CIVIL LAW IN LIGHT OF ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE OF THE POLICE ACADEMY IN SZCZYTNO

Abstract

At the very beginning of these considerations, it should be noted that the ‘civil law’ specialisation, situated within the discipline of ‘legal sciences’, does not belong to the most important branches of knowledge to be provided to police offi cers, even at the academic level of their education, nor does it belong to research areas of particular signifi cance for the police. The above remark has a simple explanation, and results from the special function the Police play in the state and the specifi c nature of their tasks. As a consequence, the legal ‘instruments of work’ of its offi cers should be searched for at the level of public law, primarily administrative and criminal 2, while private law measures are not very much associated with offi cial police activities. These instruments are the subject of a typical (and traditional) university specialisation, and it is mainly in theses centres (not including some non-university research units) where teaching and scientifi c activities in the fi eld of civil law are carried out. Nevertheless, civil law issues have had their place (a well-established one) in the higher education curriculum at the Police Academy in Szczytno since its creation 3. The basis of such a solution was the conviction that elementary knowledge about civil law institutions is not necessarily required for a police offi cer’s work (although this can be argued against),