The Haque Conference on Private International Law has recently drawn up Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contract. An innovative feature of these Principles, which are accompanied by an explanatory Commentary, is that unlike an international convention they are non — binding. The Principles relatively few black — letter rules (12 articles and a preamble) seek encourage choice of law in international commercial transaction. Developing the Principles was a demanding task since thay apply not only to courts but also to arbitral tribunals. Since party autonomy is the centrepiece of the Haque Principles, freedom of choice is granted basically without restriction. The Principles clarify important issues for agreements on choice of law. A reference to “law” also includes generally accepted “rules of law”. The Haque Principles declare themselves to be an international code of current best practice with respect to the recognition of party autonomy in choice of law in international commercial contracts.

Competence of a Civil Registrar, who deals with various civil matters concerning civil status of individuals, is not limited to purely internal cases. Nowadays, not infrequently, the presence of an international element makes it necessary to check what law is applicable to the case at hand. The Law on Civil Status Acts of 2014, which is a basic act regulating the activities of a Civil Registrar, does not contain any conflict rules and it makes only scarce references to the provisions of Private International Law of 2011. The authors argues, however, that in daily practice of civil status offices in Poland it is rather the bilateral conventions, concluded by Poland with numerous countries, that should determine choice of law rules to be used by a Civil Registrar. A substantial part of the article is devoted to the presentation of basic conflict‑of‑laws issues which emerge with regard to marriages with foreigners, acknowledgment of paternity and the problem of names and surnames when a Civil Registrar is encumbered with the task of recording them in the Polish system of civil status registration. Last but not least, the author highlights some problems concerning the ascertainment of foreign law by a Civil Registrar. After pointing out that the legislator has not offered any help in this respect, various existing methods of finding the text of applicable law are analyzed.

The paper describes a new type of certificate — a certificate of civil status — which was introduced by the new Polish Law on Civil Status Act of November 28, 2014. The main aim of a certificate of civil status is being a proof of civil status as a whole. Because of that it might be used by a person who wants to get married to certificate that he or she is single. Unlikely a certificate of marital capacity, certificate of civil status does not contain the data of a person with whom the marriage is to be contracted. That is the reason why it might be useful for people who want to enter into same‑sex marriage or same‑sex civil partnership abroad and who are unable to get a certificate of marital capacity for those purposes. The paper also shows that in many cases the proof of marital capacity under Polish law will not be required, as it will not be Polish law which will apply to the capacity to enter into same‑sex marriage or same‑sex civil partnership. The paper also contains the results of comparative studies on conflict of laws rules concerning same‑sex marriages and civil partnerships and also provides some solution on grounds of Polish Private International Law on finding the law applicable to same‑sex marriages and civil partnerships.

The article analyses selected problems related to differentiating the law applicable to matrimonial property relationships and the law applicable to matrimonial property agreements from the laws applicable to maintenance obligations, contractual obligations, rights in rem, succession and personal relations between spouses. In particular, the paper discusses classification — at conflict-of-laws level — of issues such as the obligation to participate in satisfying family needs, the obligation of mutual assistance, admissibility of donations between spouses, rules governing revocability of such donations, protection of a person conducting in good faith a legal transaction with one of the spouses, retroactive effect of the division of spouses’ shared property, preferential conferral of inheritance, acquisition of a right in rem under a matrimonial property agreement, contractual clauses establishing the so-called marital benefits for the benefit of the surviving spouse, power of attorney — ex lege — to act on behalf of the spouse. The final part of the article touches upon the perspectives connected with the EU regulation on matrimonial property regimes.

The article presents vindicatory legacy regulation in Italian law, which has been existing in the legal order for almost 150 years. The current regulation placed in the civil code in 1942 (Codice civile) was in the vast majority taken from the civil code of The United Kingdom of Italy dated 1865 (Codice civile del Regno D’Italia). The article covers an issue of establishing the vindicatory legacy with the extensive consideration of a permitted testament form, which declared that testamentory disposition may be established as well as possibility of adopting ordinary and trust substitution regulations. Moreover, the article presents a subject of vindicatory legacy and rules regarding obtaining and rejecting this form of testamentory disposition. It also discusses an issue of vindicatory legatee’s responsibility for inherited depts, including the case of responsibility for inherited debts connected with company activities, which was a subject of the vindicatory legacy.

There is no doubt that Polish courts are obliged to establish content and apply foreign law, if only it is a law applicable according to pertinent conflict of law rule. Nevertheless, there are serious doubts, in respect to the indicated issues, in relation to public notaries practising in Poland. Public notaries apply law in different manner than courts, therefore question arises whether public notary has an obligation to establish content and apply foreign law? Main purpose of this paper is answer to foregoing question. Moreover, it is intended to present mode of application of foreign law by public notaries and impact on this of private international law rules, especially public policy clause, overriding mandatory rules and rules applicable when content of foreign law can not be established. In this paper there are presented measures, which may be use by public notary in order to ascertain content of foreign law.

Recenzja omawia monografię Aline Kühne poświęconą uznawaniu zagranicznych spółek w prawie francuskim i niemieckim. Praca analizuje historyczny rozwój i obecny stan teorii siedziby, porównując ją z teorią inkorporacji. Książka przedstawia ewolucję regulacji we Francji, Belgii i Niemczech, w tym jej konfrontację ze swobodą przedsiębiorczości w UE. Recenzenci podkreślają historyczne ujęcie tematu i szerokie wykorzystanie źródeł.
The review discusses Aline Kühne's monograph on the recognition of foreign companies in French and German law. The work analyzes the historical development and current state of the seat theory, comparing it with the incorporation theory. The book presents the evolution of regulations in France, Belgium, and Germany, including its confrontation with the EU freedom of establishment. Reviewers highlight the historical approach and extensive use of sources.