Creation of the Allerhand Institute

On 26 June at the headquarters of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the proclamation was celebrated of the Allerhand Institute – a centre of advanced legal studies which it is to be a source of systemic concepts for the reform of commercial law and the development of the legal institutional infrastructure for the financial market. The Institute’s aim is also to strengthen Poland’s voice in the international debate on key EU legislative solutions.

The conference was hosted by Dr Ludwik Sobolewski and Dr Arkadiusz Radwan – President of Centrum C-Law org., the Institute’s spiritus movens. Our Law Firm is supporting this initiative, and Prof. Grzegorz Domański, who is one of the venture’s originators, was an honorary speaker at the press conference held on 26 June. Among the guests and Institute enthusiasts invited to the conference were Krzysztof Zakrzewski, Dr Ludwik Sobolewski – President of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Joanna Agacka-Indecka – President of the Supreme Council of Advocates, Marek Furtek – President of the Arbitration Court at the Polish Chamber of Commerce, Prof. Jerzy Jacyszyn of Wrocław University, Editor-in-Chief of the Rejent journal, Dr Adam Redzik – lawyer and historian, outstanding expert in the 19th and 20th century history of Polish law.

The event participants agreed that concern over lasting, long-term economic growth required advanced economic and comparative studies of the role played by legal institutions in market constitution and functioning. This would mainly cover an evaluation of legislative consequences and judicial judgment strategies. As Warsaw is a regional financial centre, it needs a breeding ground for ideas, systemic thinking, and strategic planning. Together with the closing of the economic gap between Poland and Western Europe, the time when progress is based on copying foreign systemic solutions is coming to an end; we need to invest in concept building and foster a more scientific approach to the implementation and transplantation of law.

The Institute’s mission is also to commemorate Prof. Maurycy Allerhand – an outstanding scientist, codifier and advocate, author of the most highly valued commentary on the Commercial Code, reissued several times. The participants stressed that creation of the Institute was of fundamental significance for strengthening the identity of the legal profession and the science of law in Poland.

The list of signatories of an open letter concerning the creation of the Institute is impressive. It includes the aforesaid persons and also, e.g. Dr Leszek Allerhand, grandson and the only living heir to Maurycy Allerhand’s legacy; Prof. Aleksander Chłopecki, Warsaw University; Prof. Krystyna Chojnicka, Jagiellonian University; Prof. Jan Czekaj, Krakow University of Economics; Prof. Tadeusz Ereciński, President of the Supreme Court; Prof. Tomasz Gizbert-Studnicki, Jagiellonian University; Prof. Stanisław Sołtysińki, Poznań University; Prof. Marek Safjan; Prof. Andrzej Zoll, Jagiellonian University.