Witold Matejko

The subject of the article is an analysis of the amendments to the Act on Road Traffic (in force since June 1, 2021) regarding pedestrians’ right of way on a pedestrian crossing and the meaning of the concept of a pedestrian entering the crossing in particular. The Regional Court in Piotrków Trybunalski in the judgment of May 26th 2022, case file no. VII W 135/22, ruled that a pedestrian waiting to enter the crossing should be considered a pedestrian entering the crossing. In the author's opinion, such interpretation illustrates a creative interpretation as it adds elements not included in the provisions of the Act. As a consequence, it violates the rule of nulla contraventio sine lege by allowing the punishment of drivers for acts which do not violate any of the provisions of the Act on Road Traffic. The analysis was largely based on a literal interpretation of the provsions of the Act and the principle of strict interpretation of any repressive laws.

The subject of consideration is the right of the creditor to demand a flat-rate compensation for recovery costs from the debtor, established in the Act on Prevention of Excessive Delays in Commercial Transactions. Since its introduction into the Polish legal order, this right has given rise to significant interpretative doubts, particularly concerning the prerequisites for rendering the compensation immediately due and payable, the debtor’s ability to defend against this claim, and the issue of including the compensation in the costs of the lawsuit or in the value of the subject matter of the dispute in court proceedings. These doubts, in the author’s opinion, are largely due to the shortcomings of the legal regulation of compensation, which does not include in its scope many important issues, as well as its highly autonomous nature, which in turn prevents the analogous application of solutions concerning other legal institutions.

The paper is a continuation and an extension of the analysis of Act on Road Traffic regulations regarding pedestrians’ right of way on a pedestrian crossing. The analysis focuses most notably on the basic principles of interpretation of the provisions of the Act such as the right of way, linguistic interpretation and subsidiarity of purposive interpretation. The author also analyses the relation between the terms of a pedestrian “entering the crossing” and one “on the crossing”, both included in the regulation. A comparison between the solution adopted in the Polish Act on Road Traffic and the corresponding regulations provided in the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic as well as respective regulations valid in some other European countries is also presented.

The subject of the article is the ban on using a phone while driving, established by Art. 45 para. 2 section 1 of the Act on Road Traffic. The author expresses interpretative doubts concerning the text of the regulation including the meaning of the terms “using a phone”, the modal circumstance of “while driving”, as well as the term “requiring holding the earphone or microphone in the hand”. In the author’s opinion, the provision in question in its current wording, dating from 2002, is largely outdated and not adapter to modern reality. Moreover, it is worded incorrectly, to the extent that its literal interpretation deprives it of any normative significance.

The gloss is an analysis and evaluation of the judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court of 21 April 2016, case file no. II GSK 2566/14. In this judgement, the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland adopted a view that distance sales of alcoholic beverages, including those made via the Internet, are illegal under the current provisions of the Act on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism. In its interpretation of the law, the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland also referred extensively to the regulations of the Polish Civil Code on the sale agreement and the transfer of ownership of the sold item. The author critically evaluates the standpoint adopted by the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland. In author’s opinion, the interpretation of the law presented in the reasons for the judgement is law-generating in nature, leading to the creation of a legal norm which is not supported by the provisions of the Act. In author’s opinion, the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland wrongly equated the notions of a sale and the occurrence of the dispositive effect of a sale agreement, wrongly assuming that they occur at the same time and in the same place, which results in the assumption that the sale of an alcoholic beverage is effective upon the delivery of its object to the buyer at the place where the beverage is to be delivered. The position taken by the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland limits the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of business activity in a manner not supported by the Act.