Research Stay at the University of Siena - Summary

From 19 to 25 March 2026, a four-member delegation of our Center completed a research stay at the Department of Law of the University of Siena (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Siena). At the invitation of the Dean, Prof. Mario Perini, the research in Siena was carried out by a team consisting of Prof. Maria Boratyńska and PhD candidates Aleksander Wiaderek, Krzysztof Ślaski and Michał Kropiwnicki.

The programme included research in the eight-hundred-year-old University Library, including its collection of early printed books, as well as presentations during seminars attended by faculty members, students and PhD candidates of the Siena Department of Law. The stay was made possible by the support of the Rector of the University of Warsaw, the Faculty of Law and Administration and the Excellence Initiative – Research University (IDUB) programme.

The first seminar, held on 20 March, was devoted to civil law aspects of medical law: the evolution of informed consent, medically assisted procreation, and liability in the age of artificial intelligence, also in light of the Italian AI Act of 2025. Presentations were delivered by Prof. Arianna Alpini, Prof. Alessandro Palmieri and Dr. Francesca Ferretti. On the Polish side, Prof. Maria Boratyńska spoke about disputes over the use of IVF embryos after divorce. Michał Kropiwnicki discussed patient information and consent to the use of AI in diagnosis and treatment, and Krzysztof Ślaski addressed physicians’ liability for the use of AI tools.

The second seminar, held on 24 March, concerned medical criminal law. It was attended by Prof. Dario Guidi, Prof. Dario Micheletti and Prof. Roberto Guerrini. Prof. Guerrini presented the report “Medical Negligence”, devoted to the intersection of criminal law and medicine in the Italian legal system. Aleksander Wiaderek presented the Polish system of criminal and disciplinary liability, discussing, among other things, examples of quackery and homeopathy. Michał Kropiwnicki spoke about minors’ consent to treatment and substitute court consent in the context of the offence of treatment without consent. Krzysztof Ślaski analysed patient consent as a condition for the lawfulness of medical intervention, including gender-affirming procedures.

The stay provided an opportunity for an in-depth exchange of experience and a comparison of the solutions adopted in Polish and Italian medical law, and it has resulted in plans for further academic cooperation between the two institutions.