Persecutiones Christianorum in Imperio Romano – analysis iuridico-historica in prospectu "iuris romani" et notionis "dignitatis humanae"
Background: This paper examines the Roman persecutions of Christians from a historical and legal perspective, with a particular focus on the ad bestias practices, the prevailing category of superstitio, and the connection between state religion and ius publicum through the idea of pax deorum. Research purpose: This paper aims to distinguish between penalizing beliefs and sanctioning the refusal of cultic act of loyalty. It seeks to establish the normative and administrative basis for the mechanism of repression (rescripts of Trajan and Hadrian; Edict of Decius and the libellorum system; edicts of the Tetrarchy, 303–304), to explain the logic of the ‘sacrificial test’ as a tool for loyalty control, and to show how the Christian interpretation of martyrdom (imitatio Christi) contributed to the historical transition from status-based dignitas to the personalist dignitas humana and the category of freedom of conscience. Methods: This study employs a historical-legal and hermeneutical method, combining critical analysis of primary sources (including the Digesta, Pliny the Younger, Eusebius, and Lactantius; as well as libellorum papyri) with historical-legal and theological literature. Conclusions: (1) In Roman law, what was sanctioned was not ‘faith itself’, but the refusal to participate in public worship, interpreted as a violation of pax deorum and securitas rei publicae (crimen maiestatis). (2) The mechanism of the ‘sacrificial test’ – widespread under Decius and selective under Valerian – institutionalized loyalty control. (3) Diocletian’s ‘Great Persecution’ standardized and provided the legal basis for the existing practice, although its execution was regionally uneven. (4) The theology of martyrdom transformed the meaning of suffering: from an instrument of state discipline to a testimony of the truth of conscience, historically preparing the ground for the modern concept of human dignity. (5) The comparison with the human rights protection regime is hermeneutical in character: different ratio legis and ratio iuris preclude direct transposition, but reveal the continuity of disputes over the limits of religious and civic coercion.
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Causes of the absence of a prohibition on fideicommissary substitution in the Soviet civil codes of 1922 and 1964
Background: This article addresses the absence of any regulation prohibiting fideicommissary substitution in Soviet Russia and later the Soviet Union. This study focuses on the historical legal provisions of Russian and Soviet inheritance law and the circumstances of their enactment. Research purpose: The paper seeks to explain why Soviet lawmakers did not prohibit fideicommissary substitution in civil law acts. Methods: The primary method employed is the legal-historic method, which enables an investigation into the evolution of Soviet inheritance law, as well as the development of inheritance law scholarship in Russia during the Soviet period. The legal-dogmatic method is also applied in the analysis of Soviet law provisions, drawing on Soviet legal doctrine. Conclusions: The most probable causes of the absence of any prohibition on fideicommissary substitution in Soviet law were identified as the minimal economic significance of this institution under the conditions of centrally planned economy, as well as the ideological motives of the lawmakers.
Criminalisation of misgendering – an analysis of the legitimacy of implementing regulations in the Polish legal order based on the Scottish model
Background: The subject of this study is the phenomenon of misgendering, understood as the use of linguistic forms inconsistent with a person’s gender identity, analysed in the context of its potential criminalisation. The research was undertaken in response to the dynamically developing tendency in Europe to expand the catalogues of protected characteristics in provisions concerning hate crimes and hate speech, particularly as reflected in the entry into force of the Scottish Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. The analysis forms part of the current multidimensional legal discourse on the limits of criminalisation of speech and the protection of freedom of expression in a democratic state governed by the rule of law. Research purpose: The aim of the article is to determine whether the phenomenon of misgendering constitutes an explicit criminal offence under the provisions of the Scottish Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 and to assess the legitimacy and practical feasibility of implementing analogous normative solutions within the Polish legal order. The research hypothesis assumes that the Scottish legislation does not directly criminalise misgendering; however, its indeterminate conceptual framework and the absence of clear boundaries of the offence of stirring up hatred create a serious risk of infringing the standards of freedom of expression and generate a chilling effect. Methods: The study employs the dogmatic-legal method based on the analysis of the normative text and its literal, systemic and purposive interpretation. Additionally, a comparative legal method was applied by comparing the Scottish model with the proposed amendments to the Polish Criminal Code of 2024–2025. The analysis is supplemented by a review of relevant case law and legal scholarship. Conclusions: The conducted research leads to the conclusion that misgendering does not constitute an offence expressis verbis under Scottish law. Its possible criminalisation would require an extensive interpretation of the statutory elements of the offence of stirring up hatred, which remains contrary to the principle of nullum crimen sine lege certa. The analysis of the practical application of the law demonstrates that the protection of gender identity remains largely illusory due to the low number of reports and convictions in this field. With regard to the Polish legal order, the study indicates that the legislator is not prepared to implement similar solutions, as evidenced by the Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment of 30 September 2025 declaring the amendment to the Polish Criminal Code unconstitutional.
David Dudley Field and his theory of “Community of Nations” – how should war be conducted?
Background: David Dudley Field is usually remembered as one of the leading nineteenth-century American advocates of codification and procedural reform. Yet his writings on international law reveal a broader international project, in which the ordering function of law extended beyond domestic legal systems to relations among states. His conception of “Community of Nations” expressed the conviction that international society could be understood as a moral and legal association, although one still shaped by Christian and civilizational assumptions characteristic of his era. Research purpose: The article examines Field’s views on war and international order through the idea of the “Community of Nations”. Its main purpose is to show that Field should not be interpreted either as an absolute pacifist or as a thinker who accepted war as an ordinary and unlimited instrument of sovereignty. Rather, the article argues that he sought to subject war to a restrictive legal framework based on complaint, response, conciliation, arbitration, and only in the final instance, justified resistance to aggression. Methods: The article uses historical and doctrinal analysis of Field’s writings, especially his works on international codification and selected speeches collected in his miscellaneous papers. It also places his arguments in the wider nineteenth-century context by comparing them with the views and initiatives of figures such as Henry Wheaton, Francis Lieber, Henri Dunant, and Florence Nightingale, as well as with the rise of institutional projects devoted to the reform and codification of international law. Conclusions: Field’s importance lies not only in the substance of his proposals, but also in the way he connected codification, peace, and international society into a single jurisprudential project. His thought illustrates a transitional moment in which war was increasingly seen not as a normal attribute of sovereignty, but as a phenomenon to be delayed, constrained, justified, and gradually replaced by legal mechanisms of dispute settlement.
Dialog tekstu i obrazu. Uwagi na marginesie zbioru K. Burczak, A. Dębiński, M. Jońca, "Łacińskie sentencje i powiedzenia prawnicze", C.H. Beck, Warszawa 2025, ss. 415
Social fractionalization, inequalities and brain drain
Background: Brain drain refers to the large-scale emigration of highly skilled professionals from developing countries to wealthier nations in search of better opportunities. In Africa, this outflow of doctors, engineers, and academics weakens institutional capacity and reinforces existing social and economic inequalities. Research purpose: The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between social fractionalization, inequalities and brain drain in African countries. Methods: The advanced Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQREG) estimation technique was employed. The research sample includes 47 African countries and covers the period between 2007 and 2023. The baseline model includes three independent variables. Two of them: The Factionalized Elite and The Group Grievance refer to the area of social fractionalization, and the third one: The Uneven Economic Development indicator refers to the area of inequalities. Conclusions: The results suggest that inequality has stable and positive impact on brain drain. The influence of the indicator of factionalized elite is positive and significant on the beginning but becomes weaker and insignificant in higher quantiles. In case of The Group Grievance the tendency is opposite. JEL classification: C31, D62, J24
A new global order emerging under President Trump’s realpolitik
Background: Trump-era policies pushed against key neoclassical assumptions: trade protectionism instead of free trade, pressure to reshore manufacturing, prioritizing national over global efficiency. The 21st. century has been marked by a gradual erosion of the liberal international order and the rule of law that emerged after World War II. The American president D. Trump has rejected these premises. He treated globalization not as positive sum process but as a mechanism of exploitation by foreign states and corporations of American workers. He broke with 200 years tradition of “free trade”. His policy goes against the classic neoclassical emphasis on comparative advantages and open markets. Research purpose: The question arises whether this new policy can be considered as a permanent trend of the American policy or just the passing whim of an authoritarian US leader. The authors try to answer if these measures can have a real long term impact on the neoclassical path of development and globalization. Methods: Authors use qualitative methods (mainly literature review and observations) Conclusion: The analysis leads to the conclusion that the classical fundamentals of the neoclassical theory will certainly be modified. We cannot say yet to what extent these modifications will take place: which parts of neoclassical theory are fading fastest, and which are still very much alive. JEL classification: F00, F02, F11, F59, F41