Search Results for: legal interpretation

Jerzy Wróblewski (1926–1990) – Polish legal theorist, creator of an original paradigm of legal interpretation and application known as the clarificative theory of interpretation. His work remains one of the two main paradigms of Polish interpretive theory; among his continuators is Marek Zirk-Sadowski.

Texts in the „Archive”

Story of a Footnote. An Attempt to Reconstruct the Discussion of Hans Kelsen and Jerzy Wróblewski

Monika Zalewska · Issue 1(2)/2011

A reconstruction of the exchange between Kelsen and Wróblewski, traced from a single footnote.

“The Semantic Sting” Argument and Jerzy Wróblewski’s Theory of Law

Adam Dyrda · Issue 1(1)/2010

Dworkin’s semantic sting argument set against Wróblewski’s theory of law and interpretation.

See also the Legal Interpretation and Legal Positivism collections.

Maciej Zieliński (1940–2020) – Polish legal theorist, creator of the derivational conception of legal interpretation, expressed in the maxim omnia sunt interpretanda. Together with Zygmunt Ziembiński he co-founded the Poznań school of legal theory; his conception remains one of the two main paradigms of Polish interpretive theory.

Texts in the „Archive”

Regarding Justification of Interpretive Claims

Agnieszka Choduń · Issue 2(23)/2020

An account of the assumptions of the derivational conception and of the way interpretive claims are justified within it.

Argument from Precedent in Legal Interpretation from the Perspective of the Derivational Conception

Agnieszka Choduń · Issue 3(32)/2022

Can precedent serve as an interpretive argument in a legal culture where it is not a source of law? An answer from the derivational perspective.

Reconstructing Constitutive Rules from Legislative Acts: The Example of Pardon

Karolina Gmerek · Issue 1(46)/2026

An application of the derivational apparatus to reconstructing from a legal text the constitutive rule of a legal conventional act.

See also the Legal Interpretation and Conventionalism and Constitutive Rules collections.

Zygmunt Ziembiński (1920–1996) – Polish legal theorist and philosopher, co-founder of the Poznań school of analytical legal theory. He laid the foundations of the Polish theory of norms of conduct, the logic of norms and the methodology of legal science; his work still shapes the language in which Polish legal theory speaks about norms and rules.

Texts in the „Archive”

Theory of Law and the Challenges of Analytical Pragmatism

Maciej Dybowski · Issue 1(14)/2016

A metatheoretical reflection on the practice of legal theory within the classical project of analysis – a tradition of which Ziembiński was one of the pillars.

Postpositivism on the Trail of the Holy Grail? A Reply to Tomasz Pietrzykowski’s Criticism

Andrzej Grabowski · Issue 1(1)/2010 (in Polish)

A polemic on the limits of positivism and „postpositivism” in Polish legal theory – a continuation of disputes growing out of the analytical tradition Ziembiński helped to create.

See also the Principles of Law and Legal Interpretation collections.

The thematic collections of the “Archive of Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy” organise our output around the great questions of legal theory and philosophy. Each joins a substantive introduction with a selection of texts published in the journal; all are available free of charge in open access.

Guide to the classics

• Classics of Legal Theory and Philosophy – We present the scholars from Poland and around the world who shaped legal theory and philosophy, and point to the texts devoted to them.

Currents and positions

• Legal Positivism – We show how Austin, Kelsen, Hart and Raz argue about the nature of law – and how their critics reply.
• Natural Law – We trace the oldest tradition of legal philosophy and its contemporary readings.
• Conventionalism and Constitutive Rules – We ask how rules constitute conventional acts in law and whether law rests on social convention.
• Principles of Law – We ask what the notion of a legal principle means and what role principles play in the legal system and in legal argument.
• Ius and Lex – On the Concept of Law – We take on the oldest question of legal philosophy: what law actually is, and how ius differs from lex.

Interpretation, values and practice

• Legal Interpretation – We show how the meaning of a legal text is established and where interpretation reaches its limits.
• Aesthetics of Law – We explore the links between law and beauty – a recognisable Polish speciality.
• Law and Morality – We ask how law is bound up with morality and with the ethics of the legal profession.
• Instrumentalization and the Autonomy of Law – We weigh the tension between law as an instrument of politics and its autonomy.
• Rationality – We ask what lies behind the assumption of a rational legislator and how rationality in law is to be understood.

For authors

Planning a text within one of these areas? The “Archive” publishes articles in legal theory and philosophy in Polish and English, in open access with no publication charges and with double-blind peer review; indexed in Scopus, DOAJ and ERIH PLUS (100 points on the Polish ministerial list). See the guidelines for authors.

A thematic collection of the “Archive of Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy”. Texts on the tension between treating law as an instrument of politics and its autonomy. All articles are available free of charge in open access.

Between instrument and autonomy

Law is often used as an instrument for pursuing political goals – from social engineering to politics of memory – while at the same time its claim to autonomy from current politics belongs to the core of the ideal of the rule of law. The boundary between the legitimate instrumentality of law and an instrumentalization that undermines trust and predictability has become one of the central themes of legal theory – discussed in Poland with particular intensity in the context of the constitutional crisis.

Selected texts

• Nomos podatków globalnych – szkic problemu – Krzysztof Lipka, No. 2(47)/2026 (in Polish)
• Instrumentalizacja prawa a kryzys konstytucyjny – Marcin Romanowicz, No. 1(30)/2022 (in Polish)
• Instrumentalizacja prawa w kontekście polityk pamięci w Europie Środkowej i Wschodniej po 1989 roku – Filip Cyuńczyk, No. 3(21)/2019 (in Polish)

See also

Law and Morality · Classics of Modern Legal Philosophy and Theory · Legal Interpretation.

For authors

The “Archive” publishes articles in legal theory and philosophy – including the rule of law and the relations between law and politics – in Polish and English, in open access with no publication charges and with double-blind peer review. The journal is indexed in Scopus, DOAJ and ERIH PLUS (100 points on the Polish ministerial list). See the guidelines for authors.

An editorial collection, to be extended as older texts are tagged. Last updated: July 2026.

ARTICLES

Dr Paweł Jabłoński
Prof. dr hab. Przemysław Kaczmarek
Dr Mateusz Wojtanowski
Freedom of Speech of an Academic Teacher: Some Conceptual Clarifications and a Landscape of Challenges 

Mgr Ewa Ilczuk
Mgr Andrzej Porębski
Freedom of Academic Debate: For All or for the Chosen Ones? Students’ Attitudes Towards Freedom of Speech Limits for Academics

Dr Muhammet Koçakgöl
Dr Olcay Karacan
Between Protection and Restriction: Academic Freedom in the Case Law Of Turkish Administrative Courts Through the Lens of Frederick Schauer

Dr hab. Sławomir Tkacz, prof. UŚ
Dr hab. Aleksandra Wentkowska, prof. UŚ
The Academic Teacher in Times of Rule of Law Crisis. The Dynamics and Prospects, on the Example of Academic Lawyer Teachers

Dr Jakub Łakomy
Academic Freedom on the Frontlines of Culture Wars: Stanley Fish and the Freedom of Expression of a University Teacher

Dr Paweł Jabłoński
On Academic Freedom. Commentary on Ronald Dworkin’s Approach 

Mgr Przemysław Rybiński
No Thoughts Barred: In Defence of (Nearly) Absolute Academic Freedom

REPORTS

Dr Paulina Łabieniec
Mgr Paweł Boike
3rd Mountain Trek-Conference on the Philosophy of Law of the Polish Section of IVR “Sawa Frydman’s theory of legal interpretation”, Międzygórze, 15–18 May 2025

Dr Patryk Patoleta
Report on the conference “Social Changes and Legal Changes: Axiology, Constitution, European Integration”, Faculty of Law and Administration, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, 23–25 September 2024

I. MARXIST APPROACHES TO LAW IN TIMES OF THE POLISH PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC AND THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF LAW IN THE FACE OF TOTALITARIANISM

Dr hab. Joanna Helios, prof. UWr
Dr hab. Wioletta Jedlecka, prof. UWr
The influence of Marxism on the interpretation of law in Poland (some remarks concerning the theory of legal interpretation by Jerzy Wroblewski)

Dr hab. Martyna Łaszewska-Hellriegel, prof. UZ
Animal welfare under socialism: Anthropocentrism, instrumentalization, and ideology in the GDR

Dr hab. Sławomir Tkacz, prof. UŚ
Dr hab. Aleksandra Wentkowska, prof. UŚ
On the threats to democracy and the rule of law: The philosophy of total states in the views of Szymon Rundstein and Maciej Starzewski

II. CRIMINAL-LAW SETTLING OF ACCOUNTS WITH COMMUNISM

Mgr Przemysław Pasierb
The establishment of the Institute of National Remembrance as the authority responsible for prosecuting communist and Nazi crimes: An analysis of the efficiency of the IPN Act

Prof. dr hab. Adam Bosiacki
Attempts to punish communist crimes throughout history: Failures and successes

Dr hab. Dominik Bierecki, prof. UP w Słupsku
The notion of activities for the independent existence of the Polish State on the basis of the so-called February Act

Dr Marek Derlatka
Denying communist crimes: Selected problems

Mgr Kamil Słomiński
Criminalization of communist propaganda in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of the Second Republic of Poland

III. SYSTEMIC CRIME FROM THE POINTS OF VIEW OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND PHILOSOPHY AND THEORY OF LAW

Prof. dr hab. Jacek Sobczak
Dr hab. Ksenia Kakareko, prof. UW
Dr hab. Maria Gołda-Sobczak, prof. UAM
The forgotten genocide: Extermination of the Crimean Tatars

Dr hab. Christoph-Eric Mecke, prof. UZ
Finding legal approaches to dealing with the past after the fall of communism from the perspective of legal theory and comparative law

Dr Kajetan Górny
Evaluation of the protests in Radom in 1976 from the perspective of Law & Economics

Articles:

Dr Michał JANOWSKI

Incoherence of Judges’ Decisions on Punishments. Presentation of the Results of an Experiment Conducted with Professional Criminal Judges Using the Method Developed by Daniel Kahneman, Cass Sunstein, David Schkade and Ilana Ritov

Dr hab. Milena KORYCKA-ZIRK, prof. UMK

William David Ross’s prima facie duties vis-à-vis Ronald Dworkin’s principles of law

Prof. dr hab. Beata POLANOWSKA-SYGULSKA

Around Selected Themes in the Moral Philosophy of Joseph Raz. Part II

Natalia Regina SKOCZYLAS, Dr Mateusz WOJTANOWSKI

Gustav Klimt’s Jurisprudence and the Problem of the Scale of Claims on the Law

Prof. dr hab. Marek SMOLAK

The Constitutive and Conventional Nature of Legal Interpretation Directives

Dr hab. Tomasz SROGOSZ, prof. UKEN

Critical Approaches to International Law According to China Miéville and Bhupinder S. Chimni

Dr hab. Adam ZIENKIEWICZ, prof. UWM

The Judge as a Promoter of Peace

Dr Jakub ŁAKOMY

The Professor, the Political Activist, and the Professional on the Tightropes of Culture Wars: Stanley Fish’s Versions of Academic Freedom

Reviews:

Prof. dr hab. Tomasz PIETRZYKOWSKI

A central trend of the 21st century? Side-notes on works by Stephen E. Hanson and Jeffrey S. Kopstein, An Assault on the State. How the Global Attack on Modern Government Endangers Our Future (Polity Press, Hoboken NJ, 2024) and Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, Ungoverning. An Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos (Princeton University Press, Princeton – Oxford 2024)

Prof. dr hab. Marek ZIRK-SADOWSKI

Karol Gregorczuk, Biobankowanie ludzkiego materiału biologicznego. Spór o model racjonalnego prawa w badaniach biomedycznych [Biobanking of human biological material. The dispute about the rational-legal model in biomedical research], Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego, Gdańsk 2024, pp. 387

Reports:

Dr hab. Katarzyna JAWORSKA-BISKUP

Debate “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. On emotions in law and literature”, Szczecin, 10 December 2024

Dr Mateusz PĘKALA

2nd Mountain Trek-Conference on the Philosophy of Law of the Polish Section of IVR “Legal education crisis”, Silesian Beskids, 4–6 October 2024