AMU LAW BOOKS

ADAM MICKIEWICZ UNIVERSITY LAW BOOKS

Adam Mickiewicz University Law Books is a series of books authored by members of the staff and doctoral students of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, which are published in order to inform the public about the results of their studies and research carried out in international collaboration. Owing to their innovative nature, they confirm the potential of Polish science globally, while focusing on both, the practical and the theoretical aspect of various areas and braches of law.

Anna Musiała

Polish labour law and the Church’s social teaching. A legal and sociological study

Socio-political doctrines are of substantial significance in the law-making process. Referring to them brings order to the process of decoding the axiology of law. In the Polish cultural sphere, which is part of Western culture, it is the social doctrine of the Catholic Church that is fundamentally important; it is essentially the co-creator of the “system of European values.” But this doctrine is particularly interesting from the point of view of labour law, because in an extremely comprehensive and entirely clear way it indicates a defined and detailed model of how employment relations develop. Therefore, bearing in mind that the social doctrine of the Church in the Polish cultural sphere has considerable importance and its contribution to the development of labour law is indisputable, we must ask how it is reflected in Polish labour law. It is a question of examining the extent to which ideas stemming from Church doctrine are present in the current form of Polish labour law. Is it at all ”attractive” for the Polish employer? One might also inquire as to its potential “attractiveness” in the future, especially in the context of attempts made at codification. The research hypothesis comes down to showing that with regard to the significance of the Church’s social doctrine in the Polish cultural context the conceptual inspirations stemming from this doctrine can be sought out in Polish law-making. This seems particularly justified in terms of labour law, owing to the fact that this doctrine presents its vision for employment relations in a very complex way. 

Jacek Wiewiorowski

The Judiciary of Diocesan Vicars in the Later Roman Empire

The study focuses on vicars of dioceses (vicarius dioeceseos) of the Later Roman Empire and their judiciary capacity, which occupied one of the principal places in their duties. It is the first attempt to present the issue in scholarly research. The book covers the period from the establishment of dioceses under Diocletian (reigning 284–305) until the final abolishment of vicariates by Justinian I (reigning 527–565) and his further modifications of imperial administration introduced at a supra-provincial level. It concerns all dioceses of the Roman empire, excluding diocese administrators with special status: comes Orientis, praefectus Augustalis and vicars residing in Rome (especially vicarius urbis Romae). The author employs historical-legal methodology, consisting in an analysis of the judicature of diocesan vicars based on legal sources, supplemented by iconographic, literary and epigraphical sources, and prosopography. He draws on the conclusions resulting from the research of sociologists, sociobiologists, and particularly evolutionary psychologists, with regard to the mechanisms which exerted influence on the evolution of the judiciary of diocesan vicars.

Tomasz Nieborak

Creation and enforcement of financial market law in the light of the economisation of law

This book raises some topical issues around the creation and enforcement of financial market law through the prism of the economisation of law. Its topicality arises from the fact that today when everyday life is becoming financialized, or in other words, when the financial sphere is gradually taking it over, the role of the legislator in shaping market relationships must be redefined. This means that the specificity of the matter regulated (i.e. the financial market) must be taken into consideration in the law-making process because this market constitutes an element of a greater whole which, apart from the financial and the economic system, consists of the social system as well. This thesis has been confirmed in recent years when the crises in financial markets have shaken the foundations of global society. Thus the legislator as an architect of the surrounding reality must take into account other factors as well, such as economic or psychological, and not just legal ones. This thesis can be found in earlier publications as well, for example in the work of Leon Petrażycki, but there has been no attempt as yet to transfer it to laws regulating the functioning of the financial market and which the behavioral concept of law would help us to understand. This concept may in the near future be regarded as a new paradigm of financial market law.

Barbara Janusz-Pohl

Definitions and typologies of acts in criminal proceedings perspective of conventionalization and formalisation

This book is a summary of many years of research into acts in proceedings. The complete account of the research results has been published in Polish as “Formalizacja i konwencjonalizacja jako instrumenty analizy czynności karnoprocesowych w prawie polskim” by the Adam Mickiewicz University Press. “Definitions and typologies…” discusses the issues of typology and definition of acts in criminal proceedings approached as formalised legally-relevant conventional acts. The monograph is underpinned by detailed methodological and theory-of-law premises, making use of the conceptions of conventional acts and constitutive rules as well as some components of the conception of performative utterances. The monograph adheres to the integrating model of law studies whereby Polish criminal procedural law is only a point of reference, while the research results are applicable to other legal systems, in particular written law ones.

Andrzej Gomułowicz

Ethical issues in taxation

This monograph covers issues of law-maker’s ethics, tax bodies’ ethics and taxpayer ethics. This problem is analysed from theoretical as well as from dogmatic point of view and is accompanied by judicature of the Constitutional Tribunal and administrative judicature. This problem is crucial as it concerns lawmaking and the application of tax law at the same time. And not only does it have economic and social implications, which are dealt mainly by those who govern and the governed, but it influences different attitudes towards the idea of tax obligation. The taxpayer’s attitude towards the idea of tax obligation is a derivative of the process of tax lawmaking, especially of the fact that the legislator abides by the axiological values, those reflected in the Constitution. Essentially, it refers to justice in a material aspect, that is the authorities’ regard to the principle of equality and universality, and to procedural justice, which relates to the law-maker’s respect of the decent legislation. This is why the structure of this monograph leads the reader from biblical to modern times. The author analyses the conditions that shape the mentality of the tax law-maker, of the authorities that apply the tax law and of the taxpayer. It was necessary to indicate the relationship between ethical and economic limits of taxation. It was indicated that the limit of taxation power lies within the right of ownership. The legal protection of the taxpayer in administrative court proceedings is a different issue. Only an independent court and an independent judge will be able to break the maxim of dura lex sed lex when a rule of law is threatened by an extreme form of legalism.

Andrzej Gadkowski

Treaty-making powers of international organizations

Monografia jest pierwszym w polskiej literaturze prawa międzynarodowego kompleksowym opracowaniem problematyki zdolności traktatowej organizacji międzynarodowych. Celem badań było określenie istoty, źródeł i specyfiki tej zdolności, która jest szczególnie ważnym atrybutem każdego podmiotu prawa międzynarodowego. Przedmiotem rozważań autora jest zarówno koncepcja kompetencji przyrodzonych organizacji międzynarodowych, jak i koncepcja kompetencji przyznanych im przez państwa w akcie konstytucyjnym. W ramach tej drugiej koncepcji, analizowana jest problematyka kompetencji traktatowych wyraźnie przyznanych, jak również problematyka kompetencji dorozumianych, dla uzasadnienia których wymagane jest przeprowadzenie skomplikowanej dedukcji opartej na różnych, nie zawsze jednoznacznych podstawach. Praktyczną stronę problematyki badawczej obrazuje analiza źródeł i zakresu zdolności traktatowej Unii Europejskiej. W pracy zaprezentowana została również problematyka zdolności traktatowej sui generis organizacji międzynarodowych oraz  niektórych organów traktatowych w dziedzinie międzynarodowego prawa środowiska, które nie są  organizacjami międzynarodowymi, ale zostały wyposażone przez państwa w określony zakres kompetencji traktatowych.

Aneta Suchoń

Legal aspects of the organisation and operation of agricultural co-operatives in Poland

This monograph is the first book in English devoted to legal aspects of the organisation and work  of agricultural cooperatives in Poland. The author rightly points to the rich history of the agricultural cooperative movement in Poland, referring, among other things, to the activities  of Stanisław Staszic at the beginning of the 19th century and  the Act of 29th October 1920 on cooperatives. The concept, activity, types of agricultural cooperatives, legal principles of their establishment (founders, statutes, contributions and shares, bodies, registration) and functioning (assets, financial matters, contracting agreements, mergers, vetting) are  presented. The deliberations focus primarily on agricultural production cooperatives, cooperative groups of agricultural producers, dairy cooperatives and farmers' cooperatives (the latter have been introduced by the Act of 4th October 2018) and have allowed the author to draw many interesting conclusions, including de lege ferenda.

Mieczysław Sprengel

Legal and socio-economics changes in New Zealand

In the modern world, there are few states in isolation. As a rule the geographic distance of these countries has in the past determined such political and economic isolation. Over the years, there has been a definite approximation of such countries to the developed economic world: Australia and New Zealand have tightened their cooperation and approached Asia. Economic integration and common security goals have led countries to change in a social and economic context, as well as in the field of legal provisions. The analysis of changes taking place in countries such as New Zealand is interesting because of the adaptation of experiences for the benefit of other countries. The publication presents this issue, referring to issues related to law, national security, regional policy, tourism development, demographic changes and economic issues in New Zealand. This allows to grasp the already existing legal and socio-economic changes, showing the size of New Zealand's achievements, its development path, at the same time outlining the future prospects.

Ryszard Kamiński

Reporting of enterprises. The main theoretical problems and legal regulations

The monograph Reporting of enterprises. The main theoretical problems and legal regulations is part of the discussion about the current state and the future of accounting and corporate reporting. There is an opinion that new directions of theoretical considerations regarding this issue should be set, especially in the context of the current experience of the functioning of the enterprise achievement reporting system. The most important facts that affect the modern face of this system include: the progressing evolution of the paradigm regarding the role of the company in the socio-economic system (more and more often the company is perceived not only as an entity whose goal is to make profits, but also as an organization that is supposed to bring benefits to society, local community, customers and the like), as well as the use of information technology in accounting records, giving almost unlimited possibilities to process huge amounts of data in a short time.

The response to these new challenges faced by enterprises was new legal regulations on an international, regional (EU) and national scale. They have been implemented in practice only recently, so they are still a new topic, making it necessary to clarify their essence and to provide further comments. This situation has become an inspiration for the preparation of this monograph, the content of which is focused on new legal regulations concerning primarily the system of reporting the company's achievements and its assessment.