The legal status of cohabitees, specifically countrywomen in agricultural enterprise

Artykuł niniejszy stanowi fragment referatu wygłoszonego w ramach obrad I Komisji XXVII Europejskiego Kongresu Prawa Rolnego – organizowanego w dniach 11–14 września 2013 roku w Luzernie przez Europejski Komitet Prawa Rolnego (Comite Europeen De Droit Rural – C.E.D.R.) – poświęconych statusowi prawnemu konkubentów i ich dzieci w europejskich gospodarstwach rolnych, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem sytuacji kobiet wiejskich (Legal Status of Cohabitees, specifi cally Countrywomen and their Children in the Agricultural Enterprise).The typology of basic attitudes European legislators manifest with respect to the issue of cohabitation may be characterised as either progressive (favourable to the institutionalization of cohabitation relationships) or traditional (allowing for the institutionalization of marriage, construed as a relationship of a woman and a man only). The Polish legislator has consistently supported the latter view. In consequence, de facto relationships imitating marriage, i.e. cohabitation relationships (both of hetero and homosexual nature) do not enjoy the protection and care of the state guaranteed by the Constitution, which, of course, does not mean that the law prohibits such relationships. However, as a rule, cohabitation has remained unregulated, and all attempts to institutionalize relationships of this type, undertaken since 1990s, have ended in failure. To a small extent the social phenomena of cohabitation is reflected at the level of social norms which employ expressions referring to cohabitees, such as “sharing common domestic life”, “being in a de facto relationship”, “close (closest) person”. These expressions are found in many specific legal regulations, including tax law, housing law and social insurance law. In a small number of cases, they may be also found in agricultural law, including in particular the act on the determination of the agricultural system specifying the rules for trade in farmland in Poland. Therefore, these rudimental legal norms only allow for outlining the legal status of cohabitees in Poland, including cohabitees in agricultural enterprises. There are also no general regulations governing the status of women in rural areas, though it should be emphasized that Polish regulations do not contain any formal manifestation of discrimination due to gender, which should be appreciated. Nonetheless, Poland still lacks a more comprehensive state policy aimed at motivating women to enter the job market, which in turn is reflected by scarcity of legal regulations in this respect. Poland’s membership in the European Union has served as a trigger for positive change, and various mechanisms stipulated by the Rural Development Programme, including the Leader approach in particular, containincentives for higher involvement of women in work for the rural community. Nevertheless, these mechanisms continue to be insufficient and are rather first steps in the process of promoting activeness of women in rural areas than the final touch. Therefore one should hope that in future the Polish state will intensify its actions aimed at improving the situation of women in rural areas.Uniwersytet Jagiellońsk