Damian Szczepaniak

Concerning Methods for the Use of Sources in the Work of a Legal Historian and Critical Editions of Those Sources, on the 90th Birthday of Prof. Stanisław Grodziski. The “Sources connect us” Academic Conference (Kraków, September 19, 2019)

On the 19th of September 2019, the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University organised an academic conference entitled “Łącząnas źródła”[“Sources connect us”]. The symposium was combined with the celebrations of the 90th birthday of Prof. Stanisław Grodziski, an outstanding legal historian, author of around 500 publications, and former Dean of the Faculty (1978–1981) and Vice-Rector of the University (1987–1990), who also has an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Wrocław. One of the significant areas of Prof. Grodziski’s academic activity is in the editing of legal history sources. The subject of the conference was therefore a great occasion to focus on Prof. Grodziski’s achievements in this field of study. In the jubilee part of the conference, presided over by Vice-Rector for University Development, Prof. Dorota Malec, speeches were given by Prof. Wojciech Nowak, Rector of the Jagiellonian University, and by Prof. Jerzy Pisuliński, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration. The laudation for Prof. Grodziski was delivered by Prof. Wacław Uruszczak. The subsequent part of the conference consisted of 15 papers, divided into three sessions, presented by scholars affiliated with various academic centres. The presentations concerned current or planned editing works regarding legal history sources. Moreover, various methods of applying these sources to academic research and educational activities at the university, as well as to judicial decisions, were discussed. To conclude the conference, Dr. Hab. Maciej Mikuła presented the basic assumptions of the novel project concerning the electronic meta-edition of legal history sources “IURA. Sources of Laws from the Past”.

The Celebrations of the Jubilee of the Polish Bicameral Parliament in Piotrków Trybunalski (5^th–6^th October 2018). The Academic Conference “From Piotrków to Warsaw. The 550^th Anniversary of the Parliamentarism of the Republic of Poland”

The commemorative ceremony for the 550^th anniversary of the establishment of the Polish bicameral parliament in Piotrków Trybunalski was organised by the Marshal of the Sejm, Marek Kuchciński, and the Deputy Marshal of the Senate Maria Koc. As demonstrated by Prof. Wacław Uruszczak, it was in Piotrków, from the 9^th to the 31^st of October 1468, that the first Polish bicameral Sejm gathered, with the participation of territorial envoys elected by local legislatures (sejmiki). The jubilee celebrations began with a Holy Mass, which was followed by the unveiling of the plaque in the Castle Square commemorating the event of 550 years prior, and the opening of a special exhibition at the Royal Castle in Piotrków. One of the important elements of the celebrations was the academic conference entitled “From Piotrków to Warsaw. The 550th Anniversary of the Parliamentarism of the Republic of Poland”. During the symposium, speeches were given by scholars from several research centres who deal with the history of Polish parliamentary system. The celebrations in Piotrków were part of a series of national events related to the anniversary. Among these, it is worth mentioning the session of the National Assembly (July 13, 2018) and the academic conference entitled “The Sejm of the First Polish Republic – the Parliament of Many Nations and the European State Representations” (April 27, 2018), which both took place at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. 

Polish Acts of 1920 and 1921 on Combating Offences by Public Officials

In 1920–1921, the Polish Legislative Sejm issued two legal acts the purpose of which was to facilitate the fight against offences committed by officials of the public administration. Offences committed in connection with a tenure in order to gain profit were punishable by death by firing squad. Moreover, the acts further placed criminal liability on persons guilty of bribing a public official, or of complicity in offences committed by the officials. The introduction of the act of 1920 aroused great controversy, which was particularly visible during the parliamentary debate on its draft. The other act, initially conceived as an amendment to the first one, repeated its regulations to a large extent. The enactment of these strict provisions during the difficult time of establishing the structures of the newly independent state and the military campaign to secure the country’s borders was one way of resolving one of its current problems. The acts, temporary in character from the very beginning, were in effect for just over two years. However, despite the short period of validity, they left a considerable legacy in the form of numerous judicial decisions of the Supreme Court. This article is an attempt to view the acts from the perspective both of the principles which guided their creators and of the judicial practice itself. Therefore, along with the particular version of the draft bills and the reports from the parliamentary sessions, the analysis covers the ample jurisdictional output. This approach makes it possible to reconstruct the basic legal issues which arose in the context of application of the law and to draw conclusions in reference to the pronounced penalties. Furthermore, the analysis allows – within the scope enabled by the accessible sources – for demonstrating the extent to which the legislative assumptions were put into practice.

The Penal Provisions of the Polish Copyright Law of 1926 in Legislative Works and Judicial Practice: Overprint – Plagiarism – the Subjective Side – Penal Sanctions

This paper is the result of the continuation of ongoing studies on the penal provisions of the Polish Copyright Law of 1926. Some of the research results were presented in the article titled The Penal Provisions of the Polish Copyright Law of 1926. The History of Its Creation –Its General Characteristics –Art. 61 and Its Significance for Further Regulations, which was published in “Cracow Studies of Constitutional and Legal History”(2018, issue 4). This text is a presentation of the analysis of special provisions regulating penal liability for the offences of overprint and plagiarism. Further in the article, the notion of the subjective side is discussed in relation to the offences defined in the Polish Copyright Law of 1926 and also the penal sanctions provided for these offences. In the analysis of the specific problems, emphasis is placed on the course of works on the regulations conducted by the Codification Commission and by the Parliament as well as on the issues related to their application. This approach makes it possible to reconstruct the fundamental legal problems faced by the codifiers and subsequently by the system of justice applying the relevant regulations. The studies concerning the application of copyright law were mainly focused on the judicial practice of the District Court in Kraków. They were based on the court registers and records from the interwar period stored in the National Archives in Kraków. The archival research discovered that the cases concerning the infringement of copyright constituted barely 0.09% of all criminal cases lodged with the District Court in Kraków in the 1930s. In that period, only five persons were definitely sentenced in this respect. Even though there were few criminal cases concerning copyright infringement in the times of the Second Polish Republic, the rulings issued, especially those issued by the Supreme Court, undoubtedly influenced the formation of jurisprudence regarding the interpretation of copyright, and they continue to be cited in pertinent literature up to this day.

The Creator of the Militarised Administration of the General Headquarters of the Union of Armed Struggle-Home Army. Stanisław Salmonowicz’s book Ludwik Muzyczka „Benedykt” (1900–1977). Materiały historyczne do dziejów Komendy Głównej Armii Krajowej [Ludwik Muzyczka “Benedykt” (1900–1977). The Historical Materials Concerning the General Headquarters of the Home Army], Institute of National Remembrance. Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, Warsaw 1918, 320 p.

Subsequent to his 1992 publication, Professor Stanisław Salmonowicz’s new book is his most recent foray into the presentation of the life of Ludwik Muzyczka. The book acquaints the reader with Muzyczka’s life events, showing the wide range of his activities, from his participation in the Polish Legions during the struggle for Poland’s independence, to his later service in the Polish Armed Forces, fighting to shape the borders of the revived Polish state, to his commitment to social and political issues in the Second Polish Republic, as well as his involvement in various conspiracies during the Second World War and in the Polish People’s Republic, to the final stage of restoring the remembrance of the heroes of the Polish Home Army. The most significant period of Muzyczka’s activity was during the Second World War. The experience he gained working in public administration offices of interwar Poland, including his tenure as starosta – the chief administrative officer of the powiat administrative unit, proved useful in the creation of the administrative structures of the Polish Secret State. Beyond doubt, his greatest achievement in that field was the large-scale enterprise of the organisation and management of Szefostwo Biur Wojskowych Komendy Głównej ZWZ-AK [The Command of Military Offices of the General Headquarters of the Union of Armed Struggle-Home Army]. The publication comprises two parts and an annex. Muzyczka’s biography, divided into five chapters, constitutes the first part. The second part contains several studies concerning selected issues related to Muzyczka’s activities. The annex consists of three papers by Stanisław Salmonowicz, i.a. including a list of Muzyczka’s most important texts, and of four source texts. Stanisław Salmonowicz’s book should be considered obligatory reading for those historians who deal with the history of the Polish Underground State and the conspiracy activities after 1945, as well as for historians of administration. 

Selected Projects for a Common Peace in Europe from the 15^th to the 17^th Centuries as a Remedy for the Problem of Wars of Religion

The article is devoted to three projects focused on establishing international organizations whose aim was to bring about a common peace in Europe. The first of them was worked out at the court of the King of Bohemia, George of Podiebrad, most probably in 1462; the second is mentioned in the treatise authored by French monk Émeric Crucé, andedited in 1623, under the telling title Le Nouveau Cynée; the third, on the other hand, is Grand Dessein,described in the Memoiresof Duke of Sully Maximilien de Béthune, a minister of Henry IV, the first two volumes of which appeared in 1638. The authors of the present study propose to take a new look at the projects under analysis, perceiving in them an attempt to find a remedy for the problem of wars of religion. Hence, the first of them is shown in the context of the Hussite Wars in Bohemia, whereas the other two are shown in that of the Huguenot Wars in France. The thesis is accepted in the article that George of Podiebrad’s project was primarily meant to be an answer to the current political problems of the day which the “Hussite King” was confronted with. The legal solutions included in the project could – as it seems – offer the Bohemian monarch a handy tool facilitating prevention of both a possible mutiny raised by the internal Catholic opposition, and an attack from outside, which, as a result of Pius II’s repealing of the Compactataand George’s refusal to accept the conditions of agreement proposed by the Holy See, could not be excluded. The acceptance of the thesis of political motives behind the propositions offered by the “Hussite King” does not belittle the value of the very project itself, which, in the history of European political and legal thought, was undoubtedly of paramount importance. Of the three peace plans presented here it is only the project put forward by George of Podiebrad that was invested with legal norms, constituting a ready project of an international contract. It distinguished itself against the other projects with its detailed elaboration and the complexity of the proposed solutions. Moreover, as the only one that was well-known at European courts, it became the subject of diplomatic negotiations which raised considerable interest also among its opponents. The latter were led by the papacy, fighting it, as it eventually turned out, with success. Both George of Podiebrad’s project and the Count of Sully’s proposal took into account the establishment of international organisations of regional character which would associate exclusively Christian states, regarding the fight against the Ottoman Empire as one of the more significant goals of their existence. Only the project by Crucé, which – contrary to the other two was written not by a politician, but by a thinker – assumed bringing peace in a universal dimension, including all the sovereign states of the world. The innovatory approach of Crucé’s proposition consisted in acknowledging as the fundamental one the idea of expected binding the members of the projected organisation by freedom of trade exchange which would be guaranteed in the global dimension”. For the authors of all the aforementioned peace plans the institutional factors uniting the states associated in the organizations to be established were to be commonwealth organs, among which a particular place was to be assigned to organs capable of settling conflicts between states. They can be considered to be a prototype of a contemporary international judiciary. The projects in question were founded on the principle of formal equality of sovereign states, which was accepted as the basis of international relations in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Furthermore, they introduced the principles of renouncing war and accepting the peaceful settlement of conflicts in mutual relations, and of striving for the creation of a system of collective safety. In this way they evidently went beyond the canons of the epochs in which they were created, and some of the ideas lying at their foundations did not materialize until the 20^th century.