Walerian Pańko, who originated from the Professor Andrzej Stelmachowski school of agricultural law as his first promoted doctor, developed an innovative concept of understanding ownership as a presumption of general competence to use and dispose of real property. In his work entitled O prawie własności i jego współczesnych funkcjach (Ownership Right and Its Contemporary Functions, Katowice 1984), he stated, that “[…] the crux of ownership right is most simply – and most fully – expressed as the idea of presumed competence”. In his monograph Dzierżawa gruntów rolnych (Agricultural Land Tenure, Warsaw 1975), W. Pańko discussed the problem of “proprietary” protection of the possessor within the context of tenure, stating openly that the process of expansion of possessory protection is an outcome of the crisis of ownership rights. Walerian Pańko has put forward a thesis of pivotal significance for the values protected by the law, that “the strength of ownership right lays in the sensation of real stability, certainty and continuity of law. In protecting the basic value of ownership right, we are not protecting egoistic monopoly, but rather the presumption of exclusivity of the owner”.
Food law is currently starting to separate itself as a new branch of law. It is gaining autonomy owing to its particular object of regulation, that is food, which requires a special system of protection; therefore the ‚product-oriented’ nature of this law must be emphasized. Nowadays, the purpose of food law is to protect health and life of human beings (food safety), as well as economic interests of consumers, the wellbeing of farm animals, the health of plants and of the natural environment. Food law worldwide has been developing since ancient times, and in Poland - since the Middle Ages. Following Poland’s accession to the European Union, it has been to a large extent unified with the EU laws. Food law is an academically separate area, it is taught at law departments of universities, numerous Master’s or Ph.D.’s theses have been devoted to this subject, as well as a habilitation thesis. The development of food law is clearly destined toward codification, whose weakness would be to consolidate the current regulatory loopholes. All the more so, codification is not currently possible under national legislation.
Professor Andrzej Stelmachowski (1925-2009) is an outstanding person, deserving huge appreciation because of his activity in various fields; as a lawyer, a prominent specialist in civil law, commercial law, family law, who played a remarkable role in the development of agricultural law. He is the creator of a new school of Polish agricultural law, as he elaborated by his scientific achievements, a theoretical basis to distinguish (in the area of doctrine and didactics) agricultural law as a separate branch of law; he has proposed an original method of research – the study of law in the process of its application, and around these ideas he organized research teams – a large group of students at such universities as: Wroclaw, Warsaw and Bialystok (Professor has promoted 23 PhDs of law). Another merit of Professor Stelmachowski was to determine the object and scope of agricultural law, the fundamental structures of agricultural law (the concept of agricultural property), as well as the legal solutions for protection of individual farming. The recognition and respect for the position of Professor at the international level are demonstrated by His numerous professional contacts and honorary doctorates that he was awarded with. The Professor was the first Polish scholar in the CEDR (the European Committee for Agricultural Law), as well as the first President of the Polish Association of Lawyers specialized in Agricultural Law. The concept of teaching elaborated by Professor A. Stelmachowski was reflected in the subsequent editions of academic books in the field of agricultural law, issued under his scientific edit in the period 1970-2008. In all areas of his involvement, despite changes in the external environment, Professor A. Stelmachowski always presented a permanent system of values, among which we should mention: rightness, fidelity to convictions and responsibility, concern for the common good, solidarity with the weak and being guided by the social doctrine of the Church, all of which gave him an unquestionable moral authority as a Person of great strength of character.
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