general clause

Normative and Situationist Conception of General Clause of the Principles of Community Coexistence

Prof. dr hab. Józef NOWACKI (1923–2005)

University of Silesia in Katowice

English abstract: Polish law uses the general clause of the principles of community coexistence. In the legal literature, the concept of principles of social coexistence is understood in various ways. Some people understand the principles of social coexistence in a normative way, associating with them a set of norms to which these clauses refer. Others perceive them situationistically, which means the right to make an assessment in a particular case under consideration. The author argues that the source of controversy in this regard is the unconscious adoption of different understandings of morality. Due to this, the use of each of these understandings (normative and situationist) is legitimate in equall way. For this reason, disputes about the normative and situationist understanding of the principles of social coexistence are empirically unsolvable.

Keywords: Józef Nowacki, general clause, situationalist and normativist conception, the principles of community co-existence

Language: Polish

Published: Number 3(36)/2023, s. 9-21.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2023.3.9

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This text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial – No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Situationist and Normative Concepts of General Clauses. Disputes About the Accuracy of Two Approaches to General Clauses in the Light of Józef Nowacki’s Views

Prof. UŚ dr hab. Sławomir TKACZ

University of Silesia in Katowice

English abstract: The aim of the study is to analyse Józef Nowacki’s views on the characteristics of general clauses. The author focuses on the most important issues that are the subject of disputes in legal scholarship. In particular, the subject of considerations is the situationist and normative concepts of general clauses as these concepts are understood by Józef Nowacki. In the first part of considerations, the author addresses the issue of vagueness (fuzziness) of general clauses. The main part of the considerations relates to the understanding of general clauses as references in the light of their situationist and normative understanding. In the last part of the considerations, the author analyses the problem of the objects to which general clauses refer. In the light of the presented considerations, the general conclusion is that each general clause may be applied in a situationist or normative manner. In the latter case, we can speak of a reference to a certain set of norms. It is also appropriate to speak about nontextual references. The proposed terminology is the result of the convention adopted by each individual author.

Keywords: Józef Nowacki, general clause, situationalist concept of general clauses, normative concept of general clauses, reference, legal requirement of evaluating

Language: Polish

Published: Number 3(36)/2023, s. 78-92.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2023.3.78

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Situationist and Normative Concepts of General Clauses. The Context of Differences and Common Grounds

Prof. dr hab. Leszek LESZCZYŃSKI

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin

English abstract: The purpose of the study is to analyse the concept of general clause formulated by Józef Nowacki in its basic form in the 1980s. It focuses on several issues that are most important for the shape of the concept. The first is the very notion of a clause as an indeterminate phrase that is part of a legal provision. It corresponds to the crucial components of the situationist concept of the clause – the negation of the referential character of clauses (reference to general norms or values) in favour of treating the clause as an imperative of evaluating, implemented by the law-applying entity in the form of concrete and situational evaluation. The analysis of Nowacki’s concept leads, in the final sections of the study, to a demonstration of its theoretical implications, which, although not within the mainstream, do not prevent the search for common grounds with the normative concept of the clause, negated by the author.

Keywords: general clause, situationist and normativist concepts, reference, imperative of evaluating, situational assessment

Language: Polish

Published: Number 3(36)/2023, s. 66-77.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2023.3.66

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Is “Public Interest” a Conceptual Category of Contemporary Polish Procedural Criminal Law?

Prof. dr hab. Hanna Paluszkiewicz

University of Zielona Góra

English abstract: This study aims at presenting conceptual category named “public interest” under the Polish procedural criminal law. The concept of “public interest”, which is the subject of this analysis, is treated as an indefinite term, functioning as a general clause, whose the task of which is to render a legal text more “flexible” by referring to a set of values outside of the system.

The term “public interest” is no longer used in the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The legislator still uses many other general clauses, including the “social interest” clause. The analysis of cases in which this clause is used shows that, in fact, these two conceptual categories may not be equated, should not be used interchangeably, and are not synonymous. Although the term “public interest” is no longer a statutory term under the Code of Criminal Procedure, given the fact that it expresses values such as respect for the law and the rule of law, it should be assumed that by proper shaping of the criminal trial model and ensuring that entities performing the role of public interest advocates participate in it, these values are – at least potentially – protected. State prosecutors, in their capacity of public interest advocates and in order to properly discharge their duty to uphold the rule of law, should maintain organizational independence and procedural impartiality.

Keywords: procedural criminal law, general clause, public interest, public interest advocate, social interest advocate, state prosecutor

Language: English

Published: Number 3(24)/2020, pp. 93-104.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2020.3.93

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Number of downloads: 315