European Union competition policy is shaped rather differently in particular economic sectors. The best example of this is maritime transport. In recent years this area has found itself at the center of the European Commission's attention. Inter alia, this has been caused by breaches in the prohibition of abuse of a dominant position. This situation is a result of a lack earlier of appropriate legal instruments that could permit the application of Union regulations in this area. Only in 1986 was decree nr 4056/86 issued, which established detailed regulations for applying article 81 and 82 of the Treaty of Rome to maritime transport. Those cases examined buy the European Commission and the European Court of Justice largely concern the still unclear issue of joint domination. The majority of offences is committed by maritime transport conferences, which by operating in conjunction abuse their dominant position.

A debate has been going on for some time within the International Maritime Organization (IMO) concerning necessary legal considerations that would improve the system of international legislation referring to liability for damage connected with the use of shipping vessels. A proposal relating to a general convention on liability for damage caused by vessels was not approved. On 25 November 1999, the Congress of the IMO passed resolution A.898/21/: Guidelines on Shipowners' Responsibilities in Respect ofMaritime Claims. These guidelines have been passed on to member governments and they contain recommendations that those governments should begin to try to persuade maritime ship owners to obtain insurance or another type of financial security in accordance with the principles set out in the guidelines. The guidelines also urge ship owners to obtain insurance cover for their vessels in accordance with the demands of the guidelines, and also to deal with claims relating to any one of their ships. The Legal Committee of the IMO was directed to supervise and review the guidelines, should the need arise.

The author analyzes the transport policies of the European Union. Section V, part lII of the European Union Treaty (articles 70-80) defines the responsibilities ofmember states in terms of introducing a common transport policy. The regulations of this section mainly apply to rail, road, and internal waterway transport. The regulations of section VI, part III of the European Union Treaty (articles 81-97) are addressed to all states in the world whose economic activities distort or threaten to distort competition in the European Union. The establishment and development of a transeuropean transport, telecommunications, and energy network (articles 154-156) constitute the central element in an economic zone without internal borders. The contemporary economy is a result of two trends: a process of globalization and a process of regionalization. The principle of subsiduarity plays a major role in the process of regionalization. It filters through to the idea of the ,,Europe of Regions." In essence, states transfer their responsibilities and authority via the Union to regions. The Union only retains those responsibilities and authority that are essential to its functioning. Remaining rights should be transferred downwards, to the level ,,as near as possible to the citizen." The Union implements the principle of the decentralization of power. Matters connected with the financing of the traditional sector of the maritime economy will depend on the appropriate formulation of the ,,voivodeship contracts" that will soon be concluded by the Council ofMinisters and voivodeship assemblies. The assemblies will have the most influence on the way in which European Union structural funds can be used.

Contemporary economic policy is a result of two opposed methods of influencing the market: the liberal and the protectionist. The philosophy of the open market was created with the participation of the judges of the European Court of Justice. The following are usually seen as belonging to the general principles of international economic law: the free will of the parties to an economic transaction; pacta sunt servanda; and arbitration in the case of international economic disputes. However, the general character of the principle of economic freedom is questioned by some authorities. The Codifying Commission of Maritime Law should consider the entirety oflegal problems connected with maritime shipyards, with sea transport, and port services. It should aim at developing a unified concept in the area of business activity and services, the freedom of labor and the freedom of services. The division of rules governing international sea transport (which are inevitably based on international models) and those governing coastal transport (in which economic freedom in the sense applicable in processes of European integration does not apply) is confused. Such a division has to be seen as a legacy of a by-gone era and as interference on the part of administrative law in legal relations connected with coastal transport. In Poland there is no up-to-date public service sector against which anti-monopoly regulations could not be enforced. In their place, subvention law regulations should be applied. Without distinguishing, for example, life-saving and chemical clean-up operations as public sector elements, it will be difficult to achieve expected economic goals.

The inspiration for writing this article was Poland's renunciation of the Brussels Conventions on civil liability for damage caused by oil pollution from 1969 (CLC) and on establishing an International Fund for Compensation for Damage Caused by Oil Pollution from 1971 (FUND), and her ratification of the new versions of these conventions from 1992. This coincided with legislative work on the new Polish maritime code and the passing of the legislation of 14 April 2000 concerning international treaties. In the first part of the essay the author considers the certain disintegration of the international system of civil liability for damage caused by oil pollution, a disintegration connected with a series of modifications of the CLC and FUND conventions. Especially germane are the consequences of the change in the international treaties that apply in Poland in connection with the specific method of their introduction into the Maritime Code, a method which is defined as "incorporation." The author suggests that urgent changes are necessary in the content of the Maritime Code. The lack of these may cause difficulties in applying the principles of the CLC and FUND conventions in Polish law. The second part of the article discusses several consequences of introducing the recent legislation on international treaties in maritime law. Inter alia, it discusses the question of publishing regulations of international origin. Especial attention is paid to difficulties connected with the difficulty of introducing resolutions of international organisations into national law, resolutions that change the content of international conventions on the principle of tacit acceptance. The author draws attention to the fact the new CLC and FUND conventions from 1992 have also adopted the tacit acceptance formula for changes. This certainly constitutes a risky precedence in international civil-law legislation hitherto.
The author proposes a solution that will permit the adaptation of new regulations concerning international agreements to the resolutions of international organisations, changing and supplementing the content of international agreements. He also suggests the abandonment of so-called incorporational clauses in Polish maritime law.

In her introduction, the author points to the institution of a global limitation of liability relating to maritime claims for damage caused by oil pollution at sea. Compensation cannot be greater than the equivalent of a sum calculated on the basis of the tonnage of the vessel involved. This maximum sum is not always sufficient to cover all claims. After the kind of accident that the tanker "Torrey Canyon" suffered in 1967, the international community understood that the traditional limitation of liability on the part of the owners of the vessel made it impossible to cover the cost of the enormous damage which a tanker can cause if it is involved in an accident at sea. The convention on civil liability for damage caused by oil pollution at sea (CLC), which was concluded in 1969, establishes that the owner of the vessel is responsible for damage done on the basis ofrisk. The convention introduced a limit of that liability, but the owner lost his right to that limit if the damage was the result of his culpable actions. Under those circumstances his responsibility became unlimited. A protocol of 1992 supplemented the CLC Convention, as did the Convention of 1971 which created the Compensation Fund for Damage Caused by Oil Pollution. The USA recognised that a ratification of the CLC Convention does not provide sufficient protection for the environment, and, in connection with this, the US Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) in 1990. This legislation established the Compensation Fund for Oil Damage. Responsibility for damage was linked with the principle of risk. Higher limits of responsibility were accepted than in the CLC Convention, and it is easy to lose the privilege of limitation of liability.

The author stresses that the co-operation of states in the Baltic Region is a matter of European importance as a consequence of the multiplicity of connections in the region. In the post-war history of Europe, two processes can be observed. These are integration and regionalisation. One can define the Baltic Sea as the "backbone of Baltic Europe." There are various formulations of the concept of the Baltic Region. The basic aims of "Baltic Europe" are development, balance between economic development and the natural environment, freedom and subsidiarity, and solidarity. The Helsinki Commission was created on the basis of the Helsinki Convention of 1992, and it is the most institutionalised form of co-operation among the states of the Baltic Region. The Fishing Commission was created by the Gdańsk Convention of 1973. Agenda 21 provides guidelines for the development of industry, transport and farming etc. The Conference of Transport Ministers of the States of the Baltic Region functions on a ministerial level. The article contains a discussion of other institutional forms of co-operation among the states of the Baltic Region.

The right of pursuit belongs among the recognised exceptions to the principle of the exclusive jurisdiction of the state flag on the high seas. The development of the right of pursuit was part of an attempt to secure the effective protection of the interests of coastal states outside their own jurisdictions. The author discusses the right of pursuit, taking into consideration the decisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea from 1982. The decision as to whether the reasons for undertaking pursuit are genuinely well-founded belongs, by the nature of things, to the coastal state. The right of pursuit can only be implemented by naval vessels or military aircraft, or by other sea vessels or aircraft clearly marked and readily identifiable as being in government service and entitled to undertake pursuit. Polish legislation relating to the right of pursuit is in accordance with the international legal norms that apply to this matter. In particular, this applies to the legislation's accordance with the decisions of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), which was ratified by Poland in 1988.

The author of the article sets out the view of Jan Łopuski, who considers that the duty imposed by the captain of a ship to provide help to people in danger at sea can be seen to be connected with Christian values and the love of one's neighbour. He does not, however, agree with this view, and rather holds to what Stanisław Matysik said on the subject. He maintained that the duty of saving life at sea is a result of"general human solidarity." The axiology of maritime law gives rise to many questions. Maritime legislation can draw on the achievements of general axiology and oflegal studies in general. The study ofmaritime law has not assembled a language of ethical or ethical-moral norms. The community of seafarers does not exist as a type of social entity. By the same token, there do not exist ethical or moral norms that could derive from it and be realised in maritime law. It is necessary to introduce conceptual and linguistic order into the area of maritime law. Ethics can create laws, but the implementation of everything that is an ethical norm cannot be the task of the maritime legal order.

An international agreement, as a source of international law, indicates an area of international obligations, and the assent of a state to be bound by its resolutions is expressed through ratification, confirmation, acceptance and signing. The place of the international convention in the internal legal order of the state is defined by the Constitution of the Polish Republic of I 997. A second path is to apply the legislative technique of the Polish Maritime Code of 1961. The Constitution establishes that a ratified international agreement, after its announcement in the Dziennik Ustaw (Legislative Diary), is a part of the national legal order and is applied directly, unless its application is dependent on the promulgation of a law. An international agreement, ratified by previous acceptance expressed in a law, has precedence over the law, if the law cannot be reconciled with the agreement. The Maritime Code of 1961 establishes that its regulations are not applied if an international agreement to which the Polish Republic is a party determines otherwise. The above bears witness to the general acceptance of the principle of the priority of international agreements over national law. The article contains a listing of the state of ratification of international "maritime" conventions up to 31 July 2000.

The author of the article considers that the legislation of 20 December 1996 relating to ports and maritime landing stages regulates three groups of issues. The first chapter of the legislation is structural; the two remaining chapters regulate legal relations. The article analyses the regulations contained in chapter three of the legislation, and especially art. 8 which entitles the entity managing ports of fundamental importance for the national economy "to fix and collect port charges." The article presents the course of the case between the Managing Board of the Port of Gdańsk S.A. and the Northern Port Sp. z o. o. The case was heard before the District Court in Gdańsk (Doc. Sig. IX GC 1819/99). The subject of the claim was the port charges levied on the owners of loading equipment.

In stages, based on the law originally constituted by the founding treaty of the European Community, competition policy covered all spheres of maritime activity: sea-faring activities; the exploitation of ports; ship building; sea fishing. Competition policy has a prominent place in the economic perspective sketched out by the creators of the Treaty of Rome. Competition law has to serve the building of a single market, in which conditions are to be analogical to those within a national market. From the point of view of competition rules, the sphere ofmaritime navigation should be normalised in the same manner as every other sphere of economic activity. Community norms of competition law addressed to firms have three basic elements: a ban on anticompetition agreements; a ban on abuse of a dominant market position; and an initial regulation of concentration of firms. The competition rules in the area of maritime navigation derive simply from the general principles relating to competition addressed to firms. The regulation of the concentration of firms has as its aim - based on research into the development of market structure - the prevention of the emergence in the market of the kinds of configuration of entities which could hinder effective competition.

This article deals with the new Polish legislation of 9 November 2000 concerning Maritime Safety. This legislation harmonizes in detail the basic issues in what can be broadly understood as Maritime Safety. The author of this study has frequently drawn attention to the inadequacies of regulations up to now in the area of maritime safety. He has emphasized the need for legislation on maritime safety. This legislation regulates the issue ofmaritime safety in the following: ship building, and fixed machinery and equipment on board ships (articles 6-16); the qualifications and composition of the crew (articles 17-25); safety in navigation (articles 26-39); and saving life at sea (article 40-50). The legislation is of a framework kind, and the emergence of rational legal system of safety at sea depends on the addition of many executive legal instruments to the legislation. A characteristic feature of the legislation is that the requirements relating to maritime safety are based on international standards. Thus numerous regulations within the legislation refer to well-known international conventions in the area ofmaritime safety, for example, to the SOLAS, LL, CSC, COLREG, SAR, and other conventions. The legislation also contains a range of regulations relating to supervision of safety at sea, and to sanctions for non-observance of requirements relating to maritime safety. The author discusses the new legislation in its entirety, emphasizing its strong and weak points.

As one of the sources of law, the Constitution of the Polish Republic mentions ,,instruments of local law" issued by, among others, the directors of maritime public institutions, on the basis of legal authorization. The first, and hitherto only, postconstitutional piece of legislation referring to instruments of local law produced by the directors of maritime public institutions is that of2000 concerning maritime safety. This settlement of the matter gives rise to some doubts on the grounds of constitutionality and of its accordance with the principles of legislative methods. It requires reworking. This article indicates directions that such reworking could take.

This article discusses two legislative renvoys to the 1961 Maritime Legal Code which are contained in new legislation from 2000. The first of these is contained in the legislation of 21.12.2000 concerning internal waterway transport; the second is contained in the legislation of 29.11.2000, the Law on Atomic Matters. The essay is organized according to the issue under discussion; hence it deals with two quite different questions: lien on vessels (maritime mortgage), and liability for atomic damages. Such separate matters are linked by new legislation's connection with the Maritime Legal Code; that is the attempt by Polish legislation to exploit the achievements of maritime law. The renvoy of article 25 of legislation concerning internal waterway transport demands the implementation in internal waterway transport of the institution of lien on vessels (an institution that is characteristic of maritime law). The article criticizes this solution, demonstrating the impossibility of recording, in the administrative register, the property rights relating to a vessel involved in internal waterway transport. The second renvoy, contained in article 102 of statute 2 of the Law on Atomic Matters, envisages, in the event of limitation of liability on the part of persons employing atomic devices, the possibility of using the institutions of the limited liability fund, as established and allocated (such institutions being regulated according to maritime law). The author points to a host of problems that may arise if this revision is implemented.

The preamble to the international convention SALVAGE 89 contains the principle of protecting the maritime environment. Damage done to the environment means real physical damage done to human health or life at sea, or to resources in coastal waters or those inland, or to areas adjacent to these, caused by pollution, contamination, fire, explosion, or other similar serious events. The principles for calculating rewards for those who perform rescues are contained in article I 3 and 14 of the SALVAGE 89 convention. The new convention, just like the 191 O international convention on the lack of uniformity in several regulations concerning assistance and saving, is in favor of the principle ,,without saving there is no reward." Article 14 of SALVAGE 89 contains the principle of allocating rewards to those who through their efforts prevent (or lessen) environmental damage. Such a reward is called special recompense. It seemed that the 1989 convention had accommodated the interests of all parties. However, in practice it has emerged that those who perform rescue efforts continue to be unhappy about the solutions that have been adopted. A new solution concerning reward for saving has been adopted in the SCOPIC clause. An appeal to this clause in an agreement is entirely dependent on the will of the saving party. The essence of the clause is to introduce a new method of calculating the special recompense owed to the saving party for his/her actions, in the course of which environmental damage was avoided or lessened.

The author analyses the main legal features, tendencies and determinants of European Community maritime policy in particular periods of the Community's development. It also analyses the principles of the European Union's "new maritime strategy." This policy is characterised by neoliberalism with certain protectionist elements. The essay concentrates on selected issues connected with legal regulation in the areas of maritime transport, of ports and of fishing. It also presents the international and international-legal determinants ofCommunity maritime policy. It further sketches the leading principles of the new, so-called northern dimension of EU maritime policy which takes Baltic-related issues into consideration. The essay also presents selected issues relating to Polish interests in fishing, including those involved in Poland's accession negotiations with the European Union.

The paper presents a concept of application of the RTK-GPS technique to surveys of railway tracks. The concept was examined during an experimental survey performed over a 2 km long track section. The test survey confirmed functionality and sufficient accuracy of the RTK-GPS method as applied to railway track measurements aimed at track regulation.

The paper presents discusses a formula for the mean error m, of the refraction factor, determined basing on synchronie and bi-directional observations of vertical angles, performed for a section of trigonometric levelling. It turns out from analysis of the formula that the mean error of this factor is mostly influenced by mean errors of vertical angles and heights of distance meters and prisms over survey points. The error of a distance may be neglected; this leads to the simple working formula.

According to analyses of results of surveying measurements, description of undefined subsidence, performed with the use of S. Knothe's model is characterised by the sufficient coherence with results of measurements since the moment when the full subsiding trough becomes visible on the terrain surface. Lower coherence with results of measurements appears in the initial period after commencement of exploitation. In order to improve the quality of description within the initial phase of subsidence, a mathematical model has been developed, which is based on relations between the coefficient of the velocity of subsidence and the time co-ordinate, and from geometric co-ordinates. Obtained solutions have been verified basing on results of surveying measurements, with the use of a special computer software.

One of the basic processes in photogrammetry consists of identification and measurements of conjugate (homologous) points located within image overlapping. In analytical photogrammetry this process is solved manually by an observer. In digital photogrammetry this process is solved automatically by software and it is called image matching. This process has considerable importance for automation of orientation or aerial triangulation of photographs. The accuracy of image matching process influences the accuracy of determination of image orientation elements and computed point coordinates. This article presents the author's idea concerning matching of digital images with regard to correlation between neighbouring pixels. First, the problem of correlation between point co-ordinates will be examined in analytical photogrammetry, what will simplify considerations related to digital photo gram metry.