The supervisory board is one of the key bodies of a company, performing the function of constant oversight of the company’s activities in all areas of its operation. Its constitutional position is established as a separate body from the management board, deprived of the authority to manage the company’s affairs, but equipped with control instruments aimed at protecting the interests of the company and its shareholders. This structure is based on a clear separation of decision-making and supervisory functions, which, at least at the normative level, is intended to ensure the proper functioning of corporate governance mechanisms. However, business practice and extensive case law demonstrate that the boundaries between the powers of the supervisory board and the management board are not always clear. In particular, disputes focus on the scope of the supervisory board’s interference in the company’s day-to-day operations, the nature and effects of its resolutions, its communication relations with the management board, and the legal consequences of exceeding its authority. These issues most often arise in the context of the civil liability of supervisory board members and the assessment of the legality of their actions under the provisions of the Commercial Companies Code. The purpose of this article is to present selected issues related to the functioning of the supervisory board in companies against the background of court case law. This analysis focuses in particular on the liability of supervisory board members for damages, conflicts of authority with the management board, the risk of violating the law while performing supervisory functions, and formal issues related to the composition and operation of company bodies. This approach allows us to present the supervisory board not only as a formal control body, but also as an entity that actually contributes to shaping the company’s legal situation and bears the consequences of its actions or omissions.
An unauthorized transaction is a financial transaction made without the consent of the account or cardholder, for example, as a result of data theft. In such a situation, the bank is obligated to return the funds unless it can prove the customer’s intentional act or gross negligence.
Currently, there is a noticeable increase in unauthorized transactions. This causes payers and banks to lose nearly a billion złoty annually. The Polish Financial Ombudsman is noticing a growing number of requests for intervention regarding unauthorized payment transactions. In the first half of 2020 alone, it received 416 requests. This is more than in all of 2018, when there were 367. In 2019, there were 612 requests, an increase of almost 60%. It is worth noting that in the first half of 2020, requests regarding unauthorized transactions accounted for 80% of all requests related to violations of the Payment Services Act.
Modern medical devices used in plastic surgery and aesthetic medicine now operate within an exceptionally complex regulatory environment. The issue no longer concerns only product safety itself, but above all the boundary between permissible information, advertising, and the legal architecture of digital communication platforms used by manufacturers in the life sciences sector.
The first act of Polish-British military cooperation, preceding Poland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was the Agreement on Military Cooperation between the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland and the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, signed on October 30, 1995. Under the Agreement, bilateral cooperation between Poland and the United Kingdom covered more than a dozen areas, primarily: defense policy; arms control and confidence- and security-building measures; verification activities under international agreements, including joint inspections and observation flights; planning principles; organizational structures of the armed forces; personnel policy; military law; education in the armed forces; training of military and civilian personnel; the role of the armed forces in peacetime; participation of the armed forces in humanitarian operations and during natural disasters; maritime search and rescue; military administration; military medicine; cartography and hydrography; research and development activities; and environmental protection within the armed forces, with the possibility of expanding to other forms of cooperation and modifying existing provisions. In 2002, this was supplemented by a separate memorandum of understanding between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning the conduct of military exercises and training and the provision of host nation support. Under the agreement, as part of its general obligations, the host nation is to issue consent and take actions to facilitate the hosting forces in: conducting agreed exercises and training; moving troops along national land, air, and sea routes; moving military equipment, weapons, ammunition, and supplies along these routes; using airport and port facilities; and using local resources to meet the host forces’ supply and equipment needs. Furthermore, the host nation: authorizes host force personnel to use lethal warfare (live ammunition) at agreed locations; provides liaison personnel; informs them of applicable national regulations; assists with customs and settlement matters; and ensures the standard of goods and services provided. These host forces must: conduct exercises and training in accordance with their implementing agreements and other applicable regulations; reimburse the host nation for the costs of supplying goods and services other than those provided free of charge; return borrowed items in unaltered condition; comply with customs regulations; Comply with host nation regulations and procedures, including those related to environmental protection; notify the host nation of shipments of ammunition and hazardous materials, store and use them in accordance with applicable regulations, and provide liaison personnel as needed . In matters of discipline, authorized host nation authorities have the right to detain host military personnel, but must immediately inform their superiors. The host nation exercises jurisdiction over host military personnel within the framework of the general penal system.
With the development of technology, in the age of digital innovation, increasing emphasis is being placed on the so-called token model, which provides a portion of employee compensation. This model involves companies paying a specific portion of an employee’s earnings in the form of utility tokens, which are digital units of value created using blockchain technology — the same technology used for cryptocurrencies. These tokens constitute a form of barter that can be exchanged for loyalty points, various benefits (training on specific topics, language courses, etc.), bonuses, and specific services or privileges at work. These tokens are stored in a virtual wallet within an app, accessible by each employee. Furthermore, these tokens can sometimes be exchanged for cash, which sometimes raises legal issues, as discussed below.
