Journal of Business Law 08/2025

If granting of a licence would be in conflict with the public interest, in particular related to the security of the state (including energy security) or the raw material interest of the state, or the protection of the environment, including the rational management of mineral deposits or the realisation of the energy transition, including the possibility of obtaining funds for the implementation of this transition, the Minister of Climate and Environment, acting as the concession authority, may temporarily suspend the granting of licences for: exploration and prospecting of mineral deposits (including hydrocarbons), mining of minerals specified in Article 10(1) (i.e. of key economic importance), mining of minerals from deposits located in maritime areas of the Republic of Poland (art. 29a of the Geological and Mining Act). The basis for temporary suspension of licencing for other types of activities specified in the Geological and Mining Act (including others covered by the tasks of the Minister of Climate and Environment) is the Entrepreneurs’ Law (art. 39 para. 2). The premises for such suspension are partly different. In both cases, the form of such temporary suspension is a notice of the competent concession authority, published in the Official Gazette “Monitor Polski”. Suspension of licencing is subject to judicial-administrative control. However, numerous details of the solutions in question raise significant doubts, in particular regarding constitutionality.

The article analyses the problem of the scope of relative nullity (invalidity) of public procurement contracts in the light of the provisions of the Public Procurement Law. This analysis is conducted in the context of one of the conditions for mandatory invalidation of a contract award procedure, which is an irremovable defect of the proceedings that prevents the conclusion of a contract that is not subject to cancellation. The scope of this ground for invalidating the procedure is strictly dependent on the statutory scope of invalidity of public procurement contracts. The study presents far-reaching discrepancies in interpretation, in particular in case law, resulting from the removal in the applicable regulation of the grounds for invalidating a public procurement contract of the grounds for violating the provisions of the Act in the proceedings, which had or could have had an impact on the outcome of the proceedings. The article presents, inter alia, a proposal for such an interpretation of the relevant provisions of the current Public Procurement Law that avoids the consequences of having to conclude procurement contracts affected by significant procedural defects, including such violations of the provisions of the Law that distort the outcome of the procedure – the selection of the most advantageous offer.

The catalogue of support instruments for the implementation of low-emission projects has been supplemented since 1 December 2022 with grants provided by the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego for works related to the installation of renewable energy sources (RES). The purpose of the grants is to provide non-repayable partial financial assistance to owners or managers of multi-family residential buildings carrying out investments that are intended to reduce the demand for non-renewable primary energy from energy raw materials. Grant applications are qualified by the bank, but they are financed from separate public funds. The aim of the article is to assess the legal regulations concerning the provision of RES grants and to determine their legal nature. The hypothesis that grants are significantly similar to purposeful grants was verified due to the non-refundable and purposeful nature of the funding, however, the involvement of the bank in the procedure for granting them and the performance of the function of refunding expenses incurred by the investor determines the use of a different name for this form of support. The limited amount of funds for RES grants and the limited time for submitting applications model this support program as short-term. The quantitative and qualitative effects achieved so far in this regard lead to the conclusion that the programme has attracted great interest from investors and may be completed before the deadline set out in the Act. However, it does not significantly solve the problem of increasing the share of RES in the Polish residential sector.

The article analyses Article 40 of the Act on the Protection and Care of Monuments, which provides for the possibility of issuing post-inspection recommendations by the regional monument conservator in cases where a monument is found to be in an inappropriate state of preservation. The application of this provision has caused discrepancies in case law, prompting an examination of its scope and the conditions for issuing post-inspection recommendations. In particular, the analysis focuses on which monuments these recommendations may be issued for and what obligations may be imposed to address the inappropriate state of preservation of the monument.

This study analyses Article 19a of the Law of 6 March 2018 – Entrepreneurs’ Law and the entrepreneur’s obligation empowered by this provision to enable cashless payments, which came into force on 1 January 2022. It refers to the ratio legis of the regulation and the essence of the obligation, its relevant features, including the scope of subjects and objects, as well as the preferences and restrictions intended to motivate its application. The analysis primarily covers the provisions of the law enriching their interpretation with explanations from the legislator and the achievements of doctrine. Significant to the topic and the adopted scope of consideration is the scarcity of academic publications focusing on Article 19a of the Entrepreneurs’ Law and the entrepreneurial obligation set forth in this provision. The analysis taken up in this article makes it possible to see and demonstrate the issues that are important for the correct interpretation of the provision, as well as for the application and enforcement of the obligation authorized by it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly left a very strong mark on the functioning of societies, not only in terms of purely interpersonal relations, but also in the normative sphere. Regulations in this area were characterized by great instability, unpredictability and repressiveness. The subject of this article is to assess the effectiveness of Polish pandemic regulations, both from a dogmatic-legal (constitutional) and sociological-legal perspective. The article begins with a theoretical introduction and ends with a summary.

The amendments to the Tax Ordinance introduced in 2005 and 2009 in the scope of securing the performance of a tax obligation were of a systemic nature. If the legislator allows for the possibility of providing security in the form of a bank or insurance guarantee, a bank suretyship or a bill of exchange with a bank surety, an additional entity appears next to the tax debtor, which guarantees the performance of someone else’s tax obligation with all its assets. The manner in which the legal position of the guarantee debtor is shaped is an expression of a very far-reaching conservatism on the part of the legislator. Therefore, on the one hand, the law allows for the possibility of using certain civil law contracts to secure a public law obligation, but on the other hand, it includes guarantors and sureties in the category of third parties. Consequently, the legal position of the guarantor and surety is determined primarily by the provisions on third-party liability and not by the guarantee or surety agreement, as it might appear at first glance.

The gloss deals with the issue of imposing administrative sanctions by the financial market supervisory authority, the FSA. This issue is considered in the context of the problem of objectification of administrative liability and judicial control of sanction decisions. These issues have been disputed in doctrine and jurisprudence for years. The position of the Supreme Administrative Court assuming that there is no need to examine culpability when issuing a sanction decision deserves approval. On the other hand, the limitation of verification of such a decision may raise doubts and has been criticised.