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The approach taken by the jurisprudence of the Polish courts, especially the Constitutional Tribunal, concerning the principle of the primacy of the EU law in relation to the Polish law and in particular to the Polish Constitution has changed substantially since Polish accession to the EU. The in-depth analysis evaluates three distinct periods in the jurisprudence of Polish Constitutional Tribunal. This study is commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURICommittee.

One of the aims behind issuing a new directive on consumer sales contracts (directive 2019/771) was to adjust this part of contract law so that it can contribute to sustainable de-velopment. The Rec. 32 of the directive explicitly states that one of its objectives is toachieve more sustainable consumption patterns and a circular economy. This article analyses whether and to what extent this motive is reflected in the black letter rules of the directive (the previous directive on consumer sales contracts constitutes a point of reference). The work begins with a general assessment of the interplay between the values the directive is meant to protect. The impact that the values at hand may have on the interpretation of the directive’s provisions is diagnosed (with a focus on the influence of the choice of the method of harmonization on the interpretation process). The study covers ecology-related issues emerging in the context of durability requirements, objective conformity requirements stemming from various quality standards, reparability of the good, consumers rights under the directive and the interplay be-tween the general private law rules and the directive’s norms. Based on the analysis, the first conclusions regarding the ecological effectiveness of the directive are made. Although directive 2019/711 announces striving for the achievement of sustainable consumption and a circular economy as one of its aims, within its black letter provisions no significant changes are intro-duced in comparison to its predecessor. The EU legislature has correctly diagnosed some (but not all) areas where modifications should be made to ensure sustainable consumption within the consumer market. Nevertheless, no significant changes in their regard were introduced. As a result, the interpretation of the directive’s provisions through the prism of the ecology-related values should be applied to ensure that this regulatory intervention brings about the intended change to the consumer sales law.

The article describes the change of the basic premise of the seller’s liability for the goods sold in Polish law. Initially, according to the Continental tradition, it was based on the concept of defect of goods, and subsequently, with reference to the Anglo-Saxon doctrine of breach of contract, was replaced with undeniably broader notion (unlimited by a very subject-oriented understanding of the defect) – non-conformity with the contract. On examples of typical kinds of situations, in which goods sold are not characterised by the features, the differences in the scope of protection within every premise are analysed. However, the development of the Polish scholarship on the warranty, as well as of the jurisprudence on cases regarding it, broadened the traditional understanding of the concept of the defect. Then, the protection of the buyer was realised often similarly to the way it is guaranteed in a system based on the non-conformity with the contract as a premise of seller’s liability.

Obecność symbolu religijnego (w tym zwłaszcza symbolu krzyża) w przestrzeni publicznej jest ważnym zagadnieniem z zakresu relacji państwo - Kościół. Rozstrzygnięcie o dopuszczalności takiego jego eksponowania stanowi zarazem rozwiązanie konfliktu prawa wyznawcy do publicznego prezentowania przekonań religijnych oraz zasady nieuprzywilejowania religii, czy danego związku wyznaniowego względem innych. W tym kontekście szczególne znaczenie w debacie publicznej, ale także w odpowiednim prawodawstwie, orzecznictwie sądowym (Sądu Najwyższego Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki, Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka, polskiego Trybunału Konstytucyjnego, polskich sądów), doktrynie prawniczej, zyskują zasady określające model relacji państwo - Kościół. Zasadność oraz skutki stosowania dwóch podstawowych, podobnych, ale nieco różniących się między sobą, zasad neutralności i bezstronności przebadano na podstawie opisanych wyżej źródeł w celu ustalenia, czy oraz w jaki sposób zezwalają one na publiczne eksponowanie symbolu religijnego w Stanach Zjednoczonych Ameryki oraz w Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej. The presence of the religious symbol (in particular the symbol of cross) in the public sphere is an important issue within the Church and State relations. The decision about the admissibility of its presentation in such a way is also a solution of the conflict of the right of a believer to publicly present one's religious beliefs and the principle of non-favouring of religion or religious group over others. In this context in public debate, but also in the adequate legislature, judicature (of the United States of America Supreme Court, European Court of Human Rights, Polish Constitutional Tribunal and Polish courts), jurisprudence, there is a significant meaning of principles describing the model of Church and State relations. The adequacy and effects of the application of two fundamental, similar but slightly varied, principles of neutrality and impartiality was examined based on sources as above in order to establish, whether and how they allow on public presentation of the religious symbol in the United States of America and the Republic of Poland.

Fenomen soft law, wyłaniający się zwłaszcza w okresie ostatniego półwiecza, pokazany jest w opozycji do typowo rozumianego prawa, zwanego hard law. Autor wskazuje na swoiste cechy "miękkiego" prawa, w tym niewiążącą moc jego norm i powiązany z nim brak sformalizowanych sankcji za jego nieprzestrzeganie. "Miękkie prawo" wywodzi się z prawa międzynarodowego publicznego, specyficznej gałęzi prawa, opartej w dużej mierze na normowaniu stosunków faktycznego wpływu podmiotów na siebie, a nie typowo rozumianych sankcji. Jest też źródłem typowych instytucji soft law - w tym 1) uchwały organizacji międzynarodowych; 2) porozumienia międzynarodowe; 3) podpisane a nieratyfikowane umowy międzynarodowe; jak również 4) innego rodzaju uzgodnienia, np. gentlemen's agreements. Istotą tekstu jest wskazanie znaczenia postanowień soft law także w innych systemach prawa. Przedstawia charakter szczególnych źródeł prawa Unii Europejskiej, tj. 5) zaleceń; 6) opinii; 7) aktów nienazwanych, np. deklaracji i rezolucji; jak również 8) swoistej formy związania dyrektywą, która już weszła w życie a jeszcze nie upłynął termin do jej implementacji. Podkreśla się też swoisty charakter 9) kodeksów etyki zawodowej w polskim systemie prawa, a na tle historyczno-prawnym - 10) "miękki" charakter źródeł prawa rzymskiego. Na podstawie wybranych przykładów, obserwuje się znaczącą rolę soft law w kreowaniu zobowiązań. Podkreślenia wymaga też użyteczność tak rozumianego prawa dla regulacji wielu stosunków opartych na zasadzie kompromisu i współpracy bardziej, niż hierarchicznego podporządkowania, które w dzisiejszym świecie stają się coraz bardziej rozpowszechnione. The phenomenon of soft law, visible particularly in the last half of century, situated in the opposite of the typically understood law, hard law. Author shows the basic features of soft law are, moreover, defined - the non-binding and non-sanctioned character. The notion derives from the international public law, quite a specific discipline, based thoroughly on the actual influence of the subjects rather than formalised sanctions. It is also the source for typical soft law institutions: 1) resolutions of international; 2) international declarations; 3) signed but yet not ratified international treaties; 4) other agreements, e.g. gentlemen's agreements. The core of the text is to show the presence of soft law also in other legal systems of law. Non-binding is the part the system of the European Union legal sources, like 5) recommendations; 6) opinions; 7) unnamed acts, like declarations or resolutions,; as well as the 8) specific binding of the directives, which has already been in force, but still can be transposed to the national legal systems. In the Polish legal system the position of 9) professional ethical codes analysed, while 10) in Roman law almost all sources of law had such a soft character. Based on chosen examples, the rising function of soft law in creating duties is shown. It is then worth noting that the law created in such a way is quite useful to regulate relations more compromise-and cooperation-based, which has currently became much more widespread.