Problemy międzynarodowej ochrony środowiska w polskiej nauce prawa międzynarodowego okresu międzywojennego
Reception of international environmental protection in the Polish science of international law in the interwar period

Summary/Abstract: The article is a transcript of a paper presented during the National Scientific Conference “Scholars and the science of international law in Poland. On the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Polish Group of the International Law Association”, held in Szczecin on November 15–17, 2023. The purpose of the article is to present the achievements of the Polish science of international law in the interwar period in the field of the reception of international environmental protection. Despite the fact that the reborn Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had to face legal problems related to the reconstruction of the state, consolidation of its subjectivity and setting boundaries, the sphere of interest of lawyers also included issues regarding the protection of the natural environment. Solid legal foundations for the reception of international protection of the animal and plant world opened the way for the Sejm of the Republic of Poland to adopt the Act of March 10, 1934 on nature protection, and for outstanding Polish naturalists, such as professors Walery Goetel, Michał Siedlecki, Władysław Szafer, active participation in international congresses devoted to nature conservation, as well as representing Poland in the first international organizations dealing with these issues. In research devoted to the reception of international environmental protection in Polish international law in the interwar period, the historical-legal and formal-dogmatic methods were used. Their use allowed not only a thorough examination of the topic, but also the formulation of conclusions. They indicate the interest of outstanding Polish scientists of the interwar period and law experts in the issues of legal protection of the animal and plant world, both in the dimension of international and domestic law. The issue of environmental protection was present in international law textbooks, which were created by Polish internationalist lawyers in the interwar period: Zygmunt Cybichowski, Ludwik Ehrlich, and Julian Makowski. Their influence on shaping the perception of international nature protection goes far beyond the interwar period and is also noticeable today.

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