This article analyses the practice of the Polish administrative courts with respect to application of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, based on a case study of the judgment of the Voivodship Administrative Court in Warsaw of 6 May 2014 (case no. II SA/Wa 117/14), which concerned the recognition of distance learning degrees awarded by Ukrainian universities pursuant to the 1972 Prague Convention. It is argued herein that the reasoning of the court suffers from four major drawbacks: 1) it is at variance with the text, object and purpose of the Prague Convention; 2) it does not take into account the practice in the application of that treaty; 3) it misinterprets the silence of the preparatory work to the Prague Convention on certain issues; and 4) it is inconsistent with international judicial decisions as regards the interpretation of the “special meaning” of one of the terms used in the Convention.

The purpose of the article is to give an overview of two extensive sets of graphics reproductions of European Old Masters painting taken from album publications at the beginning of the 19th century. The first set of prints is a French catalogue-compendium Annales du Musée Napoleon, with illustrations by Charles Normand, the second is an album Kupferstiche von John, containing copper engravings by Friedrich John. The present article was an attempt to characterize both groups of reproduction prints in connection with the ideas of the time on the importance of Old Master schools of painting as well as artistic circles and the artists themselves, then widely used in contemporary publications on European art and the documentation of Old Masters paintings in private and museum collections.

Fin-de-siècle Central European scholarship takes on a different complexion, if it is approached from the perspective of politically responsible action. The article analyses neither scholarship involved into party politics nor apolitical scientific and scholarly activities but focuses on a specific approach: The scholars I am concerned with in this article strove for the strict division of science and politics; they nevertheless remained committed to political objectives such as improving social conditions. The approaches of Bernard Bolzano, Ernst Mach, Alois Riegl, Sigmund Freud, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Otto Neurath, Hans Kelsen are taken into account.

In Memoriam Professor Włodzimierz Pianka, prominent linguist, distinguished scholar in Slavic, Macedonian and Sorbian languages and in onomastics (with particular focus on the Balkan area), expert in Slavic confrontative grammar, professor at the Universities of Warsaw and Vienna, honorary doctor at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, member of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The paper outlines and profiles the late Professor’s life and work as well as research interests along with selected publications.

Roman Ingarden was an eminent philosopher who worked in various fields of philosophy, especially in the areas of ontology, aesthetics and ethics. In addition to his systematic analyses, we find in his work remarkable statements regarding the nature of philosophy, its relation to science, or the specificity of its methods. These metaphilosophical remarks were formulated in systematic works as well as in texts of more disputable nature. In this paper Ingarden’s metaphilosophy is presented in the context of thought of Franz Brentano and Tadeusz Kotarbiński. It is also discussed against the background of metaphilosophical assumptions of the logical positivists from the Vienna Circle.

The article presents two floating architectural structures developed in response to the needs of local communities. The first one – a river barge “Louise-Catherine” – was adapted in 1929 according to the design of Le Corbusier, one of the most influential architects of the first half of the 20th century, for the purposes of Salvation Army shelter docked on the Seine in Paris and it continued its operation as such until 1994. The second one – Bertha von Suttner state junior high school – was developed in a shipyard to serve as a school, which purpose it has been fulfilling since 1994 while moored on the Danube River in Vienna. The author’s intention was to describe both structures while highlighting common features as well as differences, and to analyse them in view of certain selected aspects. The background for the projects’ development was described account taken of different reasons and circumstances. Issues under analysis include decision making processes in terms of architectural programme, functions and spatial developments. The analysis also includes technical aspects such as structural developments, material and infrastructure – in terms of the floating Viennese school – account taken on safety of using a barge as a school establishment. A separate part of the article is dedicated to the issue of social reception, and incase of the former Salvation Army shelter – actions aimed at the protection of a historic structure.