Legal Aspects of Geothermal Energy Use in Poland

Geothermal energy, understood as the energy stored in the form of heat beneath the earth’s surface, is one of the types of renewable energy sources. In Poland, geothermal energy is the renewable energy source with the highest technical potential, which results from the fact that there are natural sedimentation-structure basins in Poland, filled with hot underground waters of various temperatures. One of the basic factors determining the potential development of undertakings oriented at the use of geothermal energy is the legal environment, understood as a system of legal regulations relating to human activity connected with the use of geothermal energy. The subject of this study is the analysis of legal conditions for ventures geared towards geothermal energy exploration, documentation, and extraction. In Poland there is no uniform legal act regulating these issues in a comprehensive way. The provisions of the Geological and Mining Law and the Water Law, but also the provisions of the Construction Law, Environmental Protection Law, Energy Law, and Renewable Energy Sources Act apply to the analysed projects. The complexity and multilayer character of legal regulations determines the multitude of legal procedures reflecting the regulatory function of the state, realised through the system of concessions, permits, permissions, and approvals. The aim of this study is to present the legal regulations applicable in Poland relating to the use of geothermal energy, and to analyse the level of rationing of activities undertaken in this field.

The Legal Meaning of a Detailed Spatial Plan in the Context of the Fundamental Right of Ownership

The article represents an effort to determine what the legal meaning of a detailed plan is within the context of the fundamental right of ownership. A detailed plan could be understood under Estonian law as a restriction of the fundamental right of ownership or, alternatively, could come under the legal concept of ‘designing the fundamental right of ownership’. The distinction between these two legal concepts is important because they fall under two separate schemes of legal regulation in light of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, which differ from each other considerably. If a detailed plan and the conditions laid down therein fall under the ‘restriction of the fundamental right of ownership’ legal concept, the detailed plan and its conditions must be compliant with the requirements foreseen by the Constitution for any establishment of a restriction to a fundamental right. This question is still unresolved in Estonian law. To aid in finding a solution that addresses the main research question, the article presents answers for the following sub-questions: i) what the legal effect and meaning of a detailed plan is, ii) how to understand the legal concept of ‘restriction of the fundamental right of ownership’ and how to distinguish between that legal concept and the other one, and iii) what the scope of the protection of the fundamental right of ownership is in light of public construction law.

New Distributed Fibre Optic 3DSensor with Thermal Self-Compensation System: Design, Research and Field Proof Application inside Geotechnical Structure

Thanks to the dynamic development of advanced building technologies as well as the growing awareness, experience and responsibilities of engineers, structural health monitoring systems (SHM) are increasingly applied in civil engineering and geotechnical applications. This is also facilitated by the construction law and standard requirements, e.g., the observation method for geotechnical structures described in the Eurocode 7. Still, the most common approach is to apply spot sensors in selected points of the structure to validate theoretical models, numerical simulations and support technical assessments by involving statistic and approximation methods. The main limitation of spot sensing is the inability to detect localized damages such as cracks, fractures, sinkholes or shear planes. Thus, such analysis is subject to considerable uncertainty, especially within geotechnical structures, characterized by random mechanical parameters that change with location, but also over time. Another approach is based on distributed fibre optic sensors (DFOS), which are finding a growing acceptance in laboratory and field projects, overcoming limitations of conventional measurements. The design and applications of new DFOS dedicated for 3D displacement sensing are described hereafter in the article. The novelty of the presented solution lies in several features, including design, application, production technology and materials. This article is focused on the operational rules governing DFOS and proving their effectiveness in laboratory and geotechnical field applications.

Būvprojekta apstiprināšana Latvijā 1920.–1940. gadā

The article considers the legal aspects of construction law in Latvia in 1920–1940, describing historical legal aspects of the building plan (construction project, building design) approval process. Requirement to approve the building plan was the main precondition for implementing the idea of construction. The article is the first study about legal aspects of the construction industry on the issue of the building plan approval process in Latvia in 1920–1940.

Limitation of Actions

This chapter reviews the operation of the statutory restrictions on the prosecution of stale claims that caused Parliament to pass acts of limitation designed to prevent the bringing of claims after a certain period to eliminate the injustice of unduly delayed claims. It analyses the operation of key domestic statutory limitation periods applicable to common construction law disputes and the policy justifications behind them. It also reviews the application of foreign limitation periods. It emphasizes the essential procedural nature of a limitation defence under English law, which requires that any applicable time bar must be pleaded by a defendant if it is to be effective.

An analytical review of construction law research

PurposeThis article investigates recent studies of construction law in different areas, including civil engineering; construction building technology; transportation; multidisciplinary studies and the environment, as well as their changing trends in the years between 2000 and 2019.Design/methodology/approachThe transformation trend of construction law is investigated based on collecting main keywords from the Web of Science (WoS) database selectively from different viewpoints and using Scientometric Analysis by CiteSpace and HistCite software. The top journals, top universities, and the most active countries in publishing and expanding construction law, keyword co-occurrence network, top keywords with the strongest citation bursts, cluster analysis, the most cited articles are determined both generally and yearly.FindingsBy interpreting the Scientometric results, focal points of legal issues and their changing trends during the last two decades are reviewed. Scholars’ data concerning interesting topics, construction law industry future needs, knowledge gaps, and speculation about future views and direction are obtained.Research limitations/implicationsRestrictions on data search, limiting the category of studies to a specific domain, and limiting research time to 20 years are some limitations of this article.Social implicationsAll these results address legal issues, comprehensive laws, plenary contracts, and efficient dispute resolution based on cultures and themes.Originality/valueGiven the importance of legal issues at all stages of the construction cycle, a review of this multidisciplinary and new science over the past two decades can provide hot issues, knowledge gaps, and a better view of the future.