Search Results for: legislation

Departure from the rule of law as the consolidation of biopower. Example of Polish legislation justified by fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr hab. Arkadiusz Barut

University of Wrocław

English abstract: Throughout this article the author interprets the crisis of the rule law in Poland in 2020 caused by the phenomenon described as Covid-19 pandemic as the solidification and consolidation of biopower – the contribution of ideas and practices justified by the findings of natural sciences to the disestablishment of paradigms hitherto recognized as fundamental to the creation and application of law, that is the due process of law or its formal justice.

I proceed from the assumption that the creation and application of law must be grounded in phronesis — the Aristotelian prudence, that is the intellectual process of assessment of not only the means but also the goals. Thanks to the discernment of both the goals and the means in the same cognitive act, one gains the opportunity to distinguish individual cases and insight into specific situations. I assume the phronetics of law to justify and at once enable its acquisition of the property referred to as justice in its formal sense — predictability, non-retroactivity, generality of regulation, and so on. If, on the other hand, the law becomes subordinated to paradigms justified with the use of natural sciences, it ceases to fulfil its function. Biopower invades the legal sphere as a discourse of necessity, such a necessity is in itself the very opposite of the fine art of balancing the various competing interests, appreciating the importance of form and ritual, distinguishing the various individual cases.

The purpose of this article is to analyse the impact of the crisis referred to as the Covid-19 pandemic on law and in no way to pronounce on the medical aspects of its proliferation or express a moral or political judgement of the actions justified by the need to contain it.

Keywords: Covid – 19, pandemic, biopower, rule of law, Foucault, Legendre, Agamben

Language: English

Published: Number 3(28)/2021, pp.5-21

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2021.3.5

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Number of downloads: 559

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Law, Theatre and Empathy – Already a Legislative Theatre?

Bartłomiej Bodziński-Guzik

Jagiellonian University

English abstract: In this article, I analyse Legislative Theatre from a socio-legal perspective, for the first time in reflections on this topic. By analysing the context of participatory processes, I outline the background for Legislative Theatre, where participation or its manifestations play a significant role. In the article, I both present the origins of Legislative Theatre – as a process used to generate ideas for legal amendments or their implementation – and compare the original assumptions with contemporary challenges or contexts important for legal scholarship. The article focuses on an analysis of the original assumptions of Legislative Theatre, confronting and comparing them, where necessary, with the contemporary approach. At the same time, I claim that Legislative Theatre, despite its name, should be understood in terms of participation, rather than legislation, in particular the ambition to influence the legislative process (initiative). These considerations are one of the first attempts to look at Legislative Theatre as a potentially important theme for both academics and practitioners, for both actors and audiences (if any) of legal systems. At the same time, they are an attempt to embed Legislative Theatre as a theme for a wider reflection of legal scholars, including Polish ones.

Key words: socially engaged theatre, participation, Legislative Theatre, legislation, law

Language: polish

Published: Number 1(46)/2026, pp. 77–95.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2026.1.77

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Number of downloads: 176

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Judicial Update of the Meaning of a Legal Text in Three Questions

Dr Paulina Konca

University of Silesia, Katowice

English abstract: The aim is to illustrate the complexity of the process of judicial updating of the meaning of a legal text in changing circumstances (e.g. developments in technology and science, social changes) and to answer the question of the role of courts and the legislator in making updates. On the basis of an analysis of literature, legislation and judicial practice, the basic problems of updating a legal text and their selected solutions were presented. The topic has been widely discussed in the context of the Constitution, while the literature on updating statutes is still relatively rare. Meanwhile, the dynamics of diverse external changes is intense. It has become urgent to develop a theoretical framework for this issue. Courts, when updating, must ask themselves three questions. First, has there been a change? Second, what is the impact of the change on the meaning? Third, is the judiciary allowed to update? Within each of them, the question arises as to who is entitled to make a binding conclusion: the courts or the legislature. Ad 1. The determination of a change is often not difficult, but in doubtful cases where there is no general agreement that circumstances have changed, the courts would be well advised not to update on their own, but to rely on the legislature’s assessment of the extent in dispute. Ad 2. Courts determine the updated meaning, primarily guided by the purpose of the regulation. However, even when updating the same provisions, two different courts may come to different conclusions. Ad 3. Courts update, inter alia, when they conclude that the failure to update is an omission on the part of the legislature and consider themselves entitled to correct this error. Significantly, in some countries, the ability of the courts to update arises from legislation: the Irish and Spanish provisions governing the issue is set out in the text.

Key words: Interpretation, construction in changing circumstanceseparation of powers, courts, dynamic interpretation, lawmaker.

Language: Polish

Published: no. 1(42)/2025, pp. 40-59.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2024.4.40

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Number of downloads: 328

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Formulating the Provisions on Entry into Force of a Generally Applicable Normative Act: Critical Analysis Engendered by the 2023 Act Amending the Electoral Code

Mikołaj Truszkowski

Lodz University

English abstract: This article critically analyses the provisions on entry into force, based on the provisions of the 2023 Act Amending the Electoral Code, which made the entry into force of certain normative solutions dependent on a deadline specified in the announcement of the competent centralnauthority of state administration. However, this construction is not found in the directives for the construction of legal acts, specified in the Principles of Legislative Technique of 2002. Additionally, the article also draws attention to legal problems resulting from the use of such blameworthy legislative practice, including in the context of the presumption of widespread familiarity with the law. Moreover, this announcement, in accordance with statutory regulations, was subject to promulgation in the Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland, although this is not reflected in the Act on the Promulgation of Normative Acts and Certain Other Legal Acts. Therefore, this legislative maneouvre should be considered unacceptable and, consequently, in some cases, inconsistent with Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which establishes the principle of a democratic rule-of-law state. In order to justify the presented thesis statement, the author analyses the provisions of the Act Amending the Electoral Code, discusses the conceptual apparatus and theoretical constructs in the context of law-making practice, using the hermeneutical and formal-dogmatic methods. The research opens up the field for broader considerations on compliance with the Principles of Legislative Technique in the law-making process.

Keywords: legislative technique, legislation, statute, legislative process, the Sejm (lower chamber of the Polish Parliament)

Language: Polish

Published: nr 3(40)/2024, pp. 68-77.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2024.3.68

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Number of downloads: 230

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A Statistical Picture of the Difficulty of Law

Mgr Mikołaj RYŚKIEWICZ

University of Warsaw

English abstract: The incomprehensibility of law is no secret, but the depth of this incomprehensibility has remained insufficiently explored. Previous studies have supported quantitative aspects either superficially or without delving into their method. This work aims to expand the toolkit for analysing legal language in terms of its comprehensibility and demonstrate the results of using these tools. Dozens of Polish laws selected for the study were fully processed and analysed using the Jasnopis application. The results were then reviewed and analysed in the context of linguistic and social studies. The analyses: (1) confirm the profound incomprehensibility of legal language, regardless of the yardstick used; (2) quantify this incomprehensibility in relation to general Polish, providing a picture of how remote legal language is from reality; (3) point to the intrinsic peculiarity of legal language, as manifested in the variation of intelligibility and morphological parameters depending on the branch of law; (4) reveal the potential in studying legal language with indicators other than those commonly used. The research opens
up the field for a broader-than-before discussion of the communicative quality of legislation and, thanks to the context of general Polish, helps outline the socially relevant consequences in the form of linguistic alienation of law recipients.

Keywords: legal language, incomprehensibility of law, nominal style, jurislinguistics

Language: Polish

Published: Number 4(37)/2023, pp. 79-97.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2023.4.79

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Number of downloads: 410

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Religious-Only Marriages in the Case Law of Ordinary Courts in Poland. Qualitative Content Analysis of Judgment Justifications Published Online

Mgr Anna JUZASZEK

Doctoral School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Law and Administration, Jagiellonian University in Kraków

English abstract: In some Western European countries, for a few years now there has been an intense debate concerning the phenomenon of religious-only marriages, solemnized through a religious ceremony. From the perspective of state law, such religious spouses are treated as cohabitees, which places certain limitations on their rights and obligations compared to married couples recognized by state law. In Poland, there is no ongoing discussion on this matter. Furthermore, there are no data regarding the frequency of such relationships, if any. The main objective of this article is to partially address this gap and initiate a discussion. To achieve this, exploratory research was conducted by analysing judgment justifications available online, focusing on cases where the couples were in exclusively religious marriages. Selected justifications underwent qualitative content analysis using MAXQDA software to gain insights into how judges and other participants in the proceedings approach this type of relationship. Another aim of the article is to highlight the legal challenges that religiously married spouses might encounter and to explore potential solutions in this regard. The research indicates that the marriages in question generally did not elicit consternation or negative attitudes in the analysed cases. On the contrary, both judges and participants in the proceedings typically did not question the significance, depth, and permanent character of family bonds formed through religious-only marriages. However, this approach is not reflected in current legislation, which differentiates the rights and obligations of individuals in intimate relationships based on whether a civil marriage has been contracted, often disregarding the actual nature of the relationship.

Keywords: marriages, religious-only marriages, qualitative content analysis, judgment justifications

Language: Polish

Published: Number 4(37)/2023, pp. 54-67.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2023.4.54

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Number of downloads: 348

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Friedrich A. Hayek’s Evolutionary Concept of Law: Essence and Topicality

Jakub AUGUSTYNIAK

University of Warsaw

English abstract: The paper aims to present the concept of law proposed by F.A. Hayek in Law, Legislation and Liberty. Hayek’s theory is subsequently compared to G. Radbruch philosophy of law, mainly because of the significant difference in both thinkers’ intellectual backgrounds (i.e., liberalism and socialism). The Austrian philosopher’s theory is identified as a so-called third way proposal, an attempt to demonstrate lack of antagonism between positivism and legal naturalism. This thesis results from the fact that this theory is based on the dichotomy
between two sources of law in the form of established social practice subsequently sanctioned by the sovereign, referred to as nomos, and thesis in the form of legal instruments adopted by competent authorities. The first kind are correlated with private law in the broad sense, which law emerged from the activity of individual members of the society. The second kind should only establish norms to enable the state to operate and to safeguard nomos.

Keywords: nomos, thesis, philosophy, law, justice, society

Language: Polish

Published: Number 4(37)/2023, pp. 5-14.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2023.4.5

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Number of downloads: 418

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The ‘Theatrical’ in Public Participation: How Can Theatre Contribute to Citizens’ Engagement in Legislative Development?

Bartłomiej Bodziński-Guzik

Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland

English abstract: The paper is devoted to the notion of public participation and an attempt to propose a slightly different understanding and approach to this than usual. The author acknowledges the potential of theatrical methods, especially the proposal of A. Boal, the Legislative Theatre, whereby the theatre is used to create proposals for legislation, bringing additional value to the participation process. The LT is a point of reference, but the following reflections refer to theatre and performance in a more general sense. The article focuses on the corelations between theatre and different relevant fields of social activity to determine and present potential benefits of using theatre in the process of participation. It is to present a preliminary review of relevant ideas that can stimulate future reflection about theatricalizing participation, rather than presenting a direct and comprehensive proposal.

Keywords: public participation, law, community, politics, legislative theatre, therapy, protest

Language: English

Published: Number 2(35)/2023, pp. 5-19.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280//AFPiFS.2023.2.5

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Number of downloads: 406

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Terminological Consistency in the Legal System. A View at the Problem of Interpretation from the Perspective of Law-making Practice

Dr Marek SUSKA

Silesian University in Katowice

English abstract: The goal of the article is to determine whether the legal interpretation should be made with the assumption of consistency of terminology at the level of a branch of law or at the global level. The question is therefore whether the interpreter should presume that the legislator ‘by default’ refers those who apply the law only to the legal definitions contained in a certain, most general act within one branch of law, or whether, regardless of the branch, the legislator always uses a uniform terminology. An analysis of the law-making practice may be a source of useful cues to answer this question. First, the article reconstructs the requirements imposed on the drafters by the Principles of Legislative Technique. Secondly, several dozen acts passed by the Sejm of the 7th and 8th term of office are examined in terms of the presence of ‘definitional’ references to acts from the same branch of law and acts from another branch of law. In this way, it is established that only the presumption of a legal act maintain terminological consistency with legal definitions set out in the basic act for a given branch of law seems to be legitimate. The basic act should not be understood in an institutional way, but as one relating to a quasi-branch. The article also identifies at least some cases where it is justified or unjustified to use ‘explicit’ references to point out branch-level or global terminological consistency. The results of the analyses may find application in the discussion on the meaning of the directive of legal language in the theory and practice of interpretation, as well as in the theory and practice of legislation – in determining when it is necessary to use a provision referring to a legal definition.

Keywords: terminological consistency, provisions referring to other provisions, legal language, law-making, legal interpretation, system of law

Language: Polish

Published: Number 1(34)/2023, pp.58-71

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280//AFPiFS.2023.1.58

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Number of downloads: 445

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Issue 3(28)/2021 of „Archiwum Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej” is now available

We invite you to read the latest English issue of “Archiwum Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej”, the Journal of the Polish Section of IVR. The issue includes the following papers:

Dr hab. Arkadiusz Barut: Departure from the Rule of Law as Consolidation of Biopower: Example of Polish Legislation Justified by Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic
Dr Filip Cyuńczyk: Powrót do przeszłości? O przemianach prawnych mechanizmów regulacji pamięci zbiorowej w Hiszpanii z perspektywy Europy Środkowej
Prof. M. Isabel Garrido Gómez: The Systematization of Legal Values around Justice
Dr Karolina Gmerek: Identyfikowanie czynności konwencjonalnych w prawie jako proces rozpoznawania ich sensu – wstęp do problematyki
Mgr Maksymilian Hau: Heglowska krytyka stanu prawniczego
Mgr Konstanty Kuryłowicz: Pojęcie racjonalności i racjonalizacja prawa w pracach Maxa Webera
Prof. dr hab. Beata Polanowska-Sygulska: Harmonia i dysonans. Wizje życia etycznego Isaiaha Berlina i Leszka Kołakowskiego.

The issue also includes the text In Memoriam of prof. Tomasz Bekrycht by prof. UŁ dr hab. Mariusz Golecki and report from a X Conference of Young Legal Theorists and Philosophers by dr. Karolina Gmerek.

The issue is available HERE.