Abstract This article discusses the exemption from the remainder of the penalty of limitation of liberty (non-custodial penalty) under Article 83 of the Penal Code, a legal institution that plays a significant role in criminal policy. It is intended to encourage convicted persons to comply with the law not only during the execution of the penalty but also after exemption, once part of the penalty has been served. However, this objective may not always be achieved due to the absence of additional instruments for influencing the conduct of convicted persons following exemption. The definitive nature of exemption, which precludes any further action in the event of a violation of the legal order by the exempted person, has led to a de lege ferenda proposal to make this institution conditional. The article analyses the purpose and legal nature of exemption, the conditions for its application (serving part of the sentence, compliance with the legal order, fulfilment of obligations imposed on the convicted person, penal measures, compensatory measures, and forfeiture), the sentencing procedure, and the consequences of exemption leading to recognition of the sentence as served.

Abstract The article is of a scientific and research-based nature. It analyses the transparency of disciplinary proceedings against academic teachers, which are conducted under the Act on Higher Education and Science. The article examines issues of transparency in light of the provisions of that Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Act on Access to Public Information. The research objective was clear: to determine whether persons not involved in disciplinary proceedings (namely the accused, their defence counsel, or the disciplinary advocate) may request access to the records of such proceedings (in whole or in part), or seek information from them other than official documents, under the Act on Access to Public Information. The analysis covered the regulations concerning the parties to disciplinary proceedings contained in the Higher Education and Science Act, the 2022 Implementing Regulation governing disciplinary procedures, and the Code provisions applicable to disciplinary matters. The rules concerning access to public information were also analysed, both in normative terms and in light of administrative court rulings. The research employed the dogmatic method, and its findings are original and significant for both legal scholarship and practice. The study has conclusively demonstrated that information from disciplinary proceedings involving academic teachers, as well as the files of such proceedings, although considered public information, are not subject to disclosure to persons requesting access under the Act on Access to Public Information. This is because a special regulation – namely the appropriate application, under Article 305 of the Higher Education and Science Act, of Article 156 § 1 of that Code – excludes such applicants, until the conclusion of the disciplinary proceedings, from the group of persons who, under the current legal framework, have access to disciplinary files.

Abstract The article discusses deputies’ information-related rights and obligations. It also analyses administrative courts’ judgments in cases concerning access to public information, in which deputies were requesters or addressees of requests. Administrative courts admit the possibility of exercising the right of access to public information by deputies, but without invoking the performance of the mandate. At the same time, deputies are not classified as entities obliged to provide public information. The article presents two theses. Firstly, deputies may exercise their right of access to public information, revealing their special status. Secondly, deputies are entities obliged to provide public information, because they exercise public authority, perform public tasks and manage public property. The theses are justified by the linguistic and functional interpretation of constitutional provisions, as well as the Act on Access to Public Information and the Act on the Performance of the Mandate of the Deputy and the Senator. The paper uses the method of dogmatic and legal analysis and the analysis of Polish administrative courts’ case law, and it presents de lege lata comments and de lege ferenda proposals.

Abstract The legislatively complex fate of Polish criminal law, including criminal procedure, over the last ten years, as well as the currently open prospect of further reforms in this area, prompts one to reflect from a distance on how these multidirectional changes position themselves within the broader trends in the development of the criminal process worldwide, and to what extent the Polish criminal process is in fact being ‘modernised’ in its essence, rather than merely ‘modernised’ in a technological sense. This reflection leads to the question of how these ‘modernisations’, regardless of their level, relate to the functioning of the Polish criminal process in the postmodern era and whether postmodernism, as an intellectual current, can offer something to the criminal process, especially in the area of the problems that trouble it and require urgent solution. What emerges from the analysis is a picture of legislative randomness and impermanence of changes, and the covering of what is obsolete in Polish criminal procedure with technological novelties in its organisational layer. For this reason, it is vital to urgently discuss the reformist demands being made for criminal procedure – so that they do not remain purely academic considerations, but are translated into real changes to the law and social practices constituting the criminal process.

Abstract The article analyses a new regulation in Polish criminal procedure. The Act of 14 April 2023, amending the Code of Criminal Procedure introduced a new right for the suspect, i.e. the possibility of the presence of a legal representative, actual guardian, or a person indicated by a minor suspect during a procedural act in preparatory proceedings involving the suspect. That person shall have the status of a third party who, although not usually a party to the proceedings, functions as a special person of trust. Despite some reservations concerning certain elements of this regulation, it deserves appreciation, as it is aimed at strengthening the protection of the suspect’s interests and guaranteeing the proper conduct of procedural acts.

Abstract The present study focuses on issues relating to continuity of the executive branch of commune self-government following expiry of the mayor’s mandate. It is an original scientific article that aims to answer the question of whether the regulations currently in force sufficiently safeguard the principle of continuity of the executive branch of commune self-government. It is hypothesised that, unfortunately, the legislature has not ensured preservation of this principle in every case. To confirm this hypothesis, it was necessary to thoroughly analyse the provisions not only of the Act on the Commune Self-Government but also of the Constitution and the other two acts governing the local self-government system (the legal-dogmatic method). Since, in practice, this gap creates very serious difficulties in the functioning of communes, the study does not merely answer the above question but also proposes and discusses possible legislative amendments to guarantee continuity of the executive branch of commune self-government in every case.

Abstract This article e xamines the issue of preventing the abuse of the right to a court. The author highlights that the phenomenon of abusing this right and the measures to prevent it have accompanied the development of law and legal regulations since ancient times. The article explores the abuse of the right to a court in relation to the Roman sacramentum and discusses the essence of contemporary SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) along with methods of counteracting them. Sacramentum was a procedural law institution with deep roots in the religious tradition of ancient Rome and significant symbolic meaning, whereas SLAPPs represent a modern, undesirable phenomenon linked to procedural and financial aspects of the legal system. The article also examines the relationships, similarities, and differences between the ancient Roman sacramentum and modern SLAPPs and attempts to answer the question whether an equivalent of the Roman sacramentum could effectively curb contemporary SLAPPs.

Abstract This study attempts to answer the question whether the assumptions and expectations of the legislators, as expressed in the 2015 amendment to criminal law concerning the penalty of restriction of liberty, have been fulfilled in judicial practice. Based on the analysis, it appears that the main goal of the reform has been achieved: namely, a significant reduction in the adjudication of the penalty of restriction of liberty with conditional suspension of execution in favour of non-custodial penalties. Consequently, the role of the penalty of restriction of liberty in criminal policy has significantly expanded; however, these changes have also had a negative outcome by increasing the use of unconditional imprisonment. This indicates that for some offenders, limiting the application of conditional suspension of penalty execution has led to a rise in the frequency of unconditional imprisonment. When analysing issues related to the adjudication and execution of the penalty of restriction of liberty, particular attention was drawn to the importance of accurately selecting this penalty in the form of an obligation to perform unpaid, supervised community service in specific cases, and the non-compliance in practice with the directive in Article 58 § 2a of the Polish Criminal Code. This led to an increase in the number of substitute imprisonment penalties ordered in place of the restriction of liberty penalty. Additionally, based on established data, serious concerns arise regarding the effectiveness of the penalty of restriction of liberty, as measured by recidivism rates. This is because it brings the penalty of restriction of liberty closer in effectiveness to unconditional imprisonment and significantly deviates from the effectiveness of other non-custodial penalties and measures.

Abstract On 1 January 2024, a new support scheme for persons with disabilities and their carers entered into force. New solutions in this regard were included in the Act of 7 July 2023 on the Support Benefit, which introduced a new benefit directly for persons with disabilities and significantly modified the catalogue of benefits available to their carers. The provisions of this Act also altered the nature of the care benefit, which, until that time, had provided compensation to carers of persons with disabilities for not being able to undertake gainful activity. At the same time the legislator, subject to certain conditions, allowed for the possibility of establishing the right to the care benefit under the terms in force until 31 December 2023. This study analyses the normative regulations applicable to acquiring the right to the care benefit after 1 January 2024, based on the regulations in force until 31 December 2023.

Abstract Effective protection of environmental resources is not possible without the use of instruments typical of financial law. This requires the use of public funds from the State and local governments, which are collected and spent in the manner prescribed by law. The Environmental Protection Law regulates the various legal-financial instruments used to fulfil this protective purpose. It also contains a provision defining what financial-legal measures are in terms of this Act. However, the legal definition is formulated in a way that raises numerous drafting and interpretative doubts. This article aims to demonstrate the accuracy of the thesis that there are defects in the statutory definition of legal and financial measures for environmental protection.