On 26 September 2024, Professor Michał Romanowski, managing partner at Romanowski & Partners, delivered a lecture entitled “The Articles of Association and the constitutional law of commercial companies – some reflections on the nature of company law and contract law” at the XIV National Congress of Departments of Commercial Law. The Congress took place at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. The theme of this edition was: “Commercial law 20 years after Poland’s accession to the European Union”.
Professor Michał Romanowski also took part in a discussion during the first panel of the Congress, entitled: “The principle of unity of private law and commercial company law”, which was moderated by Professor Monika Tarska (INP PAN) and Professor Zbigniew Kuniewicz (UŚ), with participants including Professor Józef Frąckowiak (University of Wrocław and retired judge of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court) and Professor Anna Zbiegień-Turzańska (University of Warsaw).
Professor Michał Romanowski put forward the thesis that a company is a legal construct far more complex than a contract of obligation, due to the fact that it has many dimensions and many stakeholders. Professor Romanowski summarised the practical implications of this thesis for business vividly, stating that company law is like jazz and a contract of obligation is like classical music.
The next Conference of Commercial Law Departments at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań will take place in two years’ time. A preview of this event was provided by the academic conference entitled “The Legal Environment of Business – Prospects for Changes in Civil and Commercial Law”, which took place on 24 October 2024 at the Faculty of Law and Administration of Adam Mickiewicz University, where Prof. Romanowski delivered a lecture on the liability of the management board under company law, which served as a kind of, albeit unintended, continuation of the themes discussed in Olsztyn.