The article analyzes the Rome II Regulation (EC) No 864/2007, which entered into force on January 11, 2009, governing the applicable law for non-contractual obligations in the European Union. It presents the context of its adoption within the Hague Programme, aiming to create an area of freedom, security, and justice. The scope of the regulation, its relationship with international conventions (both with and outside EU Member States), the spatial reach of conflict-of-law rules, and the issue of party autonomy in choosing the law are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the autonomous interpretation of concepts used in the regulation (e.g., "non-contractual obligation," "damage," "civil and commercial matters"). The hierarchy of connecting factors applied in the absence of choice of law is highlighted, including the rule of the place of damage (lex loci damni) as primary for torts, replacing the previous rule of the place of the event (lex loci delicti commissi) in Polish law. The application of personal connecting factors, such as the parties' habitual residence, is also indicated. The article also addresses issues extending beyond the statute of non-contractual obligations regulated in the regulation, such as renvoi, legal diversity, and the public policy clause. The analysis shows significant changes introduced by the Rome II Regulation in Polish private international law, particularly concerning conflict-of-law rules for torts and other non-contractual obligations.

The article analyzes the implementation of the concept of conflict-of-laws consumer protection in Polish law against the background of Community law. The author points to the evolution of views in Polish legal literature and the influence of EU directives and the Rome Convention on shaping national regulations. She critically assesses the lack of consistency and fragmentation of Polish regulations, often inconsistent with Community law. She emphasizes the difficulties in determining and applying the law applicable to consumer contracts with a foreign element, resulting from both the imperfections of Polish provisions and Community law itself. The article suggests the need to repeal inconsistent norms and introduce uniform regulations into the Private International Law Act, consistent with new trends in EU law (e.g., Rome I Regulation and planned directives). The author also raises the issue of the function of conflict of laws rules and their role in protecting the EU internal market.

The article analyzes the problem of delimiting the scope of application of personal law and contractual law in private international law. The author points out the traditional delineation of these scopes in the Polish act and the draft of the new codification. The aim is to find a criterion for classifying a legal relationship into one of these categories. Solutions in American law (internal affairs doctrine ), Swiss law (criterion of "organization" ), and Austrian law (criterion of legal capacity ) are presented, highlighting their ambiguity and criticism. In Polish law, despite the lack of unanimity, the provision on the personal law of legal persons (Art. 9 § 2 of the Private International Law Act ) is commonly applied also to organizational units without legal personality. The draft of the new act (Art. 19 sec. 8 ) confirms this trend. The article also analyzes the interpretation of Art. 1 sec. 2 lit. e of the Rome Convention, which excludes company law issues from its scope. The criterion of "organization" is criticized as unclear and leading to absurd conclusions. The author proposes a broad understanding of the criterion of legal capacity, including also "defective" or "apparent" legal personality, determined according to the relevant personal law.

The article analyzes the buyer's right to withhold payment of the price in case of delivery of non-conforming goods under the Vienna Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The author compares this issue with Polish civil law regulations, highlighting differences and similarities, especially regarding the legal nature of the buyer's rights (constitutive or claim-based). The conditions for applying Article 46(2) and (3) of the CISG, concerning the right to demand substitute delivery or repair of goods, are discussed in detail. The possibility of deriving the right to withhold payment from other provisions of the Convention, including Article 58(3) (right to examine the goods), Article 71 (anticipatory breach), and Article 80 (creditor's act causing non-performance by the debtor), is also examined. The article concludes that although the Convention does not explicitly regulate the general right to withhold payment for defective goods, it can be derived by analogy or from general principles, such as the principle of simultaneous performance, supported by case law, e.g., the Austrian Supreme Court.

The article analyzes the issue of the law applicable to copyright license agreements in light of Polish private international law from 1965 (p.p.m.), the Rome Convention of 1980, and the Rome I Regulation of 2008. The author points to the evolution of the approach to this matter, from the rigid rules of p.p.m. to the more flexible solutions of the Rome Convention and Rome I Regulation, based on the concept of characteristic performance. It also addresses the issue of overriding mandatory provisions in Polish copyright law. The aim is to assess the adequacy of the new regulations to the complexity of contemporary license agreements, including agreements concluded with end-users and collective management organizations.

The article analyzes the issue of the law applicable to international factoring transactions in the context of the unification of conflict of laws. Factoring, as a significant instrument for financing international trade, is characterized by legal complexity due to the involvement of multiple entities and legal relationships. Crucial aspects include the transfer of receivables and its effectiveness in the relationship between the parties to the factoring agreement, towards third parties, and between the factor and the debtor. The author discusses different approaches of legal systems (e.g., German and French) to the dispositive effects of contractual obligations and their impact on determining the applicable law. The role of the Rome Convention and the Rome I Regulation is analyzed, as well as the influence of these regulations on the development of international factoring. The necessity of balancing the interests of all participants in a factoring transaction when determining the applicable law is emphasized. The proposed model is based on the law of the assignor's location for assessing the effectiveness of the assignment (between the parties and towards third parties) and on the law of the underlying contract for the relationship between the debtor and the factor, which aims to ensure legal certainty and security in international trade.

This article is a commentary on the judgment of the European Court of Justice of 13 December 2007 (C - 463/06) in the case of FBTO Schadeversekeringen N.V./Jack Odenbreit, concerning court jurisdiction over claims arising from civil liability for road traffic accidents. The commented judgment confirms that a road accident victim can bring a direct action against the insurer of the responsible person before the court of their place of domicile, provided that the insurer is established in an EU Member State and such direct action is permissible under national law. The author analyzes this issue in the context of Community law, particularly Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 and Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 (Rome II), as well as in relation to the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Traffic Accidents of 1971. The institution of actio directa in the Polish legal system and its legal nature are also discussed. The aim of Community regulations to enhance the protection of victims is highlighted.

The article analyzes a commentary on the Supreme Court judgment of May 19, 2005 (V CK 783/04) regarding the significance of foreign court judgments in Polish trial proceedings. The key issue is how foreign court judgments are taken into account in Poland and the conditions for their effectiveness within the Polish legal system. The Supreme Court in the discussed judgment focused on the application of the provisions of the Lugano Convention of September 16, 1988, indicating that judgments rendered in Convention states are to be recognized in other states without the need for special proceedings. It was emphasized that the recognition of a foreign judgment extends its effects to the territory of the recognizing state. The analysis also included the distinction between the effectiveness, finality, and enforceability of a judgment. The article indicates that to determine the type and scope of the effects of a foreign judgment, it is necessary to refer to the laws of the state of origin.

The article discusses the issues of substitution and equivalence of concepts in private international law, which were the subject of deliberations at the 73rd Session of the Institute of International Law in Santiago de Chile in 2007. It presents the Institute's position formulated in the resolution of October 27, 2007. Difficulties related to the application of foreign law are highlighted, as well as the need to seek functional similarities between domestic and foreign legal institutions to ensure the continuity and harmony of legal relationships. It is emphasized that substitution and equivalence do not require identical regulations, but only similarity of aims and interests.

This article is a review of Michał Wojewoda's monograph titled "The scope of law applicable to contractual obligations," focusing on the 1980 Rome Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations. The review positively assesses the work as the first in-depth study of the convention in Polish literature, highlighting the precision of the argument and the author's ability to tackle complex issues of conflict of laws, such as qualification, circumvention of law, or mandatory rules. The reviewer also points out debatable aspects, including the interpretation of the convention's scope of application, the concept of a consumer, and an overly rigorous approach to the splitting of the contractual statute (dépeçage), arguing for a broader acceptance of partial conflict-of-laws choice of law based on party autonomy. Despite these polemical remarks, Michał Wojewoda's work is considered an outstanding creative achievement.