The issue of the poor state of the armed forces as well as the army reform in the Polish- -Lithuanian Commonwealth remained one of the primary topics of political debate in the 18th century. Wincenty Skrzetuski, a prominent teacher, historian, lawyer and political writer of the era, also contributed significantly to the discussion. His reflections on the state of the Polish army, collected in his seminal work, The Political Law of the Polish Nation, published in 1782— 1784, were mostly educational and historical in nature and referred to gottfried Lengnich’s Ius publicum Regni Poloniae. additionally, Skrzetuski, in his description of the poor state of the Polish army, postulated a series of changes, including the idea of basing the system of the armed forces on the so-called national army and a strong contingent of professional forces. Skrzetuski’s postulates were not as precise as those formulated by his successors, such as Stanisław Staszic or Hugo kołłątaj, but they still constituted an important voice in the debate and pointed to the necessity of change, in the spirit of reformation and the Enlightenment, where the absolutist army was increasingly contrasted with a national army.

Customs duty constituted one of the public tributes regulating international trade after re- gaining independence by Poland in 1918. The independent character of the customs duty was em- phasised not only by the character of the regulations in customs law, but also by the existence of a specialised branch of public administration devoted to its collection. Customs duty performed a fiscal function and constituted an instrument of protection against inundation of the Polish market by cheap commodities imported from abroad.

Field and summary proceedings of the military criminal procedure constitute the most char- acteristic modes of this particular suit. In these modes, unlike in any other proceedings, it be- comes evident how crucial the command factor is for the military judiciary as well as how para- mount general prevention is for severe and swift penalisation of criminal activity by the military court. These particular forms of proceedings in the military constitute also an opportunity to present the general rules and solutions for criminal proceedings which are incongruous with the military criminal procedure.

The particular character of this kind of military criminal action is also manifested in the fact that it originated in the Polish army around the time Poland regained independence, and the cases tried in military courts at the time testify to the condition of the resurgent country.

The scope of court administration’s influence on the courts as well as the judges remains an issue due to the necessity to, on the one hand, supervise the judiciary and, on the other hand, uphold the independence of courts and judges.

In the period of activity of district military courts, the Justice Service department of the Ministry of National defence constituted the administrative body overseeing their functioning, and since 1950, its function was taken over by the directorate of Military Courts.

These institutions exceeded the scope of their administrative oversight, influencing the case law of military courts through, among others, exerting pressure on the judges and interfering with their independence, thus completely eradicating the independence of military courts by extension.

The author presents criminal proceedings against one of the prominent legal scholars, Mieczysław Siewierski, Phd. In the period of establishing the political system of the Polish Peo- ple’s Republic, Siewierski was a prosecutor of the Supreme Court as well as the Supreme Na- tional Tribunal. In 1946, he acted as a prosecutor in the trial of arthur greiser, the butcher of Wielkopolska, due to his excellent knowledge of the german law. His authority as an expert was the result of his remarkable professional abilities, excellent education, impeccable character and high propriety. In 1950—1956 he was accused and tried by the authorities due to his political convictions and activities. In 1956, due to the events of Polish October, he was exonerated and fully rehabilitated. after that, he devoted his life to scholarly and research activity, and for years, he remained a university professor of criminal law and published extensively on the subject. Mieczysław Siewierski died on October 9, 1981.

The following article aims at presenting part of the academic achievements of Edward Szy- moszek, a prominent and respected professor of the Roman law, a long-standing chair of the department of the Roman Law at the Faculty of Law and administration at the University of Silesia, and a chair of the department of the Roman Law at the Institute of the History of the State and the Law at the Faculty of Law and administration at the University of Wrocław. The article briefly presents the academic achievements of the professor as well as the origins of the journal “z dziejów Prawa” (“From the History of the Law”), published by the department of the History of the Law at the University of Silesia. The majority of the article is devoted to the analysis of Edward Szymoszek’s essays published in “From the History of the Law”. His publica- tions in the journal were concerned first and foremost with the research topic of “The History of the Roman Law in the Middle ages and the Modern Era,” which he pursued at the Faculty of Law and administration at the University of Silesia. These essays, focused predominantly on the tradition and progress in the activity of glossarists, as well as the theories of Fryderyk zoll (sen- ior), Stanisław Wróblewski or Michał Staszków, prove that Edward Szymoszek was an excellent expert not only on the classical Roman law, but also its history in the later periods.

The following sketch aims at presenting the academic achievements of one of the chief Po- lish professors of the Roman Law, Edward Szymoszek, chair of the department of the Roman Law at the Faculty of Law and administration at the University of Silesia, and a chair of the department of the Roman Law at the Institute of the History of the State and the Law at the Faculty of Law and administration at the University of Wrocław. This publication is even more justified considering the fact that currently there are no monographs which would constitute a bibliography of the professor. Therefore, the presented sketch could be useful in research on the state of the Roman law in the Middle ages, a subject on which professor Szymoszek published extensively.