The article touches upon the controversies around the defi nition of a forest contained in the provision of Article 3 of the Act of 28 September 1991 on forests, present in the doctrine as well as in judicial decisions in administrative law. The interpretation of the above provision is analysed and the views presented in the doctrine and the judicial rulings, which sometimes include contradicting arguments, are examined. In the fi rst part of the article individual elements of the defi nition of a forest have been identifi ed and the diffi culties with their interpretation that have led to the emergence of a vast number of judicial decisions and rulings delivered by administrative courts as well as the Supreme Court have been presented. The second part contains deliberations on the importance of the data included in the land and buildings register and their potential use for the classifi cation of land as a forest on the grounds of concrete administrative proceedings, including these on tax matters. In this context the normative value of the provisions of the Act of 17 May 1989: Geodetic and Cartographic Law and individual tax laws making these data binding and applicable has been examined as well. Also this latter issue generates frequently diverging opinions expressed by administrative courts. The last part of the paper contains de lege lata and de lege ferenda postulates intended to reconcile the presented controversies connected with the classifi cation of individual land as forest. The authors hope that implementation of these postulates will contribute to the unifi cation of the judiciary opinions regarding the concept of a forest and consequently will help to eliminate the existing doubts.
This article is an attempt to reconstruct legal regulations, including the existing solutions in the doctrine and judicial decisions, regarding the scope of duties of public road managers when it comes to road maintenance in winter time and liability thereof. The relevant provisions regulating this matter are highly laconic and are practically reduced to a general indication that it is the public road manager’s duty to clear roads of snow and fight slippery winter surfaces. There is no mention though, of the degree to which these measures must be taken, or the legal instruments available for organising work on roads. Interpretation of the existing provisions suggests that maintenance of roads in winter is a very complex process and covers a number of activities undertaken to reduce traffic disturbances. Public roads managers enjoy a certain freedom as regards organisation of the work and the type of work to be conducted on roads. This freedom manifests itself, among other things, by different standards adopted for winter road maintenance, depending on the road category and its importance in the overall road network. The analysis of the existing solutions and judgments allows to conclude that the liability of a public road manager for losses incurred by road users in winter time is not strict (absolute). Thus, in the assessment of a road manager work, a reference must be made to the principle of due care expected from a professional, having regard however, to the objective premises and circumstances. Public road managers’ liability is also correlated with the liability of road users for unsafe driving under increased caution conditions. In light of the conducted analysis it may be stated that ensuring full passability of roads in winter time is not an absolute duty of a public road manager. Public road managers are merely obliged to maintain a road in a condition guaranteeing safety in given weather conditions, having account to the financial and human resources they have at their disposal.
PL
Niniejszy artykuł stanowi próbę odtworzenia z uregulowań prawnych, przy uwzględnieniu dorobku orzeczniczego i doktrynalnego, zakresu obowiązków ciążących na zarządcach dróg w zakresie zimowego utrzymania dróg publicznych oraz zakresu związanej z nimi odpowiedzialności odszkodowawczej. Przepisy dedykowane wprost poruszanej materii są wysoce lakoniczne, sprowadzają się w zasadzie do generalnego wskazania, że zadaniem zarządcy jest odśnieżanie dróg oraz zwalczanie śliskości zimowej. Ustawodawca nie wypowiada się ani na temat stopnia tych prac, ani ich wzajemnej relacji, ani też instrumentów prawnych służących organizacji robót drogowych. Odwołanie do reguł wykładni pozwala wysunąć wniosek, że zimowe utrzymanie dróg jest procesem nader złożonym, obejmującym wiele działań mających na celu ograniczenie zakłóceń ruchu. Zarządcom przysługuje przy tym pewna swoboda organizacyjna co do wykonywanych prac, której przejawem może być w szczególności przyjęcie tzw. standardów zimowego utrzymania dróg różnicujących intensywność prac w zależności od klasy drogi i jej znaczenia w sieci drogowej. Analiza orzecznictwa pozwala na przyjęcie, że odpowiedzialność zarządcy za szkody ponoszone w okresie zimowym przez użytkowników dróg nie ma charakteru odpowiedzialności absolutnej. Dokonując oceny działań zarządcy, należy odwołać się do miernika należytej staranności, a zatem staranności ogólnie wymaganej od profesjonalisty, uwzględniającej jednak obiektywne przesłanki towarzyszące wykonywanym zadaniom. Z odpowiedzialnością zarządcy skorelowana jest przy tym odpowiedzialność użytkowników drogi za zachowanie wymogów bezpieczeństwa, w tym tzw. ostrożności wzmożonej. W świetle dokonanej analizy zapewnienie pełnej przejezdności dróg w okresie zimowym nie jest bezwzględnym obowiązkiem zarządcy drogi. Zarządca ma utrzymywać drogę w stanie gwarantującym jej bezpieczeństwo stosownie do warunków atmosferycznych, z uwzględnieniem posiadanych zasobów kadrowych i finansowych.
Social rental housing is one of the possible instruments which are applied to ensure the satisfaction of housing needs. However, public funds which are transferred to entities that operate within this area should be usually classified as State aid. The analysis presented in this paper concerns the following question: is it possible to consider the operation of a social rental housing program as services of general economic interest. This question seems to be a topical issue because of a new legislative initiative aiming at establishing a governmental housing program that was implemented by the Act of 10 September 2015 which amended the Act on certain forms of supporting housing construction. The aforementioned program stipulates the legal frames for refundable and preferential financing that may be granted to specific entities in order to realise investments in social rental housing. The governmental housing program complements earlier local housing policies in force. What is significant is that the Polish legislator decided to qualify support granted as services of general economic interest, as referred to in Commission Decision 2012/21/UE of 20 December 2011 on the Application of Article 106(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to State aid in the form of public service compensation granted to certain undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest. Applying Commission Decision 2012/21/UE to this situation raises some doubts as to the lack of clarity of a term “social housing”. Due to a certain controversy over the abovementioned issue, the authors have attempted to examine whether the application of preferential provisions of Commission Decision 2012/21/UE to the social housing program is in accordance with the relevant provisions of EU competition rules.
This paper addresses the issue of the functioning of regional facilities for the processing of municipal waste in the light of the provisions of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 16 February 2007. The authors seek answers to the question of whether in certain specific situations it is possible to conclude that a given facility holds a dominant position on the market in which it operates. Two situations will be subjected to close analysis, namely those in which only one or two facilities with RMWPF status operate in a given region of municipal waste management.
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