The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

History of the Faculty

The History of the Faculty

The beginning of legal studies at the Catholic University of Lublin is strictly connected with the University history and foundation in 1918. The University founders, who created a universal research and educational programme in the interwar period, also made allowances for legal studies, hence calling into being two faculties of juridical character: the Faculty of Canon Law and Moral Sciences and the Faculty of Law and Socio-Economic Sciences with the Section of Law as the most predominant.

The Faculty Of Canon Law
And Moral Sciences

On the day of solemn inauguration of the first academic year, that is, December 8th, 1918, the first University Senate was constituted. The General Assembly of Professors, including Rev. Idzi Radziszewski - the first rector and University originator - elected the deans of particular faculties. Rev. Bronisław Żongołłowicz was appointed to the position of the dean of the Faculty of Canon Law and Moral Sciences. The inaugural session of the Faculty Council was held on January 6th, 1919.

The Faculty of Canon Law and Moral Sciences as a church faculty was from the very beginning entitled to award the bachelor's and doctor's degree. At the preliminary stage of functioning of the Faculty of Canon Law its research and teaching staff was sparse. After the Faculty begun operation, the professors - the University co-founders who had previously been associated with other educational centres - started their work there (Rev. Bronisław Żongołłowicz, Rev. Józef Florczak). In 1919, the University authorities made efforts to gain foreign canon law professors. Father Gommar Michels, a Belgian Capuchin, became one of the lecturers - later, for many years he held the office of the Faculty dean and was one of its key organizers.

Simultaneously, the University authorities sought candidates for professors also among domestic canonists. Consequently, the following professors were employed: Rev. Jan Wiślicki, Rev. Józef Pruszkowski, a Fellow of the Polish Academy of Abilities, Rev. Henryk Insadowski, Rev. Jan Roth. In the subsequent period, the Faculty supplemented the staff with its own graduates. Rev. Piotr Kałwa, Władysław Abraham's student and the future Lublin bishop and the Great Chancellor of the Catholic University, was the first of them.

During the initial stage of development, the structure, curriculum and the name of the Faculty underwent changes. On October 3rd, 1920, the Faculty Council decided to establish two new sections: socio-legal and historical-legal. Soon, in the same academic year, another section was created, a moral-legal one. The curriculum for individual sections was diverse; nevertheless the obligatory subject in each section was canon law.

In the periods between the wars, the Faculty of Canon Law was the only autonomous faculty of this scientific discipline in Poland. As far as the other academic centres are concerned (Kraków, Lwów, Warszawa, Wilno), canon law was taught within theological faculties. After the end of the Second World War, the Faculty of Canon Law resumed its activity and operated ceaselessly as far as the year 1984 when the Faculty of Canon Law and Legal Science was inaugurated. Since that time, canon law has been functioning as a section. The canonist environment has witnessed numerous outstanding scholars, including: Rev. Aleksy Petrani, Rev. Jan Nowicki, Rev. Paweł Pałka, and next Rev. Józef Rybczyk, Rev. Walenty Wójcik, and presently, Rev. Józef Krukowski, Rev. Henryk Misztal and Bronisław W. Zubert OFM.

The Faculty Of Law
And Socio-economic Sciences

Law in the Catholic University of Lublin, during the period from establishing the University until 1952, was pursued within the Legal Section, being a part of the Faculty of Law and Socio-Economic Sciences. The Faculty was created on December 8th, 1918. The General Assembly of Professors appointed Stanisław Zachorowski, a professor of church law from Jagiellonian University, to the post of the Faculty dean. The Faculty of Law as formed in Lublin was one of the six that operated in the II Republic of Poland. The structure of Faculty of Law and Socio-Economic Sciences was subject to transformation in the preliminary period of functioning. At the outset, the Faculty included departments that concentrated on the teaching and research activities pertaining to both law and economy. In the academic year of 1922/1923, two sections were brought into being, namely legal and economic.

The growth of activity of the Legal Section relied upon the particular departments; their names and number somewhat changed. At length, until its dissolution, the Legal Section was composed of 16 departments.

From the very beginning of the Faculty operation, the curriculum of the Legal Section was adjusted to the binding Polish legislation and the resolutions of the Ministry of Denominations and Public Enlightenment (hereinafter, MDPE), which supervised the schools of higher education. The right to confer university degrees was earned by the Faculty gradually. In consequence of efforts made by the authorities, on June 28th, 1922, the MDPE consented to the establishment of the Examination Committee for the Faculty of Law and Socio-Economic Sciences at Jan Kazimierz University in Lvov (hereinafter, JKU). The Committee consisted of the professors of both universities, Lublin and Lvov. It was initially chaired by Prof. Oswald Balzer, and then from the academic year 1924/1925 by Prof. Władysław Abraham. The Committee makeup was approved by the MDPE with the decree of June 28th 1922, which was signed by Minister Józef Mikułowski-Pomorski. The examinations took place in Lvov or Lublin. After passing, a law student of KUL obtained a degree of Jan Kazimierz Uniwersity in Lvov. According to the resolution of the MDPE, from February 25th, 1927, the Examination Committee for the legal (and economic) studies was able to function at KUL. Of great importance for the legal status of the University was the act of sanctioning its Charter by Gustaw Dobrucki, the Minister of MDPE, on March 2nd, 1928. The Charter guaranteed the University a legal personality and acknowledged it as a didactic and scientific institution.

In 1933, KUL was granted further rights. In accordance with the Academic Schools Act passed by the Polish Parliament on March 15th, 1933, KUL was recognized as a "private academic school". In the same year, the Faculty of Law and Socio-Economic Sciences received the right to confer the master's degree in law and social and economic sciences. As a result, after the academic year 1933/1944, the Faculty promoted its first graduates with the master's degree.

The full rights of academic state schools were granted to KUL under a parliamentary act of April 9th, 1938. Since that time, the University has been entitled to run PhD courses and postdoctoral courses in all faculties. The bill was proposed to the Parliament by Prof. Wojciech Świętosławski, the then Minister of Denomination and Public Enlightenment.

When justifying the proposal, the minister stated that the Catholic University of Lublin throughout twenty years of existence had been achieving outstanding results in the field of science and education, had a sufficient team of tutors, and by the established educational standards and candidate requirements it was equal to state universities.

The first tutors employed by the Faculty came from various academic centres, but first of all from Jan Kazimierz University in Lvov. In the period between the wars, the teaching personnel were subject to considerable alterations. The staff permanently associated with the Faculty included: Roman Longchaps de Berier - an outstanding civil law expert and Zbigniew Pazdro - an administrative law professor. Up to the outbreak of the Second World War, they had been working for both universities: JKU and KUL. Other tutors of long standing permanently connected with KUL were: Ignacy Czuma, Wit Klonowiecki, Henryk Dembiński, Zdzisław Papierkowski, Antoni Pastuszka; connected with KUL, not only formally but also ideologically, they continued their work after the WW2. Professors Antoni Deryng and Jan Kamiński had worked for the Faculty until 1939; after the war, they never returned to Poland.

Some other Faculty professors of long standing are worth mentioning, namely: Jerzy Fiodorowicz and Paweł Skwarczyński. After few years at KUL, the following teachers left the University: Bronisław Bouffał, Tadeusz Hilarowicz, Józef Rafacz, Stefan Glaser and Adam Berger. The Faculty is highly indebted to the mentioned staff members. That team greatly contributed to the Faculty's survival and expansion.

After the end of the 2WW, the Section of Law at the Faculty of Law and Social and Economic Sciences grew dynamically. In 1944, KUL was the first school of higher education in Poland which resumed its activity still during the ongoing warfare. Shortly after the war, a number of excellent professors started working for the Faculty. Some, including Zdzisław Papierkowski, Zdzisław Przybyłowski, Aleksander Kunicki, Wit Klonowiecki, Józef Mazurkiewicz, Witold Sawicki, were employed before the war. Others came from other Polish universities, especially from Jan Kazimierz Univeristy in Lvov: Leszek Winowski, Leon Halban, Wacław Osuchowski, and from France: Jerzy Kalinowski. The scale of the development of the Section of Law is best exemplified by the number of students that totalled 678 in the academic year 1949/50. However, the expansion of the Faculty, and consequently that of the Section of Law, was obstructed by the decision of the Minister of Education expressed in a document of June 23rd, 1949 addressed to the "Citizen Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin". By quoting a suitable decree, the minister resolved, among others, "a gradual termination of the activities of the Section of Law in the Faculty of Law and Socio-Economic Sciences of the Catholic University of Lublin as of the academic year 1949/50 when no admission will be allowed to the first year of the legal studies, and in the years that follow further legal courses will be terminated". At long last, the Section of Law ceased to operate in 1952.

The cessation of the activity of the Faculty of Law and Socio-Economic Sciences was the initial stage of deliberate policy of the Communist authorities aiming at the restraint of the influence of KUL over the education and cultivation of the academic youth and aiming at the ideological subdual of law and lawyers. That is how the first stage of the development of legal studies at KUL came to an end.

The Faculty Of Canon Law
And Legal Sciences

The initiative aiming at the restoration of the section under discussion was resumed at the turn of the 1970's by Rev. Prof. Józef Krukowski, in that time the dean of the Faculty of Canon Law. These endeavours were obstructed for serious official (obtaining the consent of the state authorities at the central level) and personnel reasons (gaining new researchers ideologically independent on the Communist party). Finally, the Section of Law was reopened within the Faculty of Canon Law where two sections already existed, namely the Section of Canon Law and Section of Law. Officially, it started functioning in 1981, although as a matter of fact, it has been active since the academic year 1983/1984, when the enrolment for the first year of the legal course took place. In 1984, the Faculty received a new name, the Faculty of Canon Law and Legal Sciences.

Since the very beginning, the Section of Law employed: Rev. Prof. Józef Krukowski, Rev. Prof. Henryk Karbownik, Rev. Prof. Henryk Misztal, and also the professors who, despite considerable output and qualifications were not able to work at state universities due to their political activity and opinions: Adam Strzembosz, Wiesław Chrzanowski and Władysław Rostocki. In the years that followed, the staff expanded by: Prof. Wojciech Łączkowski, Prof. Jan Widacki, Prof. Jerzy Wratny, Hanna Suchocka, JD. Besides, as a supplementary occupation, some professors from other centres were employed in the Section of Law. Thus, from UMCS (Marie Curie University in Lublin) came: Jan Ziembinski, Henryk Reniger, Andrzej Wąsek, Wanda Wójtowicz, Marek Kuryłowicz, Mirosław Granat, from Jagiellonian University Edward Drozd, and from Warsaw Univeristy Tateusz Ereciński.

The Faculty Of Canon
And Secular Law

In 1989, the name of the Faculty was again changed into the Faculty of Canon and Secular Law. Rev. Prof. Marian Stasiak was appointed to the post of the faculty dean and remained on his post until 1999. In the 1990's, the following professors were employed at the Section of Law: Jan Świtka, Andrzej Szajkowski, Henryk Cioch, Józef Skoczylas, Stanisław Wrzosek and Kazimierz Kruczalak. Since the time of the Section revival, the number of young scholars has gradually increased; they are mostly the graduates of the Faculty of Law, KUL.

The employees of the faculty of Canon Law and the Section of Law hold or held responsible state and church offices, having their share in the system transformation in Poland. These figures are:

• bp Prof. Jan Nowicki (died 1973) - apostolic administrator in Lubaczów;
• bp Prof. Piotr Kałwa (died 1974) - bishop of the Lublin Diocese, Great Chancellor of KUL;
• bp Prof. Walenty Wójcik (died 1990) - auxiliary bishop in the Sandomierz Diocese;
• bp Prof. Piotr Hemperek (died 1992) - rector of KUL in the years from 1983-1988;
• bp Prof. Andrzej Dzięga - bishop of the Sandomierz Diocese since 2002;
• bp Artur Miziński, JD - auxiliary bishop of the Lublin Diocese since 2004;
• Rev. Prof. Józef Krukowski - counsellor of the Papal Legal Texts Interpretation Council since 1985; expert of the Parliamentary Special Commission focused on the ratification of the Concordat between Poland and the Apostolic See in the years 1993-1998; in the years 1994-1997, delegate of the Polish Episcopate to the Constitutional Commission of the National Assembly;
• Prof. Wiesław Chrzanowski - Minister of Justice and Public Prosecutor General (1991), Member of Parliament of 1st tenure (1991-1993) Parliament Speaker (1991-1993), Senator (1997-2001);
• Prof. Grzegorz Górski - Deputy State Secretary in the Council of Ministers in the years 1991-1992;
• Mariusz Grabowski - Member of Parliament of 1st tenure (1991-1993), 3rd tenure (1997-2001) and 4th tenure (2001-);
• Prof. Alicja Grześkowiak - Senator of 1st tenure (1989-1991), Senator of 2nd tenure (1991-1993), Senator of 3rd tenure (1993- 1997), Senator of 4th tenure (1997-2001), from 1997 to 2001 Senate Speaker;
• Prof. Marek Kuryłowicz - judge of State Tribunal (1989- 1991);
• Prof. Wojciech Łączkowski - judge of the Constitutional Tribunal (1989- 1998), member of Monetary Policy Council (1998-2004), Chairman of National Board of Elections (1994- 1998);
• Maciej Rudnicki, JD - Member of Parliament of 3rd tenure (1997-2001), State Secretary in the Ministry of Environment (2000-2001);
• Prof. Marek Safjan - from 1998 President of the Constitutional Tribunal;
• Prof. Adam Strzembosz - Deputy State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice (1990-1991), judge of the Supreme Court (1990-1998), 1st President of the Supreme Court (1994-1998);
• Hanna Suchocka, JD - Prime Minister (1992-1993), Minister of Justice and Public Prosecutor General (1997-2000), Member of Parliament of 8th tenure (1980-1985), of 10th tenure (1989-1991), of 1st tenure (1991-1993), of 2nd tenure (1993-1997), of 3rd tenure (1997-2001); since November 2001, the Polish Ambassador in the Vatican;
• Prof. Andrzej Szajkowski - since 1998 member and in the years 2000-2002 chairman of the Legislative Council at the Prime Minister's Office;
• Jacek Szczot - Member of Parliament of the 3rd tenure (1997 - 2001), State Secretary in the Ministry of Regional Development and Building Industry (2000 - 2001);
• Prof. Jan Świtka - Member of Parliament of 10th tenure (1989-1991);
• Prof. Jan Widacki - Deputy State Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (1990-1991), Polish Ambassador in Lithuania (1992-1996);
• Prof. Marian Zdyb - from 1998 judge of the Constitutional Tribunal;

The Faculty Of Law, Canon Law And Administration

After the formation of the new major - administration - in 1999, the Faculty's name was altered and currently it is the Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administration. Six sections are now operating within the Faculty. With Law as the major: the Section of General Legal Studies, the Section of Penal Law, the Section of Private Law, the Section of Public Law; with Canon Law as the major: the Section of Canon Law; with Administration as the major: the Section of Administration.

The Faculty offers three principal fields of studies: law, administration and canon law. With law as the major (master's degree) - full-time and part-time system. With administration as the major - full-time course (master's degree), evening studies (occupational studies) and part-time (occupational studies and supplementary master's degree course), and with canon law as the major in full-time and part-time system (for candidates with a degree in theology). At present, the number of students at the Faculty amounts to 5362 people, with 2320 law students, 262 canon law students, 2325 administration students, and 455 postgraduate students.

A crucial element of the Faculty's commitment to the social and political reality is the cooperation (through preparing legal evaluations and expert's statements) with government organizations and participation in the work of parliamentary commissions. The research activity of the Faculty is manifested by international and national conferences and seminars which attract theoreticians and pursuers of practical aspects of law. They bear fruit in the form of numerous scientific and research publications in the area of changes that materialize on the plane of internal system and social reforms, European law, trade law, constitutional law, state finance, denominational law, concordat law, or matrimonial law. Annually, over 200 publications appear at the Faculty, among them about 30 books.

The Faculty cooperates with legal academic centres of Europe and the USA, among others, Péter Pázmány Catholic University of Budapest, the Catholic University of Leuven, Passau University (Germany), King Charles Univeristy in Prague, Olomouc University (the Czech Republic), Vytautas Magnus University in Kovno (Lithuania), Ivan Franko University in Lvov (Ukraine), Chicago-Kent College of Law (USA), the Congregation for Canonization (the Vatican), Stiftung Geselschaft für Rechtpolitik in Trier (Germany) and Geselschaft für Religion und Religionsfreiheit in der Europäische Union e.V. (Association for Religion and Religious Freedom in the European Union) seated in Bischofsgrün (owing to this collaboration, international conferences are organized entitled Culture and Law), and also Slovakian Canonist Association (Spišska Kapitula).