This study formulates a list of constitutional principles of the Kingdom of Sicily under Frederick II Hohenstaufen based on the provisions of the Constitutiones Regni Siciliae from 1231. The aim is to systematize the main assumptions of the emperor’s legislation, which sought to create a specific constitutional system, sometimes referred to as a medieval absolutist monarchy. The reason for choosing the Liber Augustalis for the basis of this analysis was its adoption at the peak of Frederick II’s rule. It is therefore safe to assume that it best reflects the main tenets of the emperor’s political and legal doctrine. The research methodology included an analysis of the legal text and a comparison of the results with the findings of historians regarding Frederick II’s actions in other areas. The resulting catalogue consists of four basic principles: (1) the sacralization of power; (2) the sovereignty of the monarch’s power; (3) the rule of law; and (4) the concentration of power. The article provides a new perspective on the Constitutiones Regni Siciliae not only as a legal text, but also a historical source and political manifesto.

The article delves into the intricate dynamics of the status of women in history. It provides a brief insight into the evolution of law concerning the status of women in the territory of Slovakia and some examples of the legal practice witnessed in various legal and non-legal sources. Analyzing the antiquated laws and cultural perspectives, the authors explore the nuances that shaped women’s lives. It points out the paradoxes of the Enlightenment era, which, while advocating for sensible reasoning and progress, simultaneously witnessed scientific justifications for female subjugation. Nevertheless, it was the starting point for a complete change in women’s lives from both the legal and social perspective. This change might even be ongoing, manifesting itself in various issues nowadays, such as getting married and having children at a higher age or not at all.

During the First Word War, a criminalization process started in Hungary and economic crimes began to be regulated. Due to the financial crisis and the economic recession, the function of criminal law changed because it had to protect the national economy and its main institutions, which led to the adoption of Act IX of 1916 on overpricing misdemeanors. After analyzing the relevant legal literature and the parliamentary debates from the Hungarian Parliamentary Collection, I draw the conclusion that the act was intended to stop the increase of the prices of convenience goods and illegal chain trade. After a dogmatic analysis, I examined the decisions of the Royal Regional Court of Budapest in the Budapest City Archives and reached the conclusion that the courts used a teleological interpretation regarding the definitional elements unknown in the criminal law before 1916.

After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, the Hungarian economy developed quickly, and the Hungarian political elite sought ways to help it grow with a new, up-to-date regulation. To that end, the National Assembly adopted a new commercial code in 1875, a new promissory note act in 1876 and a new bankruptcy act in 1881. In this paper, I examine the liability of bankruptcy trustees on the basis of leading cases of the Hungarian Supreme Court whose decisions determined the Hungarian legal practice. It is an interesting part of Act XVII of 1881 because it has a close connection to the general private law. Since bankruptcy trustees were responsible for determining the amount of bankruptcy assets, the issue of creditor control of the trustee’s activity was important. In addition, the provision of the Hungarian bankruptcy act concerning the bankruptcy trustee’s liability was the same as the German Bankruptcy Act of 1877, thus creating a good opportunity to compare the German and Hungarian viewpoints in this question.

Professor Ignacy Mościcki (1867–1946), as President of Poland, publicly announced the first program in independent Poland to support the pro-family policy of the state. It was, however, only in a private statement that the president declared that he will be the godfather of every seventh son in families that were indigenously Polish, Catholic and until then had no criminal record. The president’s profamily program was successfully implemented over the period of 13 years preceding the outbreak of the Second World War (1926–1939). President Mościcki’s godsons were presented with a savings book from the state Postal Savings Bank with a deposit of 50 zlotys. The outbreak of the Second World War put an end to this program, and then the socialist authorities in the Polish People’s Republic discredited it. The godsons and their heirs postponed any claims arising from this program until the 1990s. They primarily demanded the refund of duly revalued savings deposits from the state. They sent letters to successive presidents of the Republic of Poland, speakers of both houses of Parliament (the Sejm and the Senate) and others, but to no avail. In 2005–2006, they also tried to recover their money in court, but their claims were dismissed. It seems that, in the current state of the law, the possible claims of Mościcki’s godsons can be considered in the category of a “debt of honour” incurred by the pre-war president of the Republic of Poland.

This paper discusses the justice system in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (1939–1945), a double-track system with two types of courts: autonomous (Czech) and Reich (German). Their jurisdiction was mostly determined by nationality. The Czech line of the judiciary faced a number of interventions by the occupying power (consisting, for example, in successful personnel purges), yet functioned without significant changes until the end of the Second World War. A system of German courts was established in the Protectorate, which in some cases also had jurisdiction over the Czech population.

The article concerns the report by The New York Times correspondent, Paul Staats Underwood, concerning the Polish draft Criminal Code of 1963. It discusses the main issues, which Underwood concludes lead to a negative overall view of the draft code. One of the issues addressed is the public opinion about increasing penalization of social and economic life in the Polish People’s Republic. The study also discusses the reaction of ministerial authorities to the publication of the text by Underwood in The New York Times. In addition, the analysis covers the reasons for such a one-sided negative assessment of the draft and the question of whether the journalist was motivated by a desire to cause the rejection of another draft of the Criminal Code of the Polish People’s Republic.