaw 2021, pp. 206-249). Reflections on the case of unsuccessful attempt to bring Judge Gerhard Wedde to criminal responsibility, , adjudicating in the Higher National Court in Katowice, I also included in the prepared monograph entitled The case of Ignacy Kaczmarek. Sources needed to investigate the case of German prosecutor Josef Abbott, who was convicted by the Court of Appeal in Gdańsk in 1950, were collected.