vacatio legis

The article discusses the relationship between the concepts of " legal security " and " coup d'état " on the basis of the evolution of these concepts over the centuries. The analysis of the terms which the author is interested in, adopted as the subject of this study, leads to the conclusion that, in particular, the concept of " coup d'état " is often mistakenly refereed to as a " revolution " or a " putsch ". A political upheaval, one of the methods of which is a coup d' état, should be regarded, in the light of the research carried out, as deviating from the concept and character of a social upheaval. In the case of a political upheaval, the legal security of the individual is usually protected as before, and a possible lack of such security should only be treated as a result of the natural tendency of the individual to protect his or her legal status within a state organisation. It is only with changes of social (class) character, which may be an indirect consequence of a political upheaval, that the addresses of legal norms may have justified concerns about their legal safety.

When  establishing  the  vacatio  legis  period,  the  legislator  should  take  into  account all the circumstances surrounding the entry into force of a legal act. An issue so far overlooked is the total number of legal acts coming into force at the same time. The aim of the study was to determine if there are statistically significant differences in the number of acts and regulations coming into force in individual months over the years 1992–2018. Those have been confirmed for various times of the year. The authors suggest a more even distribution of changes is needed for almost all months of the year. Otherwise, according to the authors, this may mean a violation of the principle of adequate vacatio legis and the principle of the individual’s trust in the state and the law underpinning it.

The aim of the study was to analyse the changes in the length of vacatio legis period applied in statutes and regulations in 1992-2018. Significant differences were established in the length of vacatio legis in individual years. The correlation between the average length of vacatio legis and the number of independent and dependent acts, as well as the differences in vacatio legis of these acts are examined. Statistical methods enable confirming both the aforementioned differences and the correlation. The research results point to a general trend for the legislature to apply short vacatio legis periods. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the average vacatio legis for statutes is twice as long as for regulations, just like for independent instruments in comparison to dependent ones. The authors suggest placing a greater emphasis - when assessing the adequacy of the vacatio legis - on the relationships with other instruments, especially in the case of dependent instruments. It is important to take into consideration the time needed and the scope of work necessary for reconstruction of legal norms, especially in the case of amended provisions. In order to assess the adequacy, one should also use objective measures covering a whole set of legal instruments (e.g. the average vacatio legis).