<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The purpose of the article is to analyse possible grounds, within the criminal sphere, for legalisation of behaviour involving damage to someone else’s property motivated by the desire to save a child or an animal left in a locked warming car. It is quite common to treat this type of event as one matching the features of the state of superior necessity. However, such an approach may raise some doubts of a dogmatic nature. From the point of view of the statutory shape of the existing countertypes, one can look for the possibility of assuming in such cases (when the owner of the damaged property and the perpetrator of leaving a living creature in such conditions is the same person) the occurrence of an assault justifying, after meeting all the required conditions in the form of directness, lawlessness and reality, taking steps within the right to necessary defence. The adoption of such a concept has its own tangible practical significance, as it makes it unnecessary to refer to the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality, which guarantees broader protection from criminal liability for those who damage other people’s property in order to take out a living creature left in a locked car in a situation of danger to its life or health.
</abstract>

Breaking a Car Window to Rescue a Child or Animal Locked Inside: A Dogmatic Analysis of the Legal Grounds for Excluding Criminal Liability

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Summary</title>
The article discusses the statutory features of the offence of incest in the Polish Penal Code from 1997 (Article 201) and the results of empirical research carried out. Doubts were raised in doctrine about the rationalization of the prohibition of incest and the definition of the object of protection of this crime. The conduct that constitutes the actus reus as well as the subject and the subjective side of the offence of incest were also analysed. The research material was the files of cases under Article 201 of the Penal Code registered in all public prosecutor’s offices in Poland in 2013–2014 (389 cases). Research was intended to was primarily to identify the criminological picture of the offence of incest and its scale compared to total crime figures in Poland and the policy of punishing. The next aim of the research was to characterise the families, in which incestuous acts took place, and thus to answer the key questions in this context: whether incest is a factor determining the so-called family pathology or maybe it is a phenomenon conditioned by it and whether it occurs spontaneously or is connected with sexual violence in the family. The results of the research show that the so-called “regular incest” (voluntary on both sides), qualified only under Article 201 of the Polish Penal Code, is relatively rare in the practice of the judiciary. Most cases of incestuous sexual relations were combined with the crime type of sexual abuse of a minor or rape. These results seem to confirm the thesis that incest is rarely the only committed offence, but is most often related to domestic sexual violence. They also support the thesis that incest is a phenomenon conditioned by already existing family dysfunctionality, not its cause.
</abstract>

Incest. Penal-Law and Criminological Aspects

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
This article discusses the issue of so-called forced marriages, the criminalisation of which was introduced into Polish criminal legislation by the Act of 13 January 2023 amending the Code of Civil Procedure and some other acts. Introducing the provisions of Article 191b into the Criminal Code aims to fulfil the obligation arising from Article 37 of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence of 11 May 2011 (Journal of Laws of 2015, item 961). In addition to outlining the statutory features of new types of crimes, the article addresses issues such as criminal liability, the concurrence of regulations, and the issue of the so-called cultural defence.
</abstract>

Criminalisation of the So-Called Forced Marriage in the Polish Criminal Law

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Labour compliance is essential to protect workers’ rights and promote sustainable, responsible and effective business development. It necessitates continuous preparation of preventive compliance reports on occupational risks, usually requiring studies and their timely updates, risk analysis, training-oriented resource management, and training of workers and managers. Greater self-regulation, such as compliance, can help mitigate risk of penal sanctions for individuals who fail to comply with risk prevention regulations, seriously endangering health and safety at work. A robust and effective compliance programme in this area aims to ensure legal and contractual obligations are met, particularly with respect to protecting the life and health of workers. Compliance can also bolster company success, minimise reputational damage for corporations, avoid payment of hefty fines and suspension of permits and licenses that would halt operations, among others.
</abstract>

Compliance and its Contributions to Safety at Work

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The article, original in nature, was devoted to the issue of awards and prizes for e-sports players. The motivational financial instruments in question are regulated in the Sports Law, specifically in Article 31. The author has attempted to solve the legal problem of finding an answer to the question of the legal possibility for municipalities to establish and finance prizes and awards for e-sports players under Article 31 of the Sports Law. Due to the singular and causal works in the field of e-sports funding, which do not address the issue of establishing and funding prizes and awards for e-sports players under Article 31 of the Sports Act, the elaboration of this issue within the framework of the article will, in the author’s opinion, undoubtedly enrich the current literature on the subject.
The introductory considerations focus on presenting the essence of the definition of sport and attempt to qualify e-sports as a sport under the Sports Act, which is significant for the possibility of local authorities establishing prizes and awards. The key views of the literature, judicial decisions, and the state of the law in this area were presented. Investigations in this area have led to the conclusion that, with a few reservations, it is possible to qualify e-sport as a sport. Subsequently, the focus was on the legal aspects concerning the possibility for municipalities to establish and finance prizes and awards for e-sports players. The problem concerning the understanding of competition under the Sports Act was resolved, and it was pointed out that e-sports players, despite the lack of a Polish e-sports association, can participate in sports competitions under the Sports Act. In addition, the problematic premise concerning the importance of a given sport for a local authority has been clarified. The final considerations in this area have allowed <italic>de lege ferenda</italic> postulates to be formulated.
The analysis is based on legal norms and statements of doctrine and jurisprudence. The article contains considerations concerning the normative and dogmatic sphere as well as the sphere of law application by administrative courts. The research has a national character. In this article, the dogmatic-legal method has been applied, consisting of the analysis of legal regulations on the establishment and financing of awards and prizes for players of electronic sports.
The subject matter discussed is divided into several main editorial units. The different parts correspond to the main outline of the problem and its relation to important scientific and practical issues.
</abstract>

Permission for Municipalities to Establish and Finance Prizes and Awards for Athletes in Electronic Sports

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In its judgment of 21 October 2022, III OSK 4468/21, the Supreme Administrative Court considered that a foundation is obliged to provide public information because, in accordance with Article 1 of the Act on Foundations, it should accomplish socially and economically useful objectives that comply with the interests of the Republic of Poland. These are objectives that should also be accomplished by public administration; thus, they are, in fact, the State’s objectives. In such a situation, the Court decided that the informative obligation of foundations that are not public law entities applies, in fact, to every aspect of their activities. This should be recognised as correct, because the constitution-maker specified in Article 61(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland a very broad range of entities obliged to provide public information, ensuring that every field of the State’s activity is transparent.
</abstract>

Gloss on the Judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court of 21 October 2022, III OSK 4468/21<xref ref-type="fn" rid="j_in-2024-0009_fn_001">1</xref> (Concerning the Provision of Public Information by a Foundation)

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The authors of this publication have explored the importance of justifying fear and agitation underpinning the transgression of necessary self-defence. According to Article 25 § 2 and 3 of the Criminal Code, they identified five scenarios, differing in how a perpetrator’s mental state is determined, affecting the criminal law consequences of unlawfully infringing on or exposing the aggressor’s legal interests. The authors validated the preliminary hypothesis that the legislator assumed legitimate self-defence excess results from fear or agitation due to the circumstances of the assault, necessitating procedural confirmation. Their occurrence leads to the defender’s impunity, regardless of the type of legal interests infringed and the extent of legitimate self-defence excess. A shortfall in the mental state circumstances of a defender, as referred to in Article 25 § 3 of the Criminal Code in a specific factual state, opens the possibility of applying a general, complementary provision, i.e., Article 25 § 2.
</abstract>

Fear and Agitation as the Normative Elements of Legitimate Self-Defence Excess

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The text analyses normative solutions concerning the right to defence in Polish proceedings in cases of offences. It discusses the formation of selected elements of the right to defence, from the pre-war solutions to modern times. The author highlights the autonomy of the solutions in force in the 2001 Code of Proceedings in Misdemeanour Cases, and their similarities to the right to defence in criminal cases, constituting the most comprehensive model of this right.
</abstract>

Formation of Some Elements of the Right to Defence in Misdemeanour Proceedings

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The subject of this study is the criminal law issue of exploiting prostitution practised by humanoid robots. Interest in this issue stems from two main reasons. Firstly, the development of new technologies, including artificial intelligence capable of self-education, analysis of the surrounding reality, and decision-making necessitates the consideration of its legal subjectivity. Secondly, the emergence of brothels employing humanoid robots prompts reflection on the criminal responsibility of those who benefit from the prostitution facilitated by them. This article aims to highlight the phenomenon of using humanoid robots in prostitution, offer a criminal law assessment of such behaviour from the perspective of Polish criminal law, and suggest the direction for the development of domestic criminal law to accommodate this phenomenon in the future. Additionally, it addresses the issue of criminal liability for harm caused by a humanoid robot equipped with artificial intelligence while providing sexual services. The article predominantly employs the dogmatic-legal method, performing an exegesis of the provisions of Article 204 of the Criminal Code in the context of the issue signalled. The analyses have concluded that this norm does not encompass in which the perpetrator facilitates, induces prostitution of a humanoid robot or derives financial benefits from such activities, despite such behaviour being detrimental to morality, the fundamental good protected under Article 204 of the Criminal Code. <italic>De lege lata</italic>, a humanoid robot may also not be subject to criminal liability if it harms a person using its sexual services, as such an ‘essence’ does not align with the current structure of crime and the concept of criminal punishment. However, the liability of manufacturers or users of such devices is not ruled out. It should be noted that as humanoid robots become more autonomous, holding producers or users criminally liable for damages they cause becomes less justifiable, and the applicability of artificial intelligence liability similar to the criminal liability of legal persons becomes more relevant.
</abstract>

Criminal Law Assessments of the Exploitation of Prostitution Practised by Humanoid Robots

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
This article aims to delineate the boundaries of the evidence initiative of the Court of the First Instance, which bears the responsibility to fulfil the goals of criminal proceedings, as outlined in Article 2 § 1 item 1 and § 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, from the perspective of evidence reliability, an essential component of the fair criminal trial concept. The court’s evidentiary actions were thus examined through the lens of requirements stemming from Article 6(1) and (3) of the ECHR, especially the principles of independence, impartiality, adversarial process, immediacy, and access to criminal proceeding materials. The article adopts a dogmatic approach, building on an analysis of current national legal standards and the Rome Convention’s provisions, viewed through doctrine and jurisprudence of national courts and the Court in Strasbourg. This makes the publication relevant for both legal scholars and practitioners involved in criminal proceedings. The analysis suggests that the court’s initiative to introduce evidence, its methods of evidence gathering, and access to collected materials during proceedings must not curtail the rights of the parties, especially the accused, to conduct their evidentiary activities. Depriving the court of the primacy of independence and impartiality, restricting the parties’ capacity to engage in dispute in favour of an inquisitorial jurisdictional body violates the right to fair evidentiary proceedings. The court, in safeguarding the principle of material truth, must remember its role as a justice administrator and balance all arguments accordingly. Seeking evidence solely to establish the accused’s guilt contradicts the procedural function of adjudication and compromises the court’s neutrality, making it an extension of the prosecution. Hence, a thorough elucidation of case circumstances by the court should not disempower the parties, particularly regarding their initiative to present evidence.
</abstract>

Limits of the Evidence Initiative of the Court of First Instance and the Reliable Evidence Procedure

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The aim of this article is to determine the status of citizen’s rights to ‘a clean environment’ and their obligations towards the environment under sustainable development conditions, considering international and domestic regulations. It analyses three interlinked aspects: human rights to a clean environment, obligations of citizens and public authorities towards the environment, and environmental protection in accordance with the principle of sustainable development. Human rights to ‘a clean environment’ are enshrined in the Constitution, drawing on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Rio de Janeiro ‘Environment and Development’ Declaration. These rights are implemented by public authorities through ensuring ecological safety and the use and protection of environmental resources, adhering to the sustainable development principle. In addition every citizen has obligations towards the environment, because he should take care of environmental resources and use them in accordance with the principles of environmental protection law. The analysis of legal doctrine and legislation highlights a clear relationship between the necessity for public authorities to ensure constitutional rights to a ‘clean environment’ and their obligations towards the environment through the protection of environmental resources in line with the sustainable development principle. This entails balancing the human right to a ‘clean environment’ against the environmental right to the continuity and sustainability of resources (natural balance), while also ensuring economic growth. An example of these principles in action is Agenda 2030, currently being implemented in Poland and other EU Member States.
</abstract>

Constitutional Rights and Obligations of Citizens Towards the Environment Under the Conditions of Sustainable Development

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The glossed ruling covers two key issues concerning the application of the autonomous and comprehensive rules of the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data applied by organisational units of the Catholic Church in the territory of the Republic of Poland. The first issue concerns the possibility of further application of these autonomous, comprehensive rules after the GDPR came into force. The second issue concerns the ability to designate and grant a legal status to an independent separate supervisory authority: the Ecclesiastical Data Protection Officer. Approving the stance presented in the ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court, the gloss presents arguments confirming the fact that when the GDPR came into force, a regulation concerning the processing of personal data existed in the Catholic Church (it was primarily contained in the standards of the Code of Canon Law of 1983), which the Catholic Church, by the time specified in Article 91(1) GDPR, harmonised with the provisions of that legal act. Moreover, the mode of operation, the manner of designating or dismissing the Ecclesiastical Data Protection Officer does not have to be derived from the universally binding law. It may arise from the internal law of the Catholic Church, provided that the requirements laid down in Chapter VI GDPR, i.e. independence, fulfilment of general conditions concerning data protection supervisory authorities, secrecy, performance of tasks and exercise of the powers laid down in the GDPR (relevant competences), are met. This argument originates from the principle of autonomy and independence of churches and other religious organisations, guaranteed by the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The reasoning is also confirmed in recital 165 of the GDPR preamble, which states that “This Regulation respects and does not prejudice the status under the constitutional law of churches and associations or religious communities in the Member States, as recognised in Article 17 TFEU”.
</abstract>

Gloss on the Ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court of 25 May 2022, Case Reference Number III OSK 2273/21

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The article explores the issue of reconstructed families, focusing specifically on the roles of individual family members and the processes that occur within such families. Due to the complexity of the above processes, the article concentrates on the deliberations about the stepparent’s upbringing process towards the stepchild, determining its content, scope and role. The article analyses of the stepparent’s duty towards the stepchild, highlighting its normative sources, and assesses this duty in relation to the parental authority of the spouse and the parental authority of the other biological parent outside the reconstructed family. The deliberations presented in the article aim to support the primary thesis of the article that in order for the foster parent’s current custody of the child to be effective, the stepparent’s situation in terms of upbringing obligation should be made independent of the biological parent’ situation, which stems from their parental authority. The article proposes introducing for example, an institution of the so-called “adoptive parent’s care” that would encompass some rights and obligations typical of parental authority and independent of the parental authority of the child’s biological parent. This could serve as an equivalent to the concept of parental responsibility found in English law.
</abstract>

Stepparents’ Upbringing Obligation Towards their Stepchildren

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The Act on supporting households in bearing the costs related to the change of the digital terrestrial television broadcasting standard was passed by the government on February 24, 2022, and a month later, on March 23, 2022, it was amended, because it became necessary to clarify the issue of the circle of people entitled to receive state support, which is absolutely fundamental from the point of view of this act. The content of the article will therefore be to determine the content of the normative set by interpreting the regulations of the aforementioned Act, so it takes into account all functional relationships of the standards under study and is based on all available sources of information. At the same time, when analysing statutory regulations, the author will reflect on their compliance with the principle of specificity of law, interpreted by the Constitutional Tribunal from the constitutional principle of a democratic state ruled by law.
</abstract>

Support for Households Due to the Change in the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Standard – An Attempt to Evaluate the Adopted Normative Solutions

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The aim of the paper is to analyse how the term ‘appellate measure’ is interpreted in the Polish doctrine of criminal procedure law and, in particular, to assess the accuracy of the assumption that the possibility of recognising a particular means of indictment of a decision as an appellate measure is determined by its normative features. Based on the analysis of the characteristic features of each means of indictment of a decision, an attempt is made to demonstrate that this assumption may be regarded as incorrect. It is suggested that the previous definition of an appellate measure be revised, and recognise that this concept is purely of a conventional (traditional) nature, which means that the possibility of classifying a particular means of indictment of a decision as an appellate measure should not depend on its nature or similarity to other legal measures considered as means of indictment of a decision.
</abstract>

On the Concept of an Appellate Measure in a Criminal Proceeding

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The paper discusses with the crime of rehabilitation of Nazism contained in the 1996 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It presents the rationale for its introduction into the legislation, the scope of the legal regulation, and its evaluation in terms of its content and edition. For the purpose of the publication, research questions were posed, the answers to which demonstrated the political and populist nature of the regulation and its imprecise casuistic approach, which brings few benefits to Russia’s criminal policy.
</abstract>

Rehabilitation of Nazism as a Crime in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

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Ius Novum

The Journal of Lazarski University in Warsaw

Ius Novum is an all-Poland scientific journal that presents analytical articles on the science of law, with focus on Central and Eastern European countries. The journal covers a range of...

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Ius Novum is an all-Poland scientific journal that presents analytical articles on the science of law, with focus on Central and Eastern European...