The bill contains proposals for changes in the legislation whose common goal is to increase innovation in the Polish economy. In the author’s view, the changes proposed in the Natural Persons’ Income Tax Act and Legal Persons’ Income Tax Act consist in tax exemptions assigned by the State that favor certain categories of companies and could distort competition and affect trade between Member States. As a result, these regulations might be classified as State aid within the meaning of Article 107 TFEU and should be notified to the European Commission pursuant to Article 108(3) TFEU. The proposal to repeal Art. 33(3) of the Accounting Act is, however, incompatible with Directive 2013/34/EU.
According to the author, amendments to the Act on Microorganisms and Genetically Modified Organisms are compliant with the European Union law. However, he claims that a deepen analysis would be necessary in the course of further legislative works. The analysis should be focused on the matter of the principle of proportionality, a possible violation of the principle of freedom of establishment and potentially excessive severity of suggested sanctions.
Kodeks Etyki Prawników Europejskich, przyjęty przez Radę Adwokatur i Stowarzyszeń Prawniczych Europy, zakłada związanie nim prawników prowadzących działalność transgraniczną. Przedmiotem artykułu jest zbadanie tego, czy Kodeks jest aktem wiążącym radców prawnych i adwokatów. Samorządy zawodowe tych prawników uznały Kodeks za akt wiążący ich członków, jednak analiza prowadzi do wniosku, że w polskim prawie nie ma do tego podstaw. Co więcej, Kodeks nie jest aktem wewnętrznym w rozumieniu art. 93 Konstytucji RP. Oznacza to, że radcowie prawni ani adwokaci nie mogą odpowiadać dyscyplinarnie za naruszenie Kodeksu. Aby zapewnić skuteczność przepisom tego aktu, powinny one zostać uwzględnione w kodeksach etyki zawodowej wskazanych samorządów.
EN
The Code of Conduct for European Lawyers, adopted by the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), purports to be adopted as enforceable rules in relation to the cross-border activities of the lawyers. The object of this article is to examine whether the Code is a binding act for attorneys at law and attorneys. The professional self-governments have recognised the Code as a binding act for their members, but the analysis leads to the conclusion that there is no basis for this in Polish law. Furthermore, the Code is not an internal act within the meaning of Article 93 of the Polish Constitution. This means that neither attorneys at law nor attorneys can be held disciplinarily liable for breaches of the Code. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the provisions of the Code, they should be included in the professional codes of ethics of these professional self-governments.
The author, following an analysis of the above‑mentioned Agreement, claims that Article 10 thereof, containing taxation provisions, meets the requirements of Article 89 (1) (5) of the Constitution. In his view, the Agreement should be ratified upon prior consent granted by statute, which means that the procedure for its ratification proposed by the Council of Ministers (on the basis of Article 89(2)) is improper.
The bill does not contain proposals of provisions extending the subject of the act implementing the European Union law or beyond the framework of the Directive 2016/680. The bill includes proposals for provisions that may be considered incompatible with the European Union law or that incompletely implement acts of this law. In this regard, it would be required to improve the bill during further legislative proceedings.
According to the author’s opinion, the bill is not subject to notification pursuant to Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on Information Society services, does not constitute state aid within the meaning of Article 107 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and does not violate the Regulation (EU) No 994/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning measures to safeguard security of gas supply and repealing Council Directive 2004/67/EC.
This opinion deals with the relationship between the requirement for suspension of legislative work specified the notification procedure and the determination of the date of entry into force of a government bill amending the Act on the Protection of Health against the Consequences of the Use of Tobacco and Tobacco Products. According to the author, the provisions, which may unambiguously be considered as those implementing Directive 2014/40/EU, can be entered into force and effect on 20 May 2016, because they are exempted from the notification obligation under Directive 2015/1535. In contrast, the provisions of the bill, which implement the provisions of Directive 2014/40/EU, but at the same time leave regulatory discretion to the national legislature, as well as the provisions of the bill that go beyond the objective of implementation of this Directive, should not be adopted before 1 July 2016.
Celem artykułu jest wykazanie, że konstytucyjne zasady odnoszące się do wyborów do organów władz publicznych powinny mutatis mutandis być wzorcem dla wyborów do organów samorządów zawodowych. Szczególną wagę w tym obszarze należy przypisać zasadzie równości prawa wyborczego. Analiza tematu została przeprowadzona na gruncie przepisów Konstytucji RP, orzecznictwa Trybunału Konstytucyjnego oraz ustaw i aktów wewnętrznych normujących funkcjonowanie samorządów zawodowych. Wynika z niej, ze naruszenie zasady równości w aktach wewnętrznych samorządu zawodowego może być przesłanką stwierdzenia ich niezgodności z prawem, natomiast ustawy dotyczące tych samorządów powinny umożliwiać przeprowadzenie kontroli przebiegu wyborów. Przedstawione rozważania prowadzą do wniosku, że tematy łączące pozycję samorządów zawodowych oraz demokratyczne standardy prawa wyborczego mogą być polem interesujących badań w dziedzinie prawa konstytucyjnego.
EN
The aim of this article is to demonstrate that the constitutional principles relating to elections to public authorities should mutatis mutandis be the benchmark for elections to the bodies of self-government of public trust professions. The principle of equality of the electoral law is of particular importance in this area. The analysis has been carried out on the basis of the Polish Constitution, the case law of the Constitutional Tribunal and the laws and internal acts regarding professional self-governments. It follows that a breach of the principle of equality in the internal acts of a professional self-government may be grounds for declaring them unlawful. Whereas, laws concerning these self-governments should enable the scrutiny of elections. The considerations lead to the conclusion that topics combining the position of professional self-governments and democratic standards of the election law can be a field of interesting research in the domain of constitutional law.
The author of the opinion claims that the Marshal of the Sejm is unable to grant power of attorney to a Deputy, representing the sponsors of a bill, to represent the government and the Sejm in notification proceedings before the European Commission. Despite the existing restrictions concerning representation, sponsors of a bill may prepare documentation related to notification of the bill for the European Commission. The final decision as to the scope of this documentation and its transfer should, however, be taken by the Marshal of the Sejm.
The paper is focused on discussing grounds for restricting the freedom of establishment as settled by the CJEU in C-55/94, Gebhard. The analysis shows that the possibility of imposing restrictions on economic activity should be carefully examined at the stage of adoption of national law, as it falls to the Member State to prove that national provisions meet conditions laid down in the EU legislation and the CJEU case law.
Some provisions of the proposed bill are incompatible with European Union law. They violate the principle of proportionality. The proposed draft law can also affect effective implementation by Poland of its obligations resulting from Directive 2009/28/EC (15% share of energy from renewable sources in gross final energy consumption in Poland in 2020). The mechanism of re-applying for a decision authorizing the operation of the wind power plant can be regarded as a formality that discourages service providers from doing business. The charges provided for in the bill are in contradiction to this provision, because they are not reasonable and proportionate to the cost of the authorization procedures. The bill is subject to notification, the initiation of the notification procedure does not preclude the adoption of the proposed legislation. The consequence of failure to notification may be the finding by the courts of the ineffectiveness of the provisions of the bill, as well as the commencement of proceedings against Poland under Article 258 TFEU.
Leaving the European Union by the United Kingdom will cause changes in the Treaty on the European Union as well as in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. These changes are covered by the ordinary legislative procedure which includes the necessity of their ratification by Poland. The Sejm may take a position on Brexit, however it should take into account the role of the Council of Ministers in foreign policy. The result of UK’s withdrawal from the EU will be a considerable number of changes in the Polish legislation. Due to their scope as well as short time constraints, work on these issues should be held parallelly with negotiations on Brexit.
The article deals with the mode by which resolutions are adopted by the Sejm. The authors focus on the procedure for adopting resolutions whose drafts are published in Sejm Papers and, in particular, on the aspects distinguishing it from the procedure for adopting bills. They describe the issues related to introducing draft resolutions, including the formal requirements for draft resolutions, as well as the subsequent stages of the proceedings, indicating the procedural differences and exceptions that occur in relation to the different categories of resolutions. They point out the issues of examining the procedure for making resolutions, and the acceptable scope of modification of a draft resolution in the course of work in the Sejm. These issues are illustrated with numerous examples of parliamentary practice. Reference is also made to other acts adopted by the Sejm in accordance with the procedure provided for resolutions (such as declarations, appeals and statements). In addition, the article describes the rules for publication of the resolutions in the official journal. The issue of discontinuation of work in the Sejm in relation to draft resolutions is also raised and attention drawn to making resolutions aimed at removing inconsistencies in a statute declared to be partly unconstitutional by the Constitutional Tribunal (acting under preventive review). Finally, the authors formulate conclusions on the need for amendments to the rules of procedure taking into account the specific nature of the process of passing resolutions.
The bill can be qualified to the category of the so-called special acts that are passed due to the need for an extraordinary regulation regarding a given situation or event. It was found that although the legitimacy of accepting the submitted bill cannot be questioned, and regulations of this type have already been introduced into the Polish legal system, it is postulated that in the future reaching for the instrument in the form of a separate act for the organization of one event should be an exception, and it should not become a standard practice. It was assessed that Article 22 of the bill may be considered incompatible with Article 57 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland due to the restriction that violates the essence of the right to participate in the assemblies.
The subject of the proposal is an amendment to the Industrial Emissions Directive (so-called IED) as a core legal act regarding the prevention and control of pollution emitted by large industrial installations. The proposed amendments include, inter alia, the tightening of permissible emission limits, the introduction of additional substances and obligations covered by permits, and increased access to emission permit proceedings for third parties. The aim of the proposed solutions is to raise the level of environmental protection while stimulating innovation and ensuring a level playing field in the EU market.
The authors discuss the conclusions of the European Council addressing issues related to the concept of conditionality in the context of the draft regulation of the European Commission of 2nd May 2018, which would authorize the Council to implement measures for the protection of the Union budget. The authors also question the compliance of the Commission’s declaration, in which it takes note of the conclusions of the European Council and confirms its position, with the proposed regulation.
The adoption of the draft regulation constitutes a further step in the development of the electoral procedure for elections to the European Parliament. It will replace the 1976 Council Decision and the Act concerning the election of the representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage annexed to that Decision. The authors set out concerns relating to, inter alia, the proposed institution of an EU-wide constituency and common provisions for election campaigns. Further doubts are raised regarding the proposal to fix uniformly the voting day for EP elections and the institution of a ‘temporary MEP’. In the draft position of the RP, the Council of Ministers “assesses the draft regulation negatively, due to the contradiction of some of the solutions proposed in the proposal with the legal order currently in force in the Republic of Poland”.
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