RL5mw3kG3ufln

Sources and areas of law

Source: licencja: CC 0.

Link to the lesson

Before you start you should know
  • You are able to define law, and explain the relationship between the law and other normative systems.

  • You are able to explain, using the example of Poland, what the consequences of adopting the rule of law principle are.

You will learn
  • You will be able to characterize the concept of a legal norm, a provision and a legal act.

  • You will be able to present the types of legal acts in force in Poland.

  • You will be able to describe the most common systems of law and explain various types of law.

  • You will be able to indicate in which official publishing organ specific legal acts can be found.

Ry1eO65c3RfPh
nagranie abstraktu część pierwsza
RdRoeiKA3KoYf
nagranie abstraktu część druga

Legal norm

A rule of behaviour established by a legitimate state authority that explains who and under what circumstances should behave in a certain way.

Structure of the legal norm:

  • The hypothesis specifies the addresseeaddresseeaddressee of the norm and the conditions and circumstances in which the rule of behaviour applies.

  • The disposition specifies the prohibited, prescribed or permitted behavior in the circumstances described in the hypothesis.

  • The sanction determines the consequences connected with behavior incompatible withincompatible withincompatible with the disposition of the norm.

Tatiana Chauvin, Tomasz Stawecki, Piotr Winczorek Introduction to jurisprudence (Wstęp do prawoznawstwa)

[Legal provision] – „a statement formulated in the legal language, constituting a grammatical wholegrammatical wholegrammatical whole, contained in the text of a normative act and separated as an article, paragraph, point, etc.”

wst Source: Tatiana Chauvin, Tomasz Stawecki, Piotr Winczorek, Introduction to jurisprudence (Wstęp do prawoznawstwa), Warszawa 2017, s. 122.

The relationship between a legal norm and a legal provision is the same as the relationship between content and form. The contentcontentcontent defining the rules of behaviour is the legal norm, the provision is only a form in which the content of the norm is included. In other words, norms (rules of behaviour) can be derived fromto be derived frombe derived from the analysis of legal provisions.

Tatiana Chauvin, Tomasz Stawecki, Piotr Winczorek Introduction to jurisprudence (Wstęp do prawoznawstwa)

[A normative (legal) act] – „is a document of public authority containing legal norms (included in its provisions) regulating an aspect of social relations.”

wst2 Source: Tatiana Chauvin, Tomasz Stawecki, Piotr Winczorek, Introduction to jurisprudence (Wstęp do prawoznawstwa), Warszawa 2017, s. 122.

Normative acts varyvaryvary depending on the organs authorized to issue them, subject to regulation or place in the hierarchy of sources of law.

The Constitution of the Republic of Poland

Chapter III

Sources of law

Article 87

1. The sources of universally binding law of the Republic of Poland shall be: the Constitution, statutes, ratified international agreements, and regulations.

2. Enactments of local law issued by the operation of organs shall be a source of universally binding law of the Republic of Poland in the territory of the organ issuing such enactments.

Article 88

1. The condition precedentprecedentprecedent for the coming into force of statutes, regulations and enactments of local law shall be the promulgation thereof.

2. The principles of and procedures for promulgation of normative acts shall be specified by statute.

3. International agreements ratified with priorpriorprior consent granted by statute shall be promulgated in accordance with the procedures required for statutes. The principles of promulgation of other international agreements shall be specified by statute.

konst Source: The Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

In Poland, normative acts are published in various publishing organs (formal sources of law). At present, normative acts are also published online. To understand normative acts it is also useful to analyze case lawcase lawcase law including, for example, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court or the European Court of Justice rulings(court) rulingrulings.

The Online Legal Database is a very practical tool to search for legal acts.

Official publishing organs (formal sources of law) in Poland

  • Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw);

  • Gazette of the Republic of Poland “Monitor Polski” (the Polish Monitor);

  • journals of ministries, central offices and voivodeships.

1

Only legal acts published in the Official Journal or the Polish Monitor constitute a legitimate source of law in Poland. The journals of ministries, central offices and voivodeships only reprint the legal acts published elsewhereelsewhereelsewhere.

A legal system consists of structured and interrelatedinterrelatedinterrelated norms enshrined in normative acts binding at a given time in a state. In modern states there are two different types of legal systems. One of them is sometimes referred to as the system of continental law (or the civil law system), while the other is called the Anglo‑Saxon law system (or the common law system).

1
Exercise 1
RSHFoMdr4FDAh
Fotografia barwna przedstawia młotek sędziowski. Ćwiczenie alternatywne: Characterize the common law system and the civil law system.
Source: licencja: CC 0.
R1KUGObrCfgfQ
Tytuł: Various types of law. Fotografia przedstawia figurkę Temidy obok globusa. Na fotografii umieszczono następujące informacje: 1. Criterion: Substantive (material) law – the set of laws that governs how members of society are to behave. Procedural (formal) law – the set of procedures for making, administering, and enforcing substantive law.content. 2. Criterion: subject: Public law – the part of law which governs relationships between individuals and the government, and between the government bodies. Private law – the part of law concerning relationships between individuals. 3. Criterion: territorial scope: Local law – the law limited in application to a particular part of the state’s area in which it was adopted. National (domestic) law – the law that exists “within” a particular nation (or state). International law (public) – the law between nations (states). International law (private) – the law which states what national legal system should be applied towards foreigners.
Various types of law
Source: licencja: CC 0.

The legal system in Poland is a system of continental law. The key role in this system is played by positive, codified law, which should constitute a complete and consistent set of norms. The law is created as a result of decisions of the most important state authorities (the parliament, government, President of the Republic, local authorities). Today, however, we are also dealing with an increasing impact of international law and European Union law on the national Polish legal system. Most of the laws passed by our Sejm after Poland's accession to the European Union structures are connected with the necessity to introduce EU directivesdirectivedirectives into domestic legislation.

R9OtH1izpm47M
Exercise 2
Ćwiczenie alternatywne: Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise. Explain the meaning of following words: precedent; to be derived from; prior; case law; (court) ruling; interrelated; to govern; directive. If it's too difficult, use lesson's glossary.

Keywords

legal norm, hypothesis, disposition, sanction, legal provision, normative act, Constitution, statutes, ratified international agreements, regulations, enactments of local law, promulgation, Online Legal Database, Journal of Laws, Gazette of the Republic of Poland “Monitor Polski” (the Polish Monitor), journals of ministries/ central offices and voivodeships, legal system, common law, civil law, substantive (material) law, procedural (formal) law, public law, private law, national (domestic) law, local law, international (public/private) law, European Union law

Glossary

addressee
addressee
RaPGnfRHpJIDt
Nagranie słówka: addressee

adresat

incompatible with
incompatible with
R1UanmpcoDTVf
Nagranie słówka: incompatible with

niezgodny z

grammatical whole
grammatical whole
RzCQd8VTnrqR9
Nagranie słówka: grammatical whole

gramatyczna całość

content
content
R7srbQOBls65e
Nagranie słówka: content

treść

to be derived from
to be derived from
RJ1YUp39LX5Zq
Nagranie słówka: to be derived from

pochodzić z

vary
vary
RlhsBSIKvDTfG
Nagranie słówka: vary

różnić się (być zróżnicowanym)

prior
prior
R1Ywifo0U5lq9
Nagranie słówka: prior

uprzedni

case law
case law
RVNQE8lzntnmC
Nagranie słówka: case law

orzecznictwo

(court) ruling
(court) ruling
R1Ln9VzufWVmU
Nagranie słówka: (court) ruling

rozstrzygnięcie (sądu)

elsewhere
elsewhere
RI4LDeKJOWnJM
Nagranie słówka: elsewhere

gdzie indziej

interrelated
interrelated
R1MiDLARglNTc
Nagranie słówka: interrelated

współzależne, wzajemnie powiązane

precedent
precedent
R7P76xYuLyhG1
Nagranie słówka: precedent

precedens

to overturn
to overturn
R1eAxVtqmyuVO
Nagranie słówka: to overturn

obalić

to imply
to imply
RwTHqYgOD25GP
Nagranie słówka: to imply

sugerować

to govern
to govern
R16m8NRa88XZ5
Nagranie słówka: to govern

rządzić

directive
directive
RF1lvc3jKihdW
Nagranie słówka: directive

dyrektywa, wskazanie