Academic Researcher Work and the Confusion of Public Authorities. A Bleak Outlook for the Consequences of the Higher Education Reform in Poland – Comparative Approach

Abstract

From the very beginning, it was assumed that the new regulation – Law on Higher Education and Science (LHES) would mark the implementation of a ground-breaking, comprehensive reform – “Constitution for Science.” It was emphasised that the project constituted the most extensive reform implemented within the framework adopted by the EC as the model for all large-scale systemic changes since the last thirty years. Unfortunately, the efforts made to date by the Minister of Finance and Minister of Science and Higher Education in the face of the many difficulties emerging at the meeting point between copyright, tax and education laws have to be deemed ineffective. Against the background of the analysed solutions in BRICS countries, the Polish solutions are the most far-reaching in terms of protecting the interests of academic teachers. They lead to a reduction of the tax burden (by applying 50% tax deductible costs) by exactly half. While the very idea adopted on the grounds of Polish legal solutions deserves a high assessment and may constitute an interesting model to be copied in the BRICS countries (as far-reaching benefits for university researchers), the manner of its introduction deserves criticism. The adopted legal basis, as shown in the study, is not internally coherent at the junction of tax law, copyright law and higher education law. In fact, they are even mutually exclusive. For this reason, the manner of proceeding with this legitimate regulation cannot be recommended in the BRICS countries.