Since January 2018, the civic resolution initiative has become one of the institutionalized instruments that allow residents of a municipality to participate in local government. It grants citizens the possibility to actively participate in the legislative process by empowering them to propose a draft resolution. This article aims to present the institution of the civic resolution initiative at the municipal level as seen in the rulings of voivodship administrative courts. It discusses the most significant theses of the judicature relating to the statutory regulation of this institution. Issues analysed include the scope of the entities, the formation and representation principles of committees, and the formal requirements and principles for filing draft resolutions. Additionally, the article employs the legal‑dogmatic method to analyse Article 41a of the Law of 8 March 1990 on municipal self‑government.

The first decade of the revived functioning of local self‑government in Poland was a time of constructing system solutions, setting up the structure of local self‑governing bodies, and defining the catalogue of public tasks carried out by these units. Both then and in the years that followed, tools were developed to enable direct citizen participation in the governance of their local community.

This study aims to outline the process of developing the tools for direct management of the municipality – the basic unit of local government – by its inhabitants over the last thirty‑plus years and, therefore, to present the most important procedures and mechanisms for citizen co‑determination on the shape of their small homelands.

Youth councils in local government units are among the tools for increasing civic participation of young people in their local communities. By acting in a youth council, a young person has a chance to influence his or her environment, gain experience in socio‑political activities, and meet similarly active people from all over Poland. There is great potential in the creation of such bodies, which, if exploited by local authorities, can significantly strengthen future civil society. This article presents the legal and actual framework for the operation of youth councils in Poland and discusses the 2021 amendment to the legislation in this area. It then presents an example of a two‑tier system of youth participation in civil society: the Youth Council of the City of Warsaw and the Youth District Councils in the same city. It presents examples of initiatives taken by the Youth Council of the Capital City of Warsaw and the Youth Council of the Śródmieście District of the Capital City of Warsaw within the last three years. 

A participatory budget is also called a civic budget. Such budgets allow a city’s residents to allocate the pool of funds by voting on previously submitted projects. This is certainly one of the most interesting forms of participation, involving significant groups of citizens in active social life: through social discussions, they create projects that can develop and serve the local community. Civic budgets are gaining considerable popularity in Poland and, therefore, are becoming more and more controversial. The question is, to what extent are civic budgets actually civic? This paper presents the theoretical assumptions of the civic budget, and then conducts an analysis of the civic budget of the city of Gorlice. 

This study addresses the issue of identifying the determinants of the institution of a civic legislative initiative. It aims to present selected legal and factual limitations related to this institution, identified at the level of the regulations of local self‑government systems, and in selected resolutions defining the detailed principles for filing a legislative initiative. The discussion also covers issues related to submitting a draft resolution for an opinion (the stage at which such an opinion should be given) and/or for agreement with other competent authorities (the entity responsible for performing the duty of agreement). The article also looks at matters that, based on specific provisions, cannot be the subject of a civic legislative initiative. It primarily uses an analytical‑dogmatic research method, drawing on monographs and scholarly articles on the studies of administrative law, along with administrative court judgments. 

This article focuses on the issue of residents’ participation in the procedure of creating, merging, dividing and abolishing municipalities and setting their boundaries, as defined in the Act of 8 March 1990 on Municipal Government. It uses the example of the process of extending the boundaries of Skierniewice in the years 2009–2015. The city expanded its borders twice in this period, even though the inhabitants of the annexed municipalities were opposed to these changes. The article presents the course of the changes to the boundaries of Skierniewice and the circumstances that accompanied them. On this basis, using the method of a single case study, the author analyses the influence of the inhabitants on changes to the boundaries of their municipalities.

The growing interest in remote work and flexible forms of employment is undoubtedly due to technological development (including changes in the labour market) and measures taken to counteract the COVID-19 pandemic. The experience of this period allowed us to observe certain regularities in the field of remote work, revealing its pros and cons. This article aims to summarize the current state of remote work regulations and the possibilities opened up by the home office model. The first part describes the remote work regulations laid out in Polish legislation and the current state of the labour market, which affects the interest in flexible forms of employment. The article then details the new part of the Labour Code, which also influences the current shape of remote work. Focusing on the home office form (i.e., working from home), the author presents an exemplary enumeration of the advantages and disadvantages of the flexible employment models observable today, noting the opportunities and threats resulting from their use. Due to the impact of remote work on various areas of an employee’s life, considerations are conducted on both legal and social grounds. The last section is a summary of flexible forms of work and the chances of their success in the light of post‑pandemic achievements. It also briefly presents the hybrid work model as a solution that takes advantage of remote employment opportunities while minimizing the visible risks.

This article considers the impact of the designation of entrepreneurs doing business in the form of a civil partnership on the possibility of claiming protection of the name of the partnership under the Civil Code. This problem seems worth exploring as the issue of the protection offered by the designation of a civil partnership is so far unresolved on legislative and jurisprudential grounds. The authors use the dogmatic method, analysing judgments, articles, monographs and commentaries related to this issue. The first section is devoted to characterizing the concepts of name and company in the context of their divergence and possible correlation. The second describes how the protection of the name of a civil partnership was asserted before the 2003 amendment to the Civil Code. The third contains the views of doctrine and case law in relation to the construction of business designations, in light of the current state of the law. The final section compares the Polish legal system with the German system in terms of civil partnership identification.

This article aims to introduce the Roman legal structure of inventio thesauri (finding a treasure trove) as a case of acquisition of property, and the manner and scope of its reception in modern civil law.

This article focuses on the issue of administrative advising. First, it draws attention to general issues in the area of advising shaped by contemporary reality. Next, it elaborates on the subject of administrative advising for the many specialists operating before a public administration organ. The legal basis for the analysis is the solutions adopted in the provisions of the Code of Administrative Procedure regarding the power and the plenipotentiary. Against this background, the article draws attention to the legal status of an administrative advisor. Finally, it presents administrative advising as a profession intended for graduates of administrative studies. It also refers to legislative activities regulating the profession of administrative advisor. The article employs dogmatic, doctrinal, deductive and comparative research methods.

This article aims to discuss changes in the provisions of the Act of 4 February 2011 on the care of children under the age of 3 introduced in connection with the COVID- 19 pandemic, both in terms of new and amended provisions. The pandemic resulted in the introduction of two completely new provisions to the Act (Articles 6a and 6b). One of these allows the minister competent for family affairs, by way of an ordinance, to temporarily limit or suspend the functioning of forms of care for children aged up to 3 across all or part of the country; the other provides that, if necessary, certain provisions of the Act in relation to all or some forms of care for children under the age of 3 can be excluded by means of an ordinance. However, the most important controversy may be over changes regarding the issue of preventive vaccinations. These are not yet required by law, but nothing stands in the way of such a requirement being introduced; individual institutions running nurseries or children’s clubs already have provisions in their statutes requiring or favouring vaccination of children.

This article analyses the guarantees of chemical safety defined by the provisions of European Union law. It defines the essence of chemical safety; the author presents the importance of the principles of Good Laboratory Practice, which are a manifestation of the uniformity of standards for dealing with chemical substances. Next, it discusses EU Bezpieczeństwo chemiczne i gwarancje jego zapewnienia w Unii Europejskiej RAP 2023 (9) legal solutions to the registration and marketing authorization of chemical substances (REACH regulation). It also analyses the issue of the export and import into the EU of substances classified as dangerous. It argues that the conditions of European integration have enabled the unification of regulations and standardization of procedures for dealing with chemical substances. Therefore, the author is convinced that the legal regulations of the EU constitute an important guarantee of chemical safety.

This text raises an issue of strategic culture. It uses the example of the works of the US federal administration on the official processing of the challenges connected with Cold War rivalry in the period of containment of Soviet influence, as well as under the new challenge from Putin’s Russia. It defines the term “strategic culture”, and provides theoretical orderings locating it among the important factors shaping the decision making of federal bodies on deterrence and key national security challenges. It also discusses institutional arrangements for conducting policies towards new challenges, such as weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, which require a change of approach from the social elite, followed by the adoption of modified procedural patterns in domestic and international relations.

This paper presents selected general principles of control proceedings conducted by the Ombudsman. These are not jurisdictional proceedings, and the rules set out in the Code of Administrative Procedure do not apply to them. Due to the significant formalization and simplification of these proceedings, the general principles applicable to them are important. These express certain values that are relevant to all involved, and which the Ombudsman, in conducting the proceedings, should take into account at all times. A person has an inalienable dignity, and the Ombudsman should uphold this, while also upholding the freedoms and rights of the human being and the citizen, and the relationship of the person to society. The general principles, expressing certain values, are there to “remind” the Ombudsman of these basic duties.

This article discusses approaches to understanding the right to a safe environment in accordance with the legislation of the EU and Ukraine. It has been established that in modern conditions, the concept of the right to a safe natural and anthropogenic environment has undergone a transformation. The basis for protecting this right must be understood as a balance between private and public interests, as a principle for implementing and achieving the goals of the Strategy for Sustainable Development. The author has carried out a classification of disputes related to the implementation and protection of the human right to a safe natural and anthropogenic environment. The analysis substantiates the Disputes related to the protection of the rightto a healthy environment interaction between changing the understanding of the right to a safe environment and the right to initiate a claim for its protection. This leads to the conclusion that the leading bearers of public interest in the field of environmental protection are public organizations. The author’s classification of disputes in the field of implementation and protection of the natural environment is then substantiated.

Services of general interest in the field of public transport are governed by an extensive system of laws, created by the European Union and national authorities. This is done on the basis of the division of competences between the Union and the Member States, pursuant to Article 4 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It is therefore possible, on the one hand, for the Union to make a positive contribution to the development of services of general interest in the field of public transport by creating uniform standards; and, on the other, for the diversity of traditions, structures and situations in the individual Member States to be preserved through the law‑making activities of the national authorities. Using the example of Poland, it may be stated that the legal system relating to the provision of services of general interest in the field of public transport consists of regulations ranging from treaty provisions, through Article 36 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and EU rules, to statutory regulations and local laws.

The expansion and deepening of security have initiated the emergence of new concepts, which, among other things, have enabled new ways of understanding and interpreting threats and risks in the security sphere. Human security is one of the new concepts that are becoming part of the security strategies of many countries, despite still-present dilemmas, especially over its practical significance and usability. This paper explores the interrelationship between human security and human rights, starting from the reference object towards which both are directed; that is, the individual. On the one hand, it explores the placement and meaning of human rights in the concept of human security, also enabling its greater concretization; on the other, it analyses the meaning and impact this concept has and should have in promoting and protecting human rights. Hence, the main thesis is that the human security concept has a greater chance of being more widely accepted and more effective when based on human rights, and that human rights are more likely to be protected and respected if treated as part of human security. 

This article discusses the issue of the democratic deficit and the legitimacy of European Union institutions, and, consequently, of the law they create. The text reflects on the EU as a special type of international organization and its related problem of legitimacy. Theoretical issues of the democratic deficit and legitimacy are discussed, enriched with a comparative presentation of the views of two outstanding intellectuals, one from each side of the Atlantic. The following part of the article presents practical attempts to respond to the problem of the democratic deficit and the legitimacy of the EU, undertaken both in the European Parliament and by European institutions and member states, in the form of the recently completed Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE).

The goal of this paper is to determine whether and under what circumstances environmental protection can be considered as an objective of common interest justifying investment aid to airports. It begins by presenting the principles for examining the compatibility of investment aid to airports with EU law. In this context, the main focus will be on a comparative analysis of the two guidelines issued by the European Commission on eligibility conditions for such aid. It then outlines the development of the concept of environmental protection in the EU legal order. It also discusses the most important environmental impacts of airports, and methods to reduce the negative effects of their operation. The next section reviews the Commission’s main State Aid decisions on improving the environmental performance of airports, allowing us to draw conclusions on how such investments are assessed in practice. The main goal of this section is to critically examine the Commission’s current approach to assessing pro‑environmental investments at airports.

The analysis leads to the formulation of two postulates of de lege ferenda. The first proposes adding a fourth objective of common interest concerning environmental protection to point 84 of the Guidelines on State Aid to Airports and Airlines. The paper then outlines the reasons for this change, which will, in particular, provide an appropriate legal basis for the approval of pro‑environmental State Aid and enhance legal certainty for both aid providers and beneficiaries. It will also reflect how environmental protection is rising up the agenda of the European Union, and help to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal. The addition of an environmental objective will also aid EU cohesion. The second postulate indicates the need to change the way in which the eligible objectives of investment aid to airports are set out, from points to exemplary. The paper argues that the inclusion of only three eligible objectives of common interest for investment aid to airports leads to a limitation of the scope of Article 107(3)(c) TFEU; it is therefore incompatible with EU law.

This article examines the regulatory practice and the practice of the ECtHR in ensuring the right to a healthy environment. At the present stage of humankind, the question of understanding a person as part of an ecosystem is increasingly being raised. In this regard, it is important to emphasize that the current state of international legal regulation of environmental relations strongly indicates the need for serious reforms to international environmental law, primarily in terms of increasing the effectiveness of existing mechanisms for environmental cooperation between states and creating new mechanisms for such cooperation.

It has been established that environmental rights are implemented primarily through the formation of international policy and legislation, especially the EU’s strategic position on the environment. This was legally enshrined in the Treaty on the European Community, which declared the EU’s aspirations for a high degree of protection, improving the quality of the environment and people’s standard of living. Over time, this became a starting point for the environmental policy and law of the EU, and then a duty for the implementation of national environmental legislation.

It is indicated that the scientific recognition and normative consolidation of environmental rights in international law are important for the development of international ideological concepts of environmental protection, based on the ideas of solving environmental problems in the interests of the individual and all humankind. This is also salient for the formation of a system of international environmental law.

A striking example of an international treaty that secures environmental human rights is the Convention of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-​Making and Access to Justice on Environmental Issues, adopted on 25 June 1998, in Aarhus, Denmark (the Aarhus Convention). This identified three main types of environmental rights considered as important factors in the development of democracy: public access to environmental information; public participation in the decision-​making process on environmental issues; public access to justice on environmental issues. These rights are implemented primarily through the formation of international environmental policy and international environmental legislation, especially the EU’s strategic position on the environment. This was legally enshrined in the Treaty on the European Community, which declared the EU’s aspirations for a high degree of protection, improving the quality of the environment and people’s standard of living. Over time, it became a starting point for the environmental policy and law of the EU, and then a duty for the implementation of national environmental legislation.