Mirosław M Sadowski, DCL | University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (original) (raw)

Videos by Mirosław M Sadowski, DCL

Lecture given at the Universidade Aberta in Lisbon on August 5, 2022 (in Portuguese).

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Papers by Mirosław M Sadowski, DCL

Review of Central and East European Law, 2024

If one was to look for a single word to describe the historical experiences of Central and Easter... more If one was to look for a single word to describe the historical experiences of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), roulette comes immediately to mind. Be that the fall of great empires of the region following World War i (WWI), the tragedy of World War ii (WWII), the Iron Curtain separating CEE from the rest of the world, the fall of communism, the more recent illiberal ‘reckoning’ or the Russo-Ukrainian war, the region’s history is characterised by unpredictability. Importantly, these moments of ground-breaking change affect not only the political sphere – although the regime shifts and border changes are often amongst the most noticeable – but also the national imaginaries, as the process of collective memory inversion takes place, and official narratives of the yesteryear are replaced by those currently in power. Law plays an important role in managing these modifications, in particular those most visible, relating to public spaces and cultural heritage. The purpose of this paper is to look holistically at the changes that took place in the public sphere in the region since the end of wwi, with a particular focus on the intersection of law, politics and social changes. In the first, theoretical part of the paper, the author explains the relationship between collective memory and public spaces, linking these concepts with the understanding of the field, violence, habitus, and crisis proposed by Bourdieu. The second part of the paper introduces the major moments of change in the recent CEE history from the perspective of reimagination of public spaces, illustrating them on selected case studies: post-wwi fall of the empires and the destruction of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw, the wwii atrocities and the erasure of shtetl culture, the times of communism and the construction of the People’s Palace in Bucharest, the post-1989 decommunisation and the (not always) meticulous removal of the communist monuments from Estonia, the arrival of illiberalism and the reimagining of museums in Hungary, and, ultimately, the Russo-Ukrainian war and the ensuing derussification of Ukraine. In the third, conclusive part of the paper, the author looks at the big picture, linking the theoretical with the case studies more generally and proposing to draw lessons from Central and Eastern European roulette, which may also be applicable to other spaces in permanent flux.

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, 2024

Few phenomena in world history have such a vivid imagery in popular culture as piracy. Law is a m... more Few phenomena in world history have such a vivid imagery in popular culture as piracy. Law is a major element of those images, whether looking through its lens one considers pirates as lawless or, conversely, as free of the shackles of society. This article proposes to investigate the relationship between the two, choosing three eponymous images as the focus of its investigations. Beginning with the study of the ways in which images of piracy were created in popular culture, the author then turns his attention to the question of the ways in which law has framed pirates throughout the ages. Thus, he looks into each of the three pre-selected images: of pirates as symbols of liberty (focusing on the question of pirate's social organisation and pirate utopias), of pirates as outlaws (focusing on the question of how international law has treated pirates throughout history to the present day) and of pirates as treasure hunters (focusing on the question of legal rights to sunken treasures). In the final part of the article the author ponders the endurance of images of piracy, asking the question as to what this phenomenon reveals about law in particular and society in general.

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, Jan 5, 2024

The purpose of this paper is to analyse a particularly influential case of memory continuity in P... more The purpose of this paper is to analyse a particularly influential case of memory continuity in Portugal, that of Padrão dos Descobrimentos. Spaces of collective memory (such as public monuments) raise questions about what we celebrate, remember or rescue from oblivion, providing an opportunity to rethink the trauma. As such, care for public spaces is associated with ethical and cultural values. One of the difficulties with certain monuments has to do with the fact that they recall actions that today we see as traumatic acts. Thus, it is important to reflect on a critical use of memory. On August 8, 2021, Padrão dos Descobrimentos was the subject of a graffiti. One of the sides of the monument could read: "Blindly sailing for money, humanity is drowning in a scarlet sea". A great controversy immediately arose around the meaning of this gesture, as well as the role played by a monument that, after being temporarily built in 1940 for the Portuguese World Exhibition, was, in its current version, inaugurated in 1960, on the occasion of the fifth centenary of the death of Infante D. Henrique. This episode reignited a deeper cleavage around the uses of history and memory, the Portuguese colonial past, and the role of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos as an instrument for the reproduction of nationalism. In this sense, and with the authors proposing a new theoretical frame of reference based on the thought of Arendt and Ricoeur, its critical reading becomes relevant.

Law and Humanities, 2024

Cultural heritage and transitional justice both seem to be established terms with fixed connotati... more Cultural heritage and transitional justice both seem to be established terms with fixed connotations: the former of universally valued and appreciated cultural objects and the latter of processes related to replacing a nondemocratic regime with a democratic one. The social, political and legal realities of actual transitions and cultural objects caught in their midst, however, are much more complex. One such particular case was the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and its immediate aftermath, which, despite being a distinct transition from one non-Western regime to another, encountered similar issues with regard to the preservation of cultural heritage objects linked to the former establishment. The purpose of this paper is thus to provide a better understanding of the non-traditional processes of transitional justice, with a special focus on the place of cultural heritage objects during a transition using the example of Iran.

Undecidabilities and Law – The Coimbra Journal for Legal Studies (ULCJ), 2022

Images of genocide, mass graves and torn families come to mind when one hears the term ‘war crime... more Images of genocide, mass graves and torn families come to mind when one hears the term ‘war crime’. But does cultural heritage have similar legal rights? Is it protected by the Rome Statute? What lays in the future of cultural heritage protection against destruction? And where do the boundaries of law lie with regards to the rights of cultural objects? The purpose of this paper is to answer these questions by focusing on the 2016 International Criminal Court’s (ICC) judgement in the Al Mahdi case and the analysis of the 2021 ICC’s Policy on Cultural Heritage born in its wake, which will shape our perception of the cultural heritage protection in the years to come. In the first, introductory part of the paper the author ponders upon the concept of cultural heritage, trying to understand why it matters. In turn, the second part of the article focuses on the investigation of the many faces of interactions between cultural heritage and law. The third part of the paper is devoted to the analysis of the Al-Mahdi case heard before the ICC. The author explains how the case was brought before the ICC and the way in which the Court reached its now precedential decision, showing the various ways in which it pushed the boundaries of law and our understanding of what constitutes a war crime. In the fourth part of the paper the author turns his attention to the Policy on Cultural Heritage proposed by the ICC in June 2021 in close collaboration with UNESCO, looking into the new paths it puts forward for cultural heritage. The concluding part of the paper is focused on the question of what the ICC’s Policy means for the future of the prosecution of the crimes against cultural heritage, with the author asking whether it may be an effective tool and deterrent in fighting against the destruction of world’s heritage, and wondering how the rights of monuments may be further broadened in the coming years.

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique , 2022

Can the pandemic measures be used to advance particular political means? The question of correlat... more Can the pandemic measures be used to advance particular political means? The question of correlation between illiberal legal changes adopted amongst the wave of legislation focused on battling COVID has arisen in a number of countries around the world; as an increasing number of states finds leaving restrictions behind in 2022, however, Hong Kong is still battling the Omicron wave of the pandemic. Ever since its transition to China in 1997, Hong Kong has retained its place on the world stage as an international business hub and, while getting closer to the Mainland, enjoyed the freedoms provided by its SAR status. At the same time, by the end of the second decade of the twenty-first century the tensions between the prodemocratic inclinations of the large part of the city's population and pro-Mainland disposition of the SAR's political elite began to rise, with proposals of various legal acts put forward by the local government often perceived as encroaching freedoms. The street-level 'standoff' between the authorities and the people was brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic; and, with protesting rendered virtually impossible, a number of controversial legal changes were introduced by the government taking advantage of the situation, which, together with the anti-pandemic measures have continued to negatively impact the city's financial hub status. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the correlation between Hong Kong's fight with the pandemic and the local government's taking advantage of the situation in order to implement illiberal legislation, and its aftermath.

Krakowskie Studia Międzynarodowe – Krakow International Studies, 2021

The past decade has seen profound changes take place in Central Europe, notably in Poland and Hun... more The past decade has seen profound changes take place in Central Europe, notably in Poland and Hun gary. Countries once hailed as model liberal democracies have travelled through the looking glass, turning into their own illiberal refl ections. Was it a transformation, or a revolution, a reactionary one, as some researchers argue? The purpose of this paper is to analyse these changes in the region, with a special focus on law and collective memory, which have been in a way turned into the instruments of the illiberal transition. In the introductory part of the paper the author provides the background of the transformation, briefl y outlining the question of the rule of law in the region. The fi rst part of the paper is devoted to the legal causes of the recent changes in Poland and Hungary, with the role played by their defective constitutions highlighted. In the second part of the paper the author focuses on the process of changes itself, showing how liberal legal mechanisms (e.g. constitutional tribunals, rules of parliamentary proceedings) were in a way highjacked and reemployed to serve the new illiberal system. The third part of the paper is devoted to the role played by collective memories in the current changes, with the author showing how the illiberal state uses a variety of methods, from renaming the streets to implementing memory laws, to foster certain version of the social perceptions of the past. Ultimately, in the concluding remarks the author poses the eponymous question pondering whether the journey through the looking glass was more of a transformation or a revolution for Poland and Hungary.
Key words: illiberalism, Poland, Hungary, collective memory, memory policies
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Prawo oraz pamięć zbiorowa w służbie illiberalizmu. Po drugiej stronie lustra: transformacja czy reakcyjna rewolucja?
Druga dekada dwudziestego pierwszego wieku to czas głębokich przemian w Europie Środkowej, w szczególności w Polsce i na Węgrzech. Państwa przedstawiane niegdyś jako modelowe demokracje liberalne przeszły na drugą stronę lustra, zmieniając się w swoje illiberalne odbicia. Czy był to proces transformacji, czy też może rewolucji – w tym wypadku reakcyjnej – jak twierdzą niektórzy badacze? Celem artykułu jest pochylenie się nad przemianami w regionie, ze zwróceniem szczególnej uwagi na prawo oraz pamięć zbiorową, które zostały zmienione w narzędzia illiberalnych zmian. We wstępie autor przedstawia tło transformacji, krótko przybliżając kwestię praworządności w regionie. Pierwsza część artykułu poświęcona jest niedawnym zmianom w Polsce i na Węgrzech – koncentruje się na roli, jaką odegrały w nich konstytucyjne niedoskonałości. W drugiej części artykułu autor skupia się na samym procesie zmian, pokazując, w jaki sposób liberalne mechanizmy prawne (np. trybunały konstytucyjne, parlamentarne regulaminy i reguły postępowania) zostały przejęte, a następnie ponownie wykorzystane w illiberalnym systemie. Trzecia część artykułu dotyczy roli, jaką w procesie obecnych przemian odgrywa pamięć zbiorowa – autor pokazuje, w jaki sposób illiberalne państwa używają różnorodnych metod, od zmian nazw ulic po wprowadzanie tzw. praw pamięci (memory laws), w celu promowania konkretnej wizji przeszłości w społeczeństwie. Konkludując, autor stawia tytułowe pytanie, zastanawiając się, czy podróż na drugą stronę lustra była dla Polski i Węgier transformacją czy też rewolucją. Słowa kluczowe: illiberalizm, Polska, Węgry, pamięć zbiorowa, polityka pamięci

McGill GLSA Research Series Vol. 1 No. 1 (2021) "The City: An Object or a Subject of Law?", 2021

Introduction to the McGill GLSA Research Series Vol. 1 No. 1 (2021) "The City: An Object or a Sub... more Introduction to the McGill GLSA Research Series Vol. 1 No. 1 (2021) "The City: An Object or a Subject of Law?"

Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie - The German Journal of Law and Society, Apr 20, 2021

Major events, important historic and contemporary figures are vital for the creation of national ... more Major events, important historic and contemporary figures are vital for the creation of national identity, and thus often become immortalised in public spaces in the form of streets and monuments-places of memory. But what happens when these places are reminders of a corrupt memory, a past that many would rather forget? Should they be removed, as if the people and the events they commemorate never existed, never took place, or should they be kept as sites of conscience, present-day reminders of a painful past? What may be their new role in the cityscape? And, ultimately, who has the right to be remembered, and who has the right to be forgotten within a city's network? The purpose of this paper is to answer these questions on the basis of the recent changes in post-communist and post-colonial countries, using these investigations to ponder the question of the right to memory.

Forum Prawnicze, 2020

The past two decades saw a generational change come to the universities along with the technologi... more The past two decades saw a generational change come to the universities along with the technological one: the very first digital natives, the Millennials, arrived. Gen Z soon followed. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the two somewhat similar, but often different generations and place them within the context of the Polish and North American university, the law faculty in particular, in order to answer the question: What does this shift of generations mean for the future of legal education? In the first part of the paper the author introduces the two generations, contrasting them with the previous ones. The second part of the paper is devoted to the issue of Millennials and Gen Z at the university, particularly in law school. In the final part of the paper the author applies the findings of two previous sections to the question of the future of legal education. Arguing that law faculties are unique entities within the university, he proposes a number of changes to the teaching of law which should be introduced if Millennials and Gen Zs are to truly find their place in the academia and be able to live up to their full potential as lawyers, be that practitioners or academics.

Fascicle „Administration. Theory – Didactics – Practice”, 2018

Why Central, and not Eastern Europe? This is the question that people from the West often ask. Ce... more Why Central, and not Eastern Europe? This is the question that people from the West often ask. Central Europeans, on the other hand, do not doubt that they are not a part of the East. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the notion of Central Europe and to investigate whether a common Central European identity exists, both in the general and legal aspect. In the first, introductory part of the paper the author ventures to define the idea of Central Europe. The second part of the paper is de-voted to the question of a general Central European identity. The author approaches the problem through the analysis of four authors describing the region – Milan Kundera, György Konrád, Czesław Miłosz, and Timothy Garton Ash. In the third part of the paper the author focuses on the concept of a potential Central European legal identity, whose existence is still widely debated, comparing and contrasting two opposite approaches to this problem. In the final, concluding part of the paper the author outlines the ideas for further research into the intersections between the countries of the region.

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, 2020

Is there a major international crime that the general public has never heard of or even thought a... more Is there a major international crime that the general public has never heard of or even thought about? The answer to this question might be surprising—it is the illicit art trade. The purpose of this article is to analyse the criminal aspect of the global art trade with a special focus on the region of South East Asia. In the first part of the paper, which acts as a backdrop for the rest of the article, the author explains the history and general issues regarding the trade of cultural artefacts, briefly explaining the stages in the illicit antiquities trade, with a special focus on the question of international law regulations, of which he provides a critical overview. The second and third parts of the paper are devoted to a more profound analysis of the antiquities journey from illicit to licit. In the second part of the paper the author provides a case study of the first part of the voyage of Cambodian, Vietnamese and Indian antiquities, i.e. from the source country to the port of first shipment, examining the places and the middlemen they pass on their way. The third part of the paper is devoted to the analysis of legal provisions regulating the art trade in Hong Kong—a global art hub—notably the ‘market overt exception’, which allows buyers in good faith to keep the illicitly obtained cultural objects in spite of any claims made by the previous owners. In the fourth part of the paper the author shows why restitution of looted antiquities is so difficult, analysing a number of successful and unsuccessful attempts. The concluding part of the paper is devoted to the author’s critical overview of the various attempts and suggestions on the curtailing of the illicit international art trade. In the coda the author provides a case study of the journey undertaken by Cambodian antiquities.

Hors-série - Décembre 2019 Revue québécoise de droit international/Québec Journal of International Law, 2019

“The rule of law is essential to Hong Kong’s future” — declared the last governor of Hong Kong, C... more “The rule of law is essential to Hong Kong’s future” — declared the last governor of Hong Kong, Christopher Patten, a few years before the city’s handover to China. The rule of law, obviously, is essential to the future of any legal entity. However, one has to ask what happens if the law that rules is imperfect. It then inevitably leads to conflicts. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how efficiently has the rule of law ‘ruled’ in Hong Kong since the transition, with a special focus on the situations when law itself led to conflicts. In his analysis the author concentrates on the post-colonial influences of the past, People's Republic of China’s influences of the present, and outlines possible scenarios for the future of the Chinese Special Administrative Region, while highlighting the question of democracy. The article is divided into two main parts–theoretical, composed of one chapter, and analytical, composed of two chapters. In the first part of the article the author reviews various understandings of the notions of the rule of law and of conflict, introducing the theoretical framework for further investigations. The second chapter of the article is devoted to the question of the rule of law in the semi-autonomous city. The author first explains why its explicit conceptualisation was revolutionary in Hong Kong at this particular moment, and then shows how it has been eroding ever since 1997. In the third chapter of the paper, the author focuses on the situations in Hong Kong when law itself has provoked conflicts — notably the recent oath-swearing dispute — and analyses them. The fourth, concluding part of the paper the author ventures to make predictions on the future of the legal systems, democracy, and thus the lives of the citizens of the Fragrant Harbour.

Studia Erasmiana Vratislaviensia, 2017

The 32nd Critical Legal Conference, which took place at Warwick University from the 1st to 3rd of... more The 32nd Critical Legal Conference, which took place at Warwick University from
the 1st to 3rd of September, was organised on the theme „Catastrophe.” Of the 24
streams that have been organised, the authors chose two for full inclusion in this
report: „Approaching catastrophes: exception, revolution and the law,” and „Legal
globalisation and the decolonial turn: power and encryption,” along with the plenary
sessions. After recounting all of the papers presented during these streams,
R. Mańko, M.M. Sadowski, and P. Święcicka offer their observations on the conference.
Easily noticeable was the shift in the national origin of the researchers present
at the conference. There were fewer academics from CEE countries and North
America, and more from Scandinavia and Latin America. Also, due to the number
of streams, the idea behind the conference has to an extent disintegrated—some of
the more popular streams were widely attended, while others had only former and
future participants in the audience. As well worth noting is that a drift away from
the more legal subjects as CLC themes (“turning points” in 2016, „catastrophe” in 2017, and „fear” suggested for 2018) has been met with disapproval by most of the
participants, as has the tradition of organising the conference on the old continent
every three years, which may suggest another shift in the years to come.

Warsaw Law Review, 2017

Despite the fact that we are living in the times of ‘hypertrophy of memory’ or ‘memory boom’, man... more Despite the fact that we are living in the times of ‘hypertrophy of
memory’ or ‘memory boom’, many legal scholars has so far tried to
ignore the numerous ties between law and memory. These ties, however,
do exist, and some researchers even suggest that law is perpetually in
search of the past, while others say that memory is one of the cornerstones
of law. The purpose of this article is to investigate the unobvious,
but extremely potent relationship between law and memory. In the first
part of this paper, the author briefly introduces the notions of collective
memory and cultural trauma, which connect law and memory. The
second part of the article is devoted to the concept of ‘law as memory’,
which is mainly based on Henri Bergson’s and Emmanuel Levinas’ concepts.
In the third part of the article, the author shows the intersections
between collective memory and law, exemplifying how collective memories
may be shaped by law, and vice versa, how law may be shaped by collective
memories. The fourth part of the paper is dedicated to the close
bonds between collective memory and international law, and between
human rights law and memory. The author first analyses the workings
of the relationship of memory with the international law, showing how
they both influence each other, and giving some recent examples of the
intersections of international law and collective memory, e.g. Germany’s
response to the Eurozone crisis and Argentina’s reaction towards the
ICSID’s awards. Then he focuses on the liaison between memory and
human rights law, explaining how memory ‘stands behind’ human rights
in the modern era. In the last part of the article, the author ventures to
sum up his deliberations, and tries to answer one of the questions of the
21st century – whether there is a right to memory.

Chociaż żyjemy w czasach „hipertrofii pamięci” i memory boom’u, związkipomiędzy prawem a pamięcią od wielu lat pozostają ignorowane przezbadaczy nauk prawnych. Mimo to, nie sposób zaprzeczyć, że te związkiistnieją, gdyż, jak zauważają niektórzy autorzy, prawo wciąż poszukujeprzeszłości, podczas gdy pamięć jest jednym z kamieni węgielnych prawa.Celem tego artykułu jest zbadanie tych nieoczywistych, ale niezwykle silnychzwiązków między pamięcią i prawem. W pierwszej części artykułuautor krótko przedstawia koncepcje pamięci zbiorowej oraz traumy kulturowej,które łączą pamięć z prawem. Druga część artykułu jest poświęconaanalizie idei „prawa jako pamięci”, której podstawy stworzyli Henri Bergsoni Emmanuel Levinas. W trzeciej części artykułu autor pokazuje punktystyczne między pamięcią zbiorową i prawem, badając w jaki sposób pamięćzbiorowa jest kształtowana przez prawo, i vice versa, w jaki sposób prawo jestkształtowe przez pamięć zbiorową. Czwarta część artykułu jest poświęconabiskim związkom pomiędzy pamięcią zbiorową a prawem międzynarodowymoraz pomiędzy prawem praw człowieka i pamięcią. Autor najpierwanalizuje w jaki sposób prawo międzynarodowe i pamięć zbiorowa współdziałająza sobą i wzajemnie na siebie wpływają, m.in. na przykładzie reakcjiNiemiec na kryzys w strefie euro i stosunku Argentyny do wyrokówICSID. Następnie autor skupia się na relacji między pamięcią i prawempraw człowieka, wyjaśniając w jaki sposób w dzisiejszych czasach pamięć„stoi za” prawami człowieka. W ostatniej części artykułu autor podsumowujeswoje rozważania, stawiając następujące pytanie – czy w dwudziestympierwszym wieku istnieje prawo do pamięci?

ROMANIAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW Volume 8 (issue 2) 2017, 2017

Constant change has proved essential to the cities’ growth, as the ones which have stayed in plac... more Constant change has proved essential to the cities’ growth, as the ones which have stayed in place slowly crumble into pieces. In the urban environment, however, moving forward often results in the destruction of its past. Gentrification, urbanisation, reindustrialisation — they are often to blame when cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, is destroyed. The purpose of this article is to analyse how urban cultural heritage may be preserved in the 21st century and to show the best ways to manage it, on the ‘extreme’ examples of global metropolises — Hong Kong and Macau. In the first, theoretical part of the paper, M. M. Sadowski explains the concept of cultural heritage, defining its different ‘varieties’ — tangible, intangible, and urban – looking how the idea evaluated over the years. The second part of the article is devoted to the relationship between sustainable development and cultural heritage. The author first introduces and compares various theories of sustainable development, and then shows how they correspond with urban cultural heritage and its preservation. In the third, last part of the paper, M. M. Sadowski, examines the legal frameworks protecting cultural heritage in place in Hong Kong and Macau. He first explains his choice of the two cities as case studies, then shows how their legal regulations correspond with UNESCO’s guidelines, and ultimately ventures to make suggestions which may improve the fate of cultural heritage in this kind of a changing modern metropolis.

Journal of Heritage Management, 2017

As we are approaching the end of the second decade of the 21st century, at the moment when more p... more As we are approaching the end of the second decade of the 21st century, at the moment when more people live in the cities than anywhere else, there comes a good to time to ponder on the role and the condition of urban cultural heritage. In the times of growth, urbanisation, and rapid development, the city may be described as a modern battlefield of cultural heritage protection, often faced with the choice between protection and conservation, or destruction and redevelopment. The purpose of this article is to analyse the means of protection of urban cultural heritage—a common, which is local (it takes a vital part in the creation of identity) and global (it is a part of a universal heritage) at the same time—in the international law, and to look into ways of its successful management. In the first part of the paper M.M. Sadowski introduces the concept of the urban cultural heritage. In the second part of the paper, he examines the two main UNESCO conventions concerning cultural heritage protection, Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, and Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, trying to establish whether or not they are successful tools in protecting the urban cultural heritage. The third part of the article is devoted to the analysis of a new approach towards urban cultural heritage advocated by UNESCO, based on the 2011 recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), giving examples of its successful (Amsterdam, Ballarat, Cuenca) and unsuccessful application (Stockholm, Hong Kong, Macau). In the fourth part of the paper the author ventures to establish the ways of effective governance of the urban cultural heritage in the 21st century, from the viewpoint of sustainable urban development, focusing on the role of cultural heritage in the city’s growth, and in the creation of identity and collective memories. The fifth, concluding part of the paper, is a search for an answer to the question of a need for a new UNESCO convention.

Acta Erasmiana, 2014

Celem niniejszego artykułu jest prześledzenie mechanizmów działania pamięci, pokazanie w jaki spo... more Celem niniejszego artykułu jest prześledzenie mechanizmów działania pamięci, pokazanie w jaki sposób mogą one być zasobem kulturowym, filozoficznym, a także przedstawienie związków między pamięcią a literaturą na przykładzie trzech dzieł: W poszukiwaniu straconego czasu Marcela Prousta, Panien z Wilka Jarosława Iwaszkiewicza oraz wybranych esejów Czesława Miłosza.

Comparative Law Review , 2016

2017 and 2019 will be the years of the 20th anniversaries of the, respectively, Hong Kong and Mac... more 2017 and 2019 will be the years of the 20th anniversaries of the, respectively, Hong Kong and Macau’s transitions. As these commemorations are coming closer, the author of this article analyses the legal systems of the two China’s Special Administrative Regions. He looks at them from the viewpoint of what are sometimes called ‘the last great acts of History in the 20th century’ (the transitions), and in the perspective of collective memory of the times of colonialism, and first post-transition years. In the introductory part of the article, M. M. Sadowski investigates the fascinating history behind the unique legal systems of the two Europe’s entrepôts in Asia, describing how the power over the two cities was granted to Portugal and Great Britain, how the local laws had gradually been eradicated, and laws of colonial empires implemented instead. The second part of this essay is devoted to the current shape of Hong Kong and Macau’s legal systems, which are, interestingly, at the same time different — Macau’s belongs to the civil, and Hong Kong’s to the common law family — and similar — at their cores lie two alike Joint Declarations. The author first analyses, then compares these two systems, remarking upon their exceptional form (the unique scope of independence granted to the two cities), noting at the same time how their laws were never shaped by the will of citizens, but first by colonial powers, and ultimately during the Sino-British and Sino-Portuguese negotiations. He also reflects on the changes that have been introduced in law since the transition of power over Hong Kong and Macau, and tries to predict what the future will bring to their legal frameworks, and what will be left from their colonial past in terms of law. In the third part of the article, M. M. Sadowski looks into the politics, society, and collective memories in Hong Kong and Macau, showing how they are interconnected, together ultimately shaping the two cities’ present.

Lecture given at the Universidade Aberta in Lisbon on August 5, 2022 (in Portuguese).

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Review of Central and East European Law, 2024

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, 2024

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, Jan 5, 2024

Law and Humanities, 2024

Undecidabilities and Law – The Coimbra Journal for Legal Studies (ULCJ), 2022

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique , 2022

Krakowskie Studia Międzynarodowe – Krakow International Studies, 2021

McGill GLSA Research Series Vol. 1 No. 1 (2021) "The City: An Object or a Subject of Law?", 2021

Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie - The German Journal of Law and Society, Apr 20, 2021

Forum Prawnicze, 2020

Fascicle „Administration. Theory – Didactics – Practice”, 2018

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, 2020

Hors-série - Décembre 2019 Revue québécoise de droit international/Québec Journal of International Law, 2019

Studia Erasmiana Vratislaviensia, 2017

Warsaw Law Review, 2017

ROMANIAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW Volume 8 (issue 2) 2017, 2017

Journal of Heritage Management, 2017

Acta Erasmiana, 2014

Comparative Law Review , 2016

Wroclaw Review of Law, Economics, and Administration , 2015

As many researchers have pointed out, the past two decades have seen ‘a hypertrophy of memory’. N... more As many researchers have pointed out, the past two decades have seen ‘a hypertrophy of memory’. Never before have so many different disciplines investigated the mysteries behind the ways we remember, trying to show that memory does influence various sciences, from sociology, to law, to literature. This article ventures to outline the scope of these investigations, looking at memory from a different, broad perspective. Following a short introduction, section two focuses on the ‘technical’ details of memory, explaining how our mind remembers (and forgets), and remarking upon the so-called ‘sins of memory’. Section article addresses social aspects of memory, in particular the notion of collective memory. The author explains this increasingly popular term, introducing several other interconnected expressions. Section four focuses on cultural dimensions of memory. It first outlines, then analyses the relationship memory and philosophy have had through the ages, showing how the perceptions of the latter have changed. Next, the author evokes the once popular, nowadays slightly forgotten discipline, known as mnemotechnics, or ‘art of memory’. Section five is devoted to the relations between literature and memory. The article first explains how, in many ways, memory influences literature and then argues that literature is one of the best grounds to observe how different mechanisms of memory work. Thus, the author analyses three contemporary works, Marcel Proust’s In the Search of Lost Time, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz’s Maidens of Wilko, and Czesław Misłosz’s Lost Places, showing how they can help us unveil some of memory’s mysteries. In the last part of the essay, the author investigates the ties between international law and collective memory. Giving insight into this unobvious relationship, on the examples of present-day Argentina and Germany, the article notes that international law both influences and is influenced by collective memory.

Heritage, Conflict, and Peace-Building , 2024

In the past several decades, the concept of transitional justice (TJ) has been applied to various... more In the past several decades, the concept of transitional justice (TJ) has been applied to various societies both past and present. TJ is linked to reconciliation, which was supposed to be the ultimate goal of a transition from a non-democratic regime to a democratic one. Reconciliation and, therefore, TJ are thus seen as preconditions for peace by the majority of scholars currently in the field. This position, however, loses sight of other potential approaches towards the understanding of social processes amongst major changes and tends to preclude other narratives. For instance, TJ is still used to explain various events taking place in Central and Eastern Europe today, over 30 years since the transition. This chapter takes a different path, showing that also where no transitional justice – and no reconciliation – took place, the transmission of collective memories of trauma through cultural heritage can still achieve peace. My case study is Hungary after the Treaty of Trianon (1920), an event that continues to be immortalised in numerous monuments spanning every political era in Hungary. While these monuments – and other objects of cultural heritage created in the treaty's wake – stand for the antithesis of transitional justice's goal of reconciliation, keeping the collective memory of the national trauma of losing two-thirds of territory alive today – following other disastrous events of the twentieth century – their presence evokes and facilitates peace. Still reminders of trauma and minders of counter-memories in relation to its neighbours, Hungary's Trianon monuments have become a vital part of national identity. At the same time, I argue, their role is more of carriers of peace rather than means of revisionism, catalysing, as reminders of a ‘glorious’ – but in reality much more complicated – past, much ongoing resentment towards Hungary's neighbours, thus realising cultural heritage's peacebuilding value in a convoluted but nonetheless effective way. Following a theoretical introduction to cultural heritage's relationship with collective memory and transitional justice, as well as its role in maintaining peace and relationship with monuments and identity, I move to the question of the Trianon Treaty. I trace its origins and reverberating effects over the past 100 years, ultimately focusing on the monuments commemorating the treaty as both carriers of memory and objects of cultural heritage. I conclude by showing their peacebuilding role as catalysts of collective memories of trauma, thus sketching out the links between the legal (Trianon Treaty), the political (construction of monuments as a major part of Hungary's cultural heritage and official narrative), and the social (the monuments’ role in sustaining – and placating – collective memory). In doing so, I hope to uncover an alternative account of the intimate details of the relationship between cultural heritage and peace, one that taps into narratives that do not necessitate the full conceptual apparatus, institutional machinery, and political load of transitional justice.

Intersections of Law and Memory. Influencing Perceptions of the Past, 2024

This book elaborates a new framework for considering and understanding the relationship between l... more This book elaborates a new framework for considering and understanding the relationship between law and memory.

How can law influence collective memory? What are the mechanisms law employs to influence social perceptions of the past? And how successful is law in its attempts to rewrite narratives about the past? As the field of memory studies has grown, this book takes a step back from established transitional justice narratives, returning to the core sociological, philosophical and legal theoretical issues that underpin this field. The book then goes on to propose a new approach to the relationship between law and collective memory based on a conception of ‘legal institutions of memory’. It then elaborates the functioning of such institutions through a range of examples – taken from Japan, Iraq, Brazil, Portugal, Rwanda and Poland – that move from the work of international tribunals and truth commissions to more explicit memory legislation. The book concludes with a general assessment of the contemporary intersections of law and memory, and their legal institutionalisation.

This book will be of interest to scholars with relevant interests in the sociology of law, legal theory and international law, as well as in sociology and politics.

Heritage in War and Peace. Legal and Political Perspectives for Future Protection , 2024

In 2021 and 2022 two editions of "Heritage in War and Peace" Seminars took place, at 'Sapienza' U... more In 2021 and 2022 two editions of "Heritage in War and Peace" Seminars took place, at 'Sapienza' University in Rome and McGill University in Montreal, respectively. This collected edition brings together some of the many discussions which took place during the conferences and the time and places in between. In this introduction the two co-editors explain the motivations behind the convening of the Seminars, providing an overview of the book’s structure and briefly describing the papers collected here, all while pondering the current state of cultural heritage, as well as ideas for its conservation in the future.

Law, Culture and Identity in Central and Eastern Europe. A Comparative Engagement , 2024

Legal transplants are some of the many traits that Central and Eastern European legal systems sha... more Legal transplants are some of the many traits that Central and Eastern European legal systems share; in the case of Croatia and Poland, however, they come to the forefront of the legal identity of the two countries. As such, this chapter proposes comparing the experiences of the two countries with respect to implementation, adaptation, and persistence of legal transplants. The first section provides a summarised background with a historical perspective on Croatian and Polish legal transplants. Both countries share the Austrian, as well as later German, Soviet and ultimately EU legal influences; however, in the Polish case, the number of other foreign impacts is greater, with an especially strong French legacy. The theoretical inquiry is then contrasted with case studies, which cover the Croatian land registry and the Polish law on allotments as particular examples of legal transplants that have persisted through a variety of political and social transitions. The paper concludes by placing the experiences of Croatia and Poland in a broader regional and European perspective.

Law, Culture and Identity in Central and Eastern Europe. A Comparative Engagement , 2024

What does Central Europe actually mean? Western Europeans, not to mention non-Europeans, often fe... more What does Central Europe actually mean? Western Europeans, not to mention non-Europeans, often feel available at confused when people of the region insist they do not come from Eastern Europe. However, while a Central European knows for sure that they are not Eastern European, the answer to the eponymous question is neither easy nor simple. How can the region be delineated? Which countries to include and which to exclude? What basis should one use: geographical, cultural, social, legal…? The purpose of this paper is to focus on the five most vital areas in the author's opinion – culture, law, politics, memory, and heritage – in the hopes of not only uncovering what constitutes Central Europe and its identity – but also showing how this identity may help or hinder regional cooperation. In the introductory part of the paper, the author presents his theoretical approach to the question of regional identity, later applying it to the case of Central Europe. In turn, in the third and fourth parts of the paper, the author investigates how regional cooperation works in Central Europe, looking into three major forms of collaboration – the Visegrad Group, 16/17/14 + 1, and the Three Seas Initiative – from the point of view of regional identity. Ultimately, in the concluding part of the paper, the author shows how a better awareness of the Central European identity could help regional cooperation, proposing the Three Seas Initiative as a way forwards for the region.

Law, Culture and Identity in Central and Eastern Europe. A Comparative Engagement, 2024

Combining insights from comparative legal theory, jurisprudence and legal history, this collectio... more Combining insights from comparative legal theory, jurisprudence and legal history, this collection examines the legal and constitutional identity of Central and Eastern Europe.

Although the various countries of Central and Eastern Europe have often compared themselves to the West, the failure of these countries to engage with one another has resulted in a whole spectrum of legal identities remaining hidden. This book takes up a comparison of such identities within the region of Central and Eastern Europe, and following from the prima facie similarity between the region’s countries, given the experience of communism and legal transfers. The book thereby illuminates, through comparisons, the distinct legal identities of the 16 Central and Eastern European states; whilst, at the same time, arguing for a shared Central and Eastern European legal identity.

This book will appeal to scholars and students in the area of comparative law, as well as lawyers, political scientists, sociologists, and historians with particular interests in Central and Eastern Europe.

Democracy, Legal Education and the Political. Central and Eastern European Forum for Legal, Political, and Social Theory Yearbook Vol. 11, 2023

Higher education was one of the many services and industries which needed to adapt due to the 202... more Higher education was one of the many services and industries which needed to adapt due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the planning and preparation for the first fully remotely taught semester, Fall 2020, undertaken at the McGill University’s Faculty of Law. In the first part the author provides an overview of remote pedagogy as a method of delivery. The second and third parts of the paper are devoted to the planning for remote delivery at McGill’s Faculty of Law. The author investigates the work of the Ad hoc Committee on Remote Pedagogy, of which he was a research assistant, presenting its “Guidelines and the Toolkit on Remote Pedagogy.” In the concluding part of the paper the author ponders upon the challenge of adaptation to remote pedagogy, being cautiously optimistic about the future of legal education.

Flags, Color, and the Legal Narrative. Public Memory, Identity, and Critique, 2021

As we advance into the twenty-first century, more and more of what has once been crucial to the f... more As we advance into the twenty-first century, more and more of what has once been crucial to the functioning of a society, slides into oblivion. However, certain agents of the past, carriers of social memory, prevail. One such an agent is the flag. More than just a mere symbol, the flag bears an opulent amount of meaning, sometimes accumulated over the centuries, at other times acquired overnight, evoking either love and pride, fear and contempt, or just indifference. The purpose of this paper is to analyse flags as carriers of collective memories and of local and national identity, and to compare various legal provisions controlling and protecting them. In the first part of the paper, the author introduces the concept of collective memory, showing how flags—carriers of memory—are connected to it. The second part of the paper is devoted to the questions of identity and national identity, and the ways they intersect with collective memories and, ultimately, flags. In the third, main part of the paper, the author ventures to examine the role of flags in the contemporary society. Applying the findings of the previous two chapters to a number of mini-case studies (Poland, Brazil, Australia, Greece, USA, various former USSR territories, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Hungary, Cyprus and Canada), the author shows how different societies hold different attitudes towards flags and how, even in a digital society we currently live in, such a material thing as a flag is vital for the creation of a group’s identity, and can still evoke deep and often completely conflicting feelings, even leading to conflict.

Constitutional Identities in Central and Eastern Europe. The CEE Yearbook vol. 8, 2020

What is happening in Central Europe? This question has been asked numerous times in the recent ye... more What is happening in Central Europe? This question has been asked numerous times in the recent years by researchers describing the illiberal changes taking place in the region. The purpose of this paper is not to analyse these changes in particular, but rather to venture to find an answer as to why a region which has been a model example of transition from authoritarianism to liberal democracy has turned illiberal. In the first, introductory part of the paper the author explains what illiberalism is in political theory,moving in the second part of the article to what the term means for the present-day leaders of Central Europe. The third, main part of the paper is devoted to the analysis of the reasons behind the region’s illiberal swerve, outlining potential external and internal factors. In the final part of the paper the author tries to predict Central Europe’s near future.

In this chapter, the author tries to explain why, looking back on different factors which determ... more In this chapter, the author tries to explain why, looking back on different factors
which determined its shape (in particular, historical determinacy and collective memory),
the Polish transition took such a peculiar form, and whether or not a different scenario
could have occurred after 1989. In the first part of this paper, the author defines the notions of collective memory and historical determinacy. The second part of the article analyses the historical factors which shaped the Polish transformation. In the third part of the paper, the author focuses on the political factors which shaped the Polish transition, observing how the new political scene was created. In the last part of the paper, the author highlights to what extent the omnipresent history and collective memory have determined the current shape of Polish society and culture.

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique , 2023

An unresolved difficult past never fully goes away, rather simmering below the surface, ready to ... more An unresolved difficult past never fully goes away, rather simmering below the surface, ready to boil over when the right time arrives. The most recent years are a testament to that, with changes to cityscapes all around the world, be that as an aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement in post-colonial countries or the new wave of post-communist iconoclasm in Central and Eastern Europe in the second decade of the twenty-first century. While most visible, these modifications of public spaces are only some of the many ways transitional justice operates in the present day.

In their two formidable recent works, Paolo Caroli and Kim Stanton put the ways of (not) coming to terms with past atrocities in two countries, Italy and Canada, respectively, in the spotlight. Despite the fact that the World War II (WWII) Italian experience and the abuses committed to Indigenous peoples and various minorities by settlers in Canada are worlds apart, as the two books show, the different ways of coping with trauma through law speak to one another and should be studied together, allowing us to uncover the different yet complementary faces of transitional justice.

Presentation of my book 'Intersections of Law and Memory. Influencing Perceptions of the Past' at... more Presentation of my book 'Intersections of Law and Memory. Influencing Perceptions of the Past' at the conference 'Congresso Internacional Direitos Humanos. História, Atualidade e Utopia(s) em Contexto de Globalização' in Alenquer, 6th-7th of December 2023

Talked and discussed upon the matters of decolonisation and collective memory.

University of Victoria Libraries

How can law influence collective memory? What mechanisms does law employ to influence social perc... more How can law influence collective memory? What mechanisms does law employ to influence social perceptions of the past? How successful is law in its attempts to rewrite narratives about the past? I propose to take a step back from established transitional justice narratives, returning to the core sociological, philosophical, and legal theoretical issues that underpin the field of memory studies in order to present a new approach to the relationship between law and collective memory based on a conception of ‘legal institutions of memory’. I will explore different examples taken from Japan, Iraq, Brazil, Portugal, Rwanda and Poland that move from the work of international tribunals and truth commissions to more explicit memory legislation.

Lecture given at Aberta University in Lisbon on October 24, 2023.

Talk given at UC Berkeley during the conference ”Contructing post-imperium/post-authoritarian ide... more Talk given at UC Berkeley during the conference ”Contructing post-imperium/post-authoritarian identity: Taiwan and Eastern Europe” 13-14 September 2018.

LSA's CRN 51 Virtual Speaker Series

In his vast oeuvre, Foucault rarely engaged directly with the questions of collective memory (nev... more In his vast oeuvre, Foucault rarely engaged directly with the questions of collective memory (never using the actual term), however he could not remain completely silent on the matter in his vast analysis of the question of power. Thus, he introduced two particularly useful concepts for any and all analysis of the issues regarding collective memory, that of counter-memory and – the closely related – counter-history, which describe those collective memories and narratives which remain in opposition to the mainstream, official ones. The idea of counter-memory, potentially applied to all conflicts between various social groups where one is in power and another subjected to it, is rendered particularly useful in transitional contexts when the old official narratives are overpowered by the ex-oppositions who bring their – now former – counter-memories to the forefront of the debate, turning them into the official narrative, whereas those of the members of the previous regime at the same time become counter-memories themselves. The purpose of this paper is to build up on the original concept of Foucault in order to analyse the abovementioned process of ‘counter-memory inversion’ on the cases of Poland, Hungary and Ukraine, which employed it – successfully, to a point – well into the second decade of the 21st century in order to cement the former counter-memories as collective memory in the respective country’s official narratives using different legal means, from changing street names and removing monuments to lustration to introducing memory laws.

Leis de Memória e Liberdade de Expressão: Europa, América Latina e Além

Studia Erasmiana Vratislaviensia, 2017

The 32nd Critical Legal Conference, which took place at Warwick University fromthe 1st to 3rd of ... more The 32nd Critical Legal Conference, which took place at Warwick University fromthe 1st to 3rd of September, was organised on the theme „Catastrophe.” Of the 24 streams that have been organised, the authors chose two for full inclusion in this report: „Approaching catastrophes: exception, revolution and the law,” and „Legal globalisation and the decolonial turn: power and encryption,” along with the plenarysessions. After recounting all of the papers presented during these streams ,R. Mańko, M. M. Sadowski, and P. Święcicka offer their observations on the conference. Easily noticeable was the shift in the national origin of the researchers presentat the conference. There were fewer academics from CEE countries and North America, and more from Scandinavia and Latin America. Also, due to the number of streams, the idea behind the conference has to an extent disintegrated—some of the more popular streams were widely attended, while others had only former and future participants in the audience. As well worth noting is that a drift away from the more legal subjects as CLC themes (“turning points” in 2016, „catastrophe” in 2017, and „fear” suggested for 2018) has been met with disapproval by most of the participants, as has the tradition of organising the conference on the old continent every three years, which may suggest another shift in the years to come.

Policy brief by the research consortium The Challenges of Populist Memory Politics and Militant Memory Laws (MEMOCRACY), 2023

The study consists of two primary sections devoted to Poland’s and Hungary’sremembering of and de... more The study consists of two primary sections devoted to Poland’s and Hungary’sremembering of and dealing with the past – including with the deployment of memory lawsand of other legal and extra-legal instruments in historical policy; also including soft law andrelevant domestic courts’ jurisprudence. The report situates these practices against Europeanhuman rights law standards as inferred from the European Court of Human Rights’(hereinafter ‘ECtHR’) case law. The aim of this exercise is to capture the dynamics ofthe Polish and Hungarian states’ relationship to the past after 1989 in a concise form, and toexamine their current legal frameworks.

Raports ILS PAS 1/2023, 2023

Legal governance of history and memory aiming to legitimise a socio-political order has been a pa... more Legal governance of history and memory aiming to legitimise a socio-political order has been a part ofmodern history. Its presence is global, with varying thematic, geo-political and ideological settings.1 Onesuch setting is the area of constitutionalism, understood as a coherent system of limitations of governmentalpowers, where the authority and legitimacy of the government are recognised only if such limitationsare respected.2 Placed in this context, mnemonic constitutionalism can be broadly defined as a processof embedding specific historical paradigms in the structures and framework of European law, nationalconstitutional law, memory laws (understood as provisions of the law shaping, imposing or even sanctioningthe collective understandings of historical events), as well as judicial assessments of the attitude to thepast, ranging from the evaluation of the constitutionality of specific provisions of the law by the courts tojudicial reasoning dictated by ideological and political pressure, such as the April 2022 judicial decisionordering the dissolution of Memorial, Russia’s oldest and most prominent non-governmental organisation,fearlessly revealing the crimes of Soviet regime and defending historical truth.3In this context, Poland and Hungary – the two states under review in this Report – are model examplesof not only legal governance over history with the tools of mnemonic constitutionalism, but also statespursuing memory wars to impose certain state-sponsored narratives on the past.

Historia pewnej dolnośląskiej rodziny. Wieś. Kościół. Pałac. Pola. Zwierzęta. Lasy.-Zwykła wie... more Historia pewnej dolnośląskiej rodziny.

Wieś. Kościół. Pałac. Pola. Zwierzęta. Lasy.-Zwykła wieś?-O nie!-Dlaczego?-Jak to dlaczego?! Ta wieś jest przecież n i e z w y k ł a.-Ale dlaczego?-Ponieważ w tej wsi jest pewien młyn. To znaczy dom. A w zasadzie dom z młynem. Ale może zacznijmy po kolei.

Geniusz. Nowator. Lew salonowy. Krytyk życia salonowego. Naprawdę chory hipochondryk. Skandalista... more Geniusz. Nowator. Lew salonowy. Krytyk życia salonowego. Naprawdę chory hipochondryk. Skandalista. Moralista. Przeciwnik rozdziału Kościoła od państwa. Biseksualista. Autor jednej z najbardziej znanych powieści na świecie.
Tymi wszystkimi, pełnymi sprzeczności określeniami można by opisać Marcela Prousta. Opisać, ale z pewnością nie namalować jego pełnego obrazu. Urodził się w 1871r. w Paryżu, w bogatej rodzinie mieszczańskiej. Odebrał staranne wykształcenie, ukończył wydziały prawa, nauk politycznych i literatury. W młodości najbardziej pociągało go życie towarzyskie Paryża, jednak w przeciwieństwie do wielu zapomnianych przez historię danadysów, Proust wykorzystał zdobyte na najsłynniejszych salonach doświadczenie jako materiał literacki.
W 1909r. Marcel Proust przeżył moment zachwytu- nad filiżanką herbaty powróciła do niego przeszłość. Był to impuls do rozpoczęcia pisania W poszukiwaniu straconego czasu. Jedna z najsłynniejszych powieści na świecie nie od razu przyniosła swojemu autorowi sławę, Proust musiał ją wydać w 1913r. własnym sumptem, a większość pierwszych recenzji nie była entuzjastyczna. Sytuację zmieniło przyznanie Marcelowi Proustowi nagrody Goncourtów w 1919r. Jednakże, ze względu na pogłębiającą się chorobę (od dzieciństwa cierpiał na astmę), ostatnie lata życia spędził w obitym korkiem pokoju, chcąc odseparować się od świata i poświęcić się tylko i wyłącznie swojemu opus vitae. 18 listopada 1922 r. Proust umiera na zapalenie płuc, do ostatniej niemalże chwili dyktując poprawki do swojej powieści, która w całości została opublikowana dopiero w 1927r.
Na arcydzieło Prousta składa się około 3000 stron, 7 tomów, kilkuset bohaterów i kilkadziesiąt wątków. Quasi-autobiografia, którą wypełniają postaci będące amalgamatami, ukształtowane na podstawie osób znanych autorowi, będące jednocześnie w dużej mierze dziełem jego niezwykłej wyobraźni, została napisana w wyjątkowy i zupełnie nowatorski sposób. Uważana za jedno z najważniejszych dzieł literackich XX w., była inspiracją dla wielu innych słynnych pisarzy, m.in. Jarosława Iwaszkiewicza, Vladimira Nabokova, czy Virginię Woolf, która po przeczytaniu W poszukiwaniu… powiedziała Chciałabym móc tak pisać.

In 2017 and 2019 we will celebrate 20 years since the transition of Hong Kong and Macau, respecti... more In 2017 and 2019 we will celebrate 20 years since the transition of Hong Kong and Macau, respectively. As these anniversaries are coming closer, the author of this article analyses the consequences of what are sometimes called ‘the last great acts of History in the 20th century’ for law, politics, economics, and society of China’s Special Administrative Regions, in the perspective of collective memory of the times of colonialism, the transition, and first post-transition years.

The first part of the article focuses on the British and Portuguese impact on Hong Kong’s and Macau’s prevailing legal systems, the similarities and differences between these systems, and the significant changes introduced into them in the aftermath of the handovers.

In the second part of this essay, the author analyses the differences in the political and economic systems of Macau and Hong Kong, prior- and post-transition, focusing on civil liberties, political participation, economic hurdles, and remarkable growth.

The third part of the article is dedicated to Hong Kong’s and Macau’s ever-changing societies, their collective memories of the colonial era and of the transition. In this section, the author also highlights the role of Britain, Portugal, and China in shaping the identity of the ‘Hong Kongese’ and the ‘Macanese’, showing how efficiently memory may be used as an instrument of identity politics.

The author first defines the notions of collective memory and historical determinacy, then he use... more The author first defines the notions of collective memory and historical determinacy, then he uses them to research the subject of post-1989 transition in Poland.

Centred around three general claims – that law and collective memory influence each other, in par... more Centred around three general claims – that law and collective memory influence each other, in particular through the legal institutions of memory, that these intersections are heavily politicised, and that the right to memory should be understood as the right to remember and be remembered and to forget and be forgotten – the thesis seeks to provide a new framework for the understanding of the intersections between law and memory and then apply it to the overlooked in this context cases of several countries, including a larger study of Poland.
The first part, composed of three chapters, concerns the theoretical aspects of their links, attempting to define the concept of collective memory with regards to its relationship with law. This investigation consists of reviewing the sociological (from classical Halbwachsian to contemporary and critical), philosophical (focusing on Durkheim, Bergson, Levinas and Foucault), and legal theoretical (in human rights law, international law and the concept of transitional justice) intersections with collective memory.
The second part, consisting of two chapters, regards the framing of the intersections of law and memory, hoping to provide a new method for the analysis, and thus understanding of their relationship. The proposed framework is based on three points: the concept of legal institutions of memory, i.e., those institutions whereby law’s attempts at influencing the social perceptions of the past are most direct, divided, on the basis of the level of assumed impact, to soft (reparations, international tribunals), medium (lustration, truth commissions), and hard (legal amnesia and memory legislation), the question of memory politics, and the proposed right to memory.
The final, third part is composed of two chapters, each concerning the application of the new framework to case studies. The first chapter focuses on the analysis of several particular instances of law and memory intersections in selected countries, whereas the second provides a broader study of the relationship between law and memory in Poland. Using the new approach in both instances, the mini-case studies are devoted to one example of a legal institution of memory each (reparations – Japan, international tribunals – ECtHR, lustration – Iraq, truth commission – Brazil, legal amnesia – Portugal, memory legislation – Rwanda), whereas the Polish study focuses on four institutions present in the country in recent years (symbolic reparations, an international tribunal, lustration and memory legislation). The thesis concludes with a more general assessment of the law and memory intersections and a proposal of different ways in which the developed framework could be applied in the future.
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Centrée sur trois affirmations générales – que le droit et la mémoire collective s’influencent mutuellement, en particulier par le truchement des institutions juridiques de mémoire, que ces intersections sont fortement politisées et, enfin, que le droit à la mémoire devrait s’entendre comme le droit de se souvenir et que l’on se souvienne de nous, ainsi que le droit d’oublier et d’être oublié – la présente thèse a pour ambition de proposer un cadre nouveau pour la compréhension des intersections entre droit et mémoire, puis à l’appliquer aux cas passés sous silence dans le contexte de plusieurs pays, y compris une étude polonaise plus large.
La première partie, qui comporte trois chapitres, a trait aux aspects théoriques des liens qui les unissent, et tente de définir le concept de mémoire collective au regard de sa relation avec le droit. Cette étude passe en revue les intersections sociologiques (du Halbwachsien classique au contemporain et critique), philosophiques (axées sur Durkheim, Bergson, Levinas et Foucault) et théorico-juridiques (dans les droits de l’homme, le droit international et le concept de justice transitionnelle) avec la mémoire collective.
Les deux chapitres qui composent la deuxième partie se penchent sur la définition du champ d’application des intersections entre droit et mémoire dans l’espoir d’élaborer une nouvelle méthode d’analyse et, partant, de compréhension de leur relation. Le cadre proposé se fonde sur trois éléments: le concept d’institutions juridiques de mémoire, c’est-à-dire les institutions par le biais desquelles les tentatives du droit d’influencer les perceptions sociales du passé sont les plus directes, divisées, sur la base du niveau d’impact présumé, en faible (réparations, tribunaux internationaux), moyen (lustration, commissions de vérité) et élevé (amnésie juridique et législation sur la mémoire), la question de la politique de la mémoire et le droit à la mémoire proposé.
La troisième et dernière partie comporte deux chapitres, consacré chacun à l’application du nouveau cadre à des études de cas. Le premier chapitre porte sur l’analyse de plusieurs exemples d’intersections entre le droit et la mémoire dans des pays sélectionnés, et le second développe une étude plus large de la relation entre droit et mémoire en Pologne. En utilisant la nouvelle approche dans ces deux exemples, les mini-études de cas sont chacune dédiée à un exemple d’institution juridique de mémoire (réparations – Japon, tribunaux internationaux – CEDH, lustration – Irak, commission de vérité – Brésil, amnésie légale – Portugal, législation sur la mémoire – Rwanda). De son côté, l’étude polonaise met l’accent sur quatre institutions présentes dans le pays ces dernières années (réparations symboliques, un tribunal international, lustration et législation sur la mémoire). La présente thèse se clôture par une évaluation plus générale des intersections entre droit et mémoire, et propose différentes manières d’appliquer à l’avenir le cadre développé.