Jak szukać i nie pogubić się w gąszczu przepisów? Problematyka prawna poszukiwań genealogicznych

For a genealogist, each birth, baptism, marriage and death certificate is a valuable source of research. It turns out, however, that genealogists in their work encounter obstacles related to the restriction of access to these sources. This “brake” is legal regulations that can effectively discourage a genealogist from continuing their research. The aim of this article is to present the legal issues of genealogical research, especially in terms of the practice of applying the law and emerging problems in jurisprudence. In her article, the author presented the currently existing legal regulations, which in some cases may hinder genealogists from accessing searches, including legal problems related to the EU Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data (GDPR) in force since May 2018. The article also presents the problem of access to genealogical research from its practical side, recalling the decisions of Provincial Administrative Courts and the Supreme Administrative Court.