Axiological Oppositions in Selected Resolutions of the Labour and Social Insurance Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court, Challenged by a Submitted Votum Separatum Cover Image

Opozycje aksjologiczne w wybranych uchwałach Izby Pracy i Ubezpieczeń Społecznych Sądu Najwyższego kwestionowanych złożonym votum separatum
Axiological Oppositions in Selected Resolutions of the Labour and Social Insurance Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court, Challenged by a Submitted Votum Separatum

Author(s): Maciej Wojciechowski
Subject(s): Labor relations, Labour and Social Security Law
Published by: Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego
Keywords: votum separatum; dissenting opinion; interpretation guidelines; interpretation of law;

Summary/Abstract: The object of the study the findings of which are presented in this article is the written statements of reasons of selected resolutions issued by the Polish Supreme Court and the dissenting opinions submitted in opposition to them. The situation of this type constitutes a relationship of two or more standpoints regarding a problem presented to a bench, referred to in the text as an opposition. The aim of the article is to offer a typology of opposition that can be reconstructed as a result of a dissenting opinion being submitted. It encompasses axiological oppositions in the strong sense and interpretation oppositions (axiological in the weak sense). Axiological oppositions in the strong sense take the form of unipolar or bipolar opposites. The examined group of resolutions has given grounds to also isolate doctrinal disputes as well as disputes over the legal nature of a given institution. The article, however, focuses only on axiological opposites. The cognitive value of the conducted analyses lies: (1) in the identification of the limited role of interpretation guidelines on the level of written statements of reasons, and (2) in the identification of the dissimilarity of situations where a votum separatum becomes an expression of an equal standpoint on the grounds of ius interpretandi considered in broad terms and situations where a votum separatum is a dissenting opinion not so much against a decision that has been made but against the legal regulation that has required this decision to be as it is.

  • Issue Year: 12/2020
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 249-267
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish