Northern (N): Poland (NP). Family and Guardianship Code

A file of correspondence and legal material concerning legal developments in Poland. The documents discuss the Polish government's introduction of a new family and guardianship code, a copy of which is included in the file. The code serves as "a codification of existing Polish laws on marriage, divorce, and children", and "seems unlikely to have any marked effect on foreigners or foreign interests". The documents also cover some of the specific stipulations of the new code, including reducing the legal marriage age in Poland, giving Polish wives the right to keep their maiden name upon marriage, and dictating that all children born under wedlock take their father's surname unless both parents declare at marriage that the child will take the mother's surname. The code also states that parents share joint authority over a child, and leaves the conditions required for a divorce to take place "rather vague".