Book co-edited by Maciej Dybowski, Weronika Dzięgielewska and Wojciech Rzepinski in Routledge

Posted on 3 October 2024 by KTiFP (MG)

Book cover including title and editorsThe prestigious Routledge publishing house has published a monograph titled “Practice Theory and Law: On Practices in Legal and Social Sciences”, edited by Maciej Dybowski, PhD, Weronika Dzięgielewska, MA, and Wojciech Rzepiński, MA, from out Department.

This book engages the field of practice theory in order to consider law as a social practice. It will appeal to philosophers of law and legal theorists, as well as sociolegal scholars, sociologists of law, philosophers of language and action.

Taking up the theoretical concept of practices, the contributors to this volume maintain that law can be fruitfully understood as one among other social practices. Including perspectives from philosophers of language, experts in practice theory, linguists and legal philosophers, the book examines the twin questions of what it means for law to be considered a practice and what law’s place is among other social practices. The book is comprised of three parts. The first provides a broad methodological framework for discussing how the concept of practice is used in the social sciences, and in law. The second deals with specific problems arising from the use of the concept of practice in the legal context, and from the intersection of different social practices. The third part identifies and addresses the consequences of applying insights from practice theory to law. Together, they offer a comprehensive consideration of what is at stake in understanding law as a social practice.

Among the many esteemed researchers from around the world, this book includes chapters by researchers from our Department:

  • “Why Practice Theory and Law? Introduction” by Maciej Dybowski, Weronika Dzięgielewska, Wojciech Rzepiński,
  • “Science of Law as the Pragmatic Meta-Vocabulary: Explaining Legal Concepts via Practices”, by Maciej Dybowski,
  • “Justifiability of Judicial Decisions, Skeptical Solution and Descriptivist Picture of Legal Discourse”, by Michał Wieczorkowski,
  • “Normative Change in the Legal Practice”, by Weronika Dzięgielewska,
  • “Situations and Attitudes within Legal Practices”, by Wojciech Rzepiński.

More information can be found at the publisher’s website.

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Department members at the IVR World Congress in Seoul

Posted on 16 August 2024 by KTiFP (MG)

Photo of department's members at the IVR congress in Seoul in the background of the conference poster. From left: mgr W. Rzepiński, prof. dr hab. M. Smolak, dr M. Krotoszyński i mgr M. GrabarczykThe XXXI World Congress of the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR), entitled: “The Rule of Law, Justice and the Future of Democracy”, was held from 7 to 12 July at Soongsil University in Seoul, South Korea. The IVR congresses, held every two years, are the world’s largest academic conferences on philosophy of law and social philosophy. Representatives of the Department attended the congress: Prof. Marek Smolak, Michał Krotoszyński, PhD, Weronika Dzięgielewska, MA, Mateusz Grabarczyk, MA, and Wojciech Rzepiński, MA.

The head of the Department, Prof. Marek Smolak, gave a presentation on “Choosing Judicial Philosophies in Constitutional Interpretation” during a working group on the Methodology of law, which he also moderated.

Members of the Department organized two working panels. The first of these, entitled “Is Law (just) Code? Natural Language Processing and Law”, was organized by Weronika Dzięgielewska, MA, and Wojciech Rzepiński, MA, in cooperation with Dr Łukasz Szoszkiewicz (Department of Constitutional Law, Faculty of Law, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań) and Wojciech Biernacki, MA (Department of European Law, Faculty of Law, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań). During this panel, W. Dzięgielewska presented a paper entitled: “Translating Reasons to Defaults: Default Reasoning in Law and NLP”, while W. Rzepiński presented a paper entitled: “What We Need and What We Can Achieve: NLP and Legal Vocabulary, Concepts, Reasoning” – both presentations within the research project “Semantic analysis of reasons in legal situations”, financed by the Polish National Science Centre (2021/41/N/HS5/02507).

Dr. Michal Krotoszynski and M.A. Mateusz Grabarczyk organized a panel on “Conceptualizing Transitional Justice” to discuss transitional justice’s scope, meaning and theoretical framework. During this panel, M. Krotoszynski presented a paper entitled “Towards a Value-Driven Theory of Transitional Justice”, while M. Grabarczyk presented a paper entitled “Normative Model of Judicial Accountability: Transitional Justice Perspective” – presentation within the research project “Judging judicial independence – Judges’ liability from a transitional justice viewpoint” financed by the Polish National Science Centre (2021/41/N/HS5/02006).

In addition to the researchers mentioned above, the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań was also represented by Prof. Teresa Chirkowska-Smolak, who presented a paper entitled “Challenging the Rule of Law: Stress and Burnout in the Polish Judiciary During Constitutional Crisis” during the working group on Rule of Law.

The congress schedule can be found on the conference website.

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Michał Wieczorkowski’s research stay at the University of Pittsburgh

Posted on 26 June 2024 by KTiFP (MG)

M. Wieczorkowski in PittsburghIn late May and June of this year, Michał Wieczorkowski completed a three-week research internship at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh under the supervision of Prof. Robert Brandom. During his stay, M. Wieczorkowski worked on a project titled “Rule-following problem. The status of the rules of interpretation in the judicial practice in the light of the Wittgenstein’s sceptical paradox”. The research project aims to characterize the practice of using interpretive directives in legal practice and assess these directives’ ability to resolve interpretive problems. The stay provided an opportunity to conduct research using the extensive resources of the university’s library and to discuss preliminary research findings with the university faculty.

The research internship was funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Poland) research grant DI2018 001648 as part of the “Diamentowy Grant” program.

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Mateusz Grabarczyk’s research stay at the European University Institute

Posted on 11 March 2024 by KTiFP (MG)
Villa Salviati

Villa Salviati, Department of Law

Badia Fiesolana, EUI’s hub

Badia Fiesolana, EUI’s hub

In February, mgr. Mateusz Grabarczyk was a visiting PhD student at the Department of Law, European University Institute in Florence, under the supervision of Prof. Sarah Nouwen.

During his short stay at the EUI, he worked on the project Judging judicial independence – Judges’ liability from a transitional justice viewpoint.

This project investigates how transitional justice relates to the possibility of judges being held accountable for compromising judicial independence during pre-transition periods. In particular, the project aims to create a normative model of responsibility that could be applied to various types of transitions. The stay was an opportunity to conduct research in the rich resources of the EUI library, participate in seminars and workshops, and confront research results in meetings with EUI academic staff and other doctoral students.

Mateusz Grabarczyk on the Florence skylineThe research stay was conducted as part of a research project, “Judging judicial independence – Judges’ liability from a transitional justice viewpoint”, financed by the Polish National Science Centre (2021/41/N/HS5/02006), of which Mateusz Grabarczyk is the Principal Investigator.

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Palmae Universitatis Studiorum Posnaniensis medal for Prof. Slawomira Wronkowska

Posted on 28 February 2024 by KTiFP (MG)

We are delighted that the UAM Senate has decided to award the Palmae Universitatis Studiorum Posnaniensis distinction to Prof. Slawomira Wronkowska.

The Palmae Universitatis Studiorum Posnaniensis medal is the highest academic honour of Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan. It is awarded to outstanding scholars whose scientific work has contributed to building the university’s significance on the academic map of Poland. Magnificence, the Rector of UAM during the inauguration ceremony of the academic year or a ceremonial meeting of the Senate, hands over the award.

Congratulations!

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A new article in Labour and Social Security Journal by Dr Michał Krotoszyński

Posted on 14 February 2024 by KTiFP (MG)

A new article (in Polish) in Labour and Social Security Journal 12/2023 by Dr Michał Krotoszyński entitled “Decommunization of the civil service and state offices”.

The paper aims to analyze the provisions on the decommunization of the civil service and state offices, introduced in the Act of 14 April 2023 on the Amendment of the Civil Service Act and Certain Other Acts. I present three claims. First, the author argues that the said provisions are another step in an ongoing change of the Polish lustration model from an instrument of historical clarification, in which sanctions are imposed only for submitting a false lustration statement, towards a retribution mechanism, where those connected with the former regime cannot hold public offices. Second, he claims that these provisions violate both the Polish Constitution and international law. Finally, the author suggests that labour courts ought to refuse to apply said provisions, should they face compensation claims or claims for reinstatement in a job position.

More information can be found on the journal’s website. We encourage you to read!

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A new article in Państwo i Prawo by Dr Mikołaj Hermann

Posted on 30 January 2024 by KTiFP (MG)

A new article (in Polish) in Państwo i Prawo – Nr 11/2023 [933] by Dr Mikołaj Hermann entitled: “On Coupled Norms Once More”.

Abstract: The subject of the article is an analysis of the concept of coupled norms, which was introduced into Polish legal theory by J. Lande as an alternative to the three-element concept of a legal norm. I discuss the evolution of the aforementioned concept, including subsequent proposals for its modification and supplementation made by eminent Polish scholars. In this respect, I focus on the following issues: contestation of the traditional concept of structure of a legal norm, analysis of the original approach to the sanctioned norm and the sanctioning norm, and understanding of the relationship between coupled norms. Taking a critical approach to how J. Lande’s concept was received in legal scholarship, I present arguments in favour of recognizing the sanctioning norm as a norm of competence, which authorizes a state authority to impose a sanction, contrary to the common convention according to which that norm is a norm requiring it to be imposed. I also discuss the relationship between the scopes of application of coupled norms, both in terms of content and in terms of time

We encourage you to read!

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Mateusz Grabarczyk’s research stay at the Amsterdam Centre on the Legal Professions and Access to Justice

Posted on 5 November 2023 by KTiFP (MG)

In October, mgr. Mateusz Grabarczyk was a visiting fellow at the Amsterdam Centre on the Legal Professions and Access to Justice (ACLPA, University of Amsterdam), under the supervision of Prof. Iris van Domselaar.

During his short stay at the ACLPA, he worked on the project: “Judges’ complicity in building non-democratic regimes”. He sought to answer why judges, often trained, and appointed by democratic governments, facilitate, and accept authoritarian power politics. Towards the end of his stay, M. Grabarczyk gave a presentation at the Paul Scholten Centre for Jurisprudence at the University of Amsterdam Law School colloquium, about the project’s results. Prof. Marc de Werd was the commentator on the presentation.

The internship was financed by the AMU International Compass project (Towards the internationalisation of the Doctoral School of AMU) and supported by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (no. PPI/STE2020/1/00007/U/00001).

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Dr Michael Krotoszynski’s research stay at the University of Toronto

Posted on 26 September 2022 by KTiFP (MG)

Dr Michał Krotoszyńskion the background of the University of Toronto buildingIn the second half of September, Dr Michal Krotoszynski undertook ten-day research stay at the University of Toronto. During his visit, Dr Krotoszynski presented a lecture to the staff of the Faculty of Law there – on a topic analogous to his recent stay in Syracuse – and researched the theoretical foundations of transitional justice. The research stay supervisor was Professor David Dyzenhaus.

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Lecture by Dr Michal Krotoszynski at Syracuse University College of Law

Posted on 16 September 2022 by KTiFP (MG)

Dr Michał Krotoszyńskion the background of the Syracuse University College of Law building and the Syracuse signDr Michal Krotoszyński presented a lecture to Syracuse University College of Law students last week, “From ‘Legal Impossibilism’ to the Rule of Law Crisis: Transitional Justice and Polish Counter-Constitutionalism.”

Since 2015, Poland’s Law and Justice political party has significantly altered the composition of the Polish Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the National Council of Judiciary; and expanded the power of executive branch in relation to the courts. This process – commonly referred to as a period of ‘anti-constitutional populist backsliding’ (Sadurski 2014) – also has a transitional justice dimension. Professor Krotoszynski posits that the cornerstone of this counter-constitutionalism is a myth of ‘legal impossibilism’: a belief in strict constitutional constraints supposedly stopping the parliamentary majority from introducing crucial reforms, including transitional justice measures.

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