The present contribution pays tribute to the late Professor Janusz Symonides by examining the position of United Nations Security Council towards international terrorism. The analysis concentrates on how the phenomenon is perceived by the main political organ of the United Nations, and offers some cursory remarks on its reactions (both actual and potential).

The present article combines some reflections on the late Prof. Janusz Symonides’ most interesting book on the concept and role of effectiveness in international law (Zasada efektywności w prawie międzynarodowym, UMK, Toruń: 1967), with reflection over the anniversaries of the most important Polish-German treaties which not only constituted the basis for bilateral relations between Poland and Germany, but were also of importance for East-West relations. The analysis that follows deals mostly with the significance of effectiveness in the context of boundaries and their recognition, as well as with nationality. The article shows that most of the concepts and ideas of Prof. Symonides still remain actual today.

Legal understandings of asylum vary and remain to a great extent ambiguous. This is because asylum takes different legal forms in different legal dimensions: general international law, international human rights law, EU law, and constitutional law. All the above-mentioned dimensions are strictly linked and combined. Yet the ways in which asylum has been addressed, especially in the doctrine, often overlook this complexity. This article is aimed at assessing the modern legal approaches to the institution of asylum in international, European, and domestic legal orders, with reference to the positions taken by the late Janusz Symonides and in this way commemorating his recent passing away.