Instruments for implementing the control function of Sejm –  an attempt to evaluate their effectiveness

The control function is one of the oldest and most fundamental spheres of representative body’s activity. The aim of the control carried out by the representative body is to investigate certain areas of government activity, detect and indicate irregularities, as well as to undertake measures to prevent irregularities in the future. The implementation of the Sejm’s control function, which is based on art. 95, paragraph 2 of the Constitution, occurs when applying wide range of instruments among which we can discern instruments of individual control of Deputies (parliamentary interpellation, parliamentary questions, questions on current affairs and current information), the activities of Sejm committees, including the parliamentary commission of inquiry and instruments of control carried out by the entire chamber. The effectiveness of these instruments may be considered on many grounds – from the possibility of being used by groups staying in opposition to the ruling majority to assessment of the objectives connected to each of the control instruments, and this requires Sejm control criteria to be defined.

Three spheres of privacy. Public and private in  contemporary legal system and social theory

The protection of privacy embraces three areas: physical integrity, information autonomy and protection of family life. All these spheres, distinguished in law and jurisprudence, protect the human identity against public authorities and other people interferences. However, in all these spheres there can be observed new changes, appearing insocial life and lifestyle, which let us ask the questions about the scope and real need of privacy protection in contemporary world, where cultural norms and development of societies influence on concept of privacy and public sphere.

The position of personal data protection supervisory authority  in Polish democratic system of government, according to the draft  Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the  protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data  and on the free movement of such data

On 25th January European Commission introduced draft Regulation Of The European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (general data protection regulation); as a result of EU data protection reform works. The Commission’s proposals, makes significant change in future position and role of Member States’ supervisory authorities. It will be a result of several precise duties imposed on those bodies, which regard execution of mutual cooperation principle as well as joint operations. Important meaning will also have relation between states supervisory bodies and the Commission,by virtue of consistency mechanism and legislator powers given to the Commission. Above mentioned proposals on legal solutions, lead to necessity to assess the principle of supervisory authorities’ independence (which is described in details and strengthened in the draft Regulation) in relation to European authorities. Although European legislator took care for several independency guarantees in organisational a financial manner, it is possible that in legal dimension the predicted purpose will not be achieved. Consistency mechanism proposed in draft Regulation is very wide in subjective scope and allows the Commission to control directly means taken by state supervisory bodies, by issuing implementing acts. As a consequence of such a mechanism, the independence ofthose bodies in relation to the Commission will be undoubtedly, significantly limited. It is disputable whether state supervisory authorities will be able to keep independence prescribed by article 47 p.1. of the draft Regulation, in its full scope. It must be emphasised that Regulation as directly applicable will become a part of domestic legal order in Poland. If it will come in to force in currently proposed wording, the polish supervisory authority – Inspector General for the Protection of Personal Data, will be a part of European data protection system, and will be obliged to fulfil its duties in respect of European Union authorities (The European Commission and European Data Protection Board).

Western vs. Islamic concept of individual rights

Islam is a phenomenon which is present and increasingly conspicuous in EU Member States in social, political and also legal dimensions. The positive picture of the relations between the societies – hosts and Muslims is, however, interfered in such dimensions.The present author seeks what has caused this state of affairs, as well as attempts to formulate a recipe for a practical coexistence of the Western-Christian and Enlightenment concept of freedom and individual rights with the Islamic concept of individual rights. By defining Islam’s attitude to human rights and indicating the limited compatibility of both concepts of individual rights, the present author discerns the factors of their convergence in the process of secularisation of the Islamic concept of human rights and in the rise of the level of self-organisation of Muslim communities. The signpost in this process is to be the European Convention on Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. What offers a chance for the convergence of both concepts of human rights: Western and Islamic is the concept of Euroislam.

The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence – selected constitutional issues

The article focuses on issues related to ratification in Poland of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. It includes an analysis of constitutionality of the certain provisions of the Convention. In the author’s view, the Convention does not contain any provisions inconsistent with the Constitution of Poland. However, he claims that proper interpretation of this document requires analysis of its authentic texts in English and French.

In this paper I focus on the creation powers of the President in view of the current problems. I also attempt to find answers to some of the questions related to the issue whether, provided the Constitution of the Slovak Republic concedes the President of the Slovak Republic the power to appoint a constitutional official on the proposal of a collective body or a specific person, the President may refuse to appoint a public official, and what the position of the President is in this kind of appointment, thus what function he performs.

The Application of Popular Initiative in the Swiss Confederation

The institutions of direct democracy are being applied in the Swiss Confederation on a scale that is incomparable with any other country. The popular initiative itself is being used by various interest groups, as well as by political parties, at least a few times each year. This article aims at presenting in a complex manner both legal and practical aspects of the popular initiative’s application in the Swiss Confederation. The first part of the article deals with the origin and the development of the direct democracy institutions throughout the years. In the next part the legal regulations concerning the popular initiative and the proceedings relating to it (from its submission to results’ publication and possibilities of their verification) are being presented. The following fragment of the article describes the interest groups and political parties submitting the initiatives and also initiatives’ objects. The article is concluded by the presentation of the various purposes, which popular initiative can serve, apart from its aim to amend the Federal Constitution.

Selected issues on the process of the implementation of the  European Union directives into the national law of the Republic of Poland

The aim of this paper is to presents selected issues on the process of the implementation of the EU directives into the national law of the Republic of Poland. This issue is very important as the most of the legislative process, especially connected with economic issues, is currently held at the level of the European Union. Legal acts, which are adopted in Poland, aim to implement the EU law into the national law. Therefore, there is a need to analyse the implementation process and its character more deeply. This applies to a particular directive, which is seen as a source of secondary legislation of the European Union being subject to this process. No less important is to define the process more precisely, with particular emphasis on the doctrine of discrepancies occurring in the background of the distinction between the implementation and transposition of the EU law into the national law. This raises, in turn, the need to examine the implementation of the law-making process as a two-step operation. This feature is characteristic to the process of the implementation of the EU law into the Polish legal system and has no equivalent in the Polish constitutional order. The basis of the implementation process, which result from the primary law of the European Union, will also be characterized. They provide the foundation for the application of the EU law in Poland. They also show the obligation to ensure the effectiveness of the EU law in the national legal order, which simultaneously requires the imple mentation of the rights contained in the European Union directives. Another element of the study is to present the implementation of the legal basis contained in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The analysis of those basis leads to the conclusion that the Constitution of Poland contains provisions to the validity of both primary and secondary law of the European Union in Polish legal system. Therefore, they constitute the basis for the implementation of the EU directives into the national law. Issues emphasised in the work and connected with the process of the implementation of the EU law into the national law, are the foundation for the analysis of this process, as well as a starting point for further discussion on the mechanism of the implementation of the European Union law into the national law of the Republic of Poland.

6th Scholars of Constitutional Law Seminar on: Polska i Europa w czasie przemian.  Współczesne przeobrażenia prawa konstytucyjnego, Wrocław–Borowa, 12–14  September 2012, (report), Anna Frankiewicz, Radosław Grabowski

54th Departments and Institutes of Constitutional Law Congress on:  Aktualne problemy reform konstytucyjnych, Augustów, 10–12 May 2012,  (report), Lech Andrzej Jamróz

EU budget support policy of the euro area. The attempt of the  political concept’s legal delimitation

Perturbations in the eurozone justify the question concerning not only the condition of public finances in the countries belonging to this zone, but also force us to think about the form of budget support policy of the eurozone countries implemented by the European Union. It is not difficult to realize that the aforementioned policy is, since May 2010, both an object of criticism, also in a scientific aspect, and the (not only) source of the current financial difficulties of the European Union. Although these problems do not (yet) threaten the common European market, it is impossible to ignore that they weaken to a great extent the union binder, which consists both of the economic and monetary European union. With the purpose of showing the legal and political implications of this process, it becomes necessary to remind first of all of the adequate regulations of the European Union law. All this, referring to the bon mot of John Kenneth Galbraith that one of the recession’s benefits is that it reveals what the accountant has overlooked, in order to be able to present the new political and legal shapes of the indicated problem. The shapes and also, specifically speaking, the political and legal challenges, which emerge from the analysis of the present budget support policy of the eurozone countries implemented by the European Union.

Freedom of movement in international and Polish law

This article presents the question of freedom of movement under Article 52 of the Constitution. The author presents the legal solutions of freedom of movement in international documents and then in Polish law. She also points to an important issue for the Schengen Agreement on the abolition of controls at internal EU borders and its impact on Poland. She describes the reasons for restricting the freedom of movement, arguing that the ECHR emphasizes the inadmissibility of the arbitrariness of many indications of movement and freedom of movement within the EU. She notes that the TEU and TFEU grant every citizen of the Union the right to freedom of movement.

The consumer’s right to information of  a personal nature in the Polish Constitution

The article refers to the consumer’s right to information, which is expressed in art. 51 of the Polish Constitution. The author analyzed that provision, explaining the possibility of its horizontal effect, e.g. B2C. Due to the fact that constitutional rules are clarified by statutes, it was reasonable to draw attention to the statute of 29 August 1997 on the protection of personal data, namely the art. 24, art. 25, art. 32 and art. 33. Those provisions relate to the powers of a weaker entity in terms of access to information relating to it.

Is it possible to limit the judicial way of pursuing  rights and freedoms of the individual? – remarks relating  to art. 77 paragraph 2 of the Polish Constitution

This article is an attempt to answer the question of how far-reaching restrictions may be imposed by a state on pursuing rights and freedoms of the individual in front of the court. At the beginning of the article broad definition of the constitutional right to fair trial and special dimension of this right is emphasized. Introductory remarks are the starting point for determining whether there is a possibility of functioning of quasi-judicial organs. With regard to the permitted limitations on the subjective scope of the right to fair trial the author referred to the controversial judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of 15th November 2000, in which the Tribunal refused to confront the restriction with the general limitation clause of the all constitutional rights and freedoms foreseen by the Constitution. The objective scope of the right to fair trial was connected with the issue of mutual relations between two provisions of the Constitution art. 45 p. 1 and art. 77 p. 2 and its incoherent interpretation. The case-law of the Constitutional Tribunal precludes the possibility of closing the judicial way of pursuing a claim without any reservation only for constitutional freedoms.

Selected problems connected with the implementation of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state in the Republic of Poland

The final model of the separation of the church and state depends not so much on constitutional regulations but rather on provisions of the lower order and the practice of using. For this reason the article deals with the most controversial practical problems – subjectively chosen by the author – connected with the implementation of the so called friendly model of separation of church and state in the Republic in Poland. The following problems are successively presented: teaching of religion in public schools and the specific issues related to it, normative obligation to respect Christian values, criminal law protection of religious feelings and religious communities financing from the state budget. In the author’s opinion, including marks from religious instruction to the average school marks, the prosecution of offending religious feelings by public accusation, favouring treatment of donations to church charity and care and the existence of the Church Fund are inconsistent with the constitutional model of relations between church and state in Poland. However, legal regulations for more essential importance, such as the teaching of religion in public schools, are not contradictory to principles of the political system. Furthermore, they give the Polish legal system axiology, which is compatible with the majority of Polish society’s will.

The meaning of the equality principle of franchise in  Polish law before introducing the election code

This article talks about one of the main principles of franchise. No one has tried to describe voting attributes in this way jet. This article describes the equality of franchise during the terms of electoral regulations. In this article there is a short comment concerning the changes introduced in 2011 by the election code. In the first part the doctrinal views about the equality of elections in Poland are presented. This part applies mainly to parliamentary elections. It presents the equality principle as purely material and formal and shows a new trend which indicates a greater meaning and emphasis on the equality of franchise. According to the author of this article the equality of voting rights is the most important in modern world. Next, the guaranty of material equality as well as its attributes have been described. In the summary of this article we can read that the equality of franchise is a procedural principle and it sets the rules that entitle individuals to suffrage. Due to this fact the equality of franchise is more like indicative directive and it has a very wide range.

Principle of supremacy of the European law in the view of the Lisbon Treaty

The purpose of this article is an attempt to analyze whether and what changes made admission of the Lisbon Treaty in meaning and usage the principle of Supremacy of the European Law. It is one of the most controversial issues in European Law and it’s being subject of numerous discussions and disputes for few decades. Article encloses how the principle of Supremacy of the European Law was expressed in the Lisbon Treaty and notes of the „deconstitutionalisation” process that appeared after fall the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. In this article the author also discussed the Declaration No 17 attached to the Lisbon Treaty and its meaning for establishment the principle of Supremacy of the European Law. The author also analyzed the previous jurispru dence of constitutional courts in EU member states, included the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, related to the principle of Supremacy of the European Law.

The principle of the rule of law in the European Union’s external policy

Rule of law, whose core is „the access to an independent judiciary and judicial review”, fulfills in EU external policy two functions. Firstly, according to the art. 21 of TEU, all EU external actions have to be subdued to the rule of law. Secondly, promoting and consolidating the rule of law is one the objectives of EU external action. In most constitutional systems, a wide margin of appreciation is left as regards to foreign policy and judicial review is considerably limited. In case of EU, the Court’s jurisdiction over EU external policy is differentiated and reflects the old pillar structure. The question which arises here is whether it can be accommodated with the disposition of the art. 2 of TEU, which states that the European Union which is a single legal entity „is founded on the value of rule of law”, and with the principle of EU external policy coherence.

Conference on: Konstytucja RP w pierwszych dekadach XXI wieku wobec wyzwań  politycznych, gospodarczych, technologicznych i społecznych, the Constitutional  Court, Warsaw, 17th October 2012, (report), Bartłomiej Opaliński 

Debate of Ministers of Justice on: Dylematy wymiaru sprawiedliwości  w Polsce w procesie transformacji ustrojowej w latach 1989–2009. Karać ostrzej  czy łagodniej, Sejm, Warsaw, 29th November 2012, (report),  Alicja Brzozowska, Korneliusz Łukasik

Commentary on the Constitutional Court's judgment of 16th November  2011, SK 45/09, Gazette 2011, No. 254, item. 1530 

Commentary on the provisions of the Chamber of Labour, Social Security  and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court of 9th November 2011,  III SW 169/11

Special character of cultural rights and its position in Polish Constitution – the attempt of characteristic and classification

The present paper is an analysis of the legal regulations on cultural rights in Polish Constitutional Legal system. The author claims that culture, as a unique value, has a special impact on personal development of every human being. As a consequence also cultural rights have a special importance for modern society and nation. Paper presents different meanings of culture, gives the definition of cultural rights and critically analyses constitutional provisions of article 5,6 and 73. Author also sug- gests the need for amendment of Chapter II of Polish Constitution which aim is to add provision guaranteeing the right to access to culture. The content of the article is a sum- mary of author’s Phd paper.

Right to culture as human right

The right to participate in cultural life every year more often becomes a part of legal order in European countries – on state level as well as in international (EU and Council of Europe) documents. The article is a review of these regulations, it also includes an analysis of content of right to culture and poses a question – in which manner legal rights could be descended from right to culture – and in consequence – what is the scope of state duties in this matter.

Constitutional regulation of the access to cultural goods  and the freedom of using cultural goods

The hereby paper is an attempt of an analysis of provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland that regard access to cultural goods and the freedom of using cultural goods. Decoding the meaning of elements of a legal norm, which norm results from these provisions, is significant for the evaluation of the materialization of the constitutional regulation in the contents of particular acts. Deliberations on the grounds of articles 6 and 73 of the Constitution have been presented in the article. The purpose of these deliberations were: a determination of the subjects entitled to use the cultural goods and obligated to provide access to such goods; the indication of the range of goods and the extent to which access to them should be guaranteed; as well as the decoding of the scope of the constitutional term „usage”. Regardless of these analyses, a few practical aspects related to the access to cultural goods and their usage have been indicated.

The constitutional principle of equal access to health care services  and its statutory implementation in Polish law. Selected problems

The right to health contained in art. 68 paragraph 1 of the Constitution is one of the most important human rights. This provision constitutes the so-called public subjective right, which has its equivalent in the constitutional roles and obligations of public authorities, involving the proper settlement of the issues in the laws relating to the protection of health. In turn, art. 68 paragraph 2 of the Constitution reads that citizens, regardless of their financial situation, public authorities provide equal access to health care services financed from public funds. The implementation of this principle in the public health care system is based on the principle of ensuring equal access for all qualified entities to health services. The constitutional principle of equality does not promise the obligation of public authorities to provide free but only equal health care for all citizens, which must be guaranteed by public funds. The implementation of equal access to benefits is limited with imperfect regulation in the health sector, primarily due to insuf- ficient funds allocated to healthcare.

Ślōnskŏ godka – unleavened folklore or regional language?

In two national censuses, made in the years 2002 and 2011, Silesians emerged as the largest minority occurring in the territory of the Polish Republic. Those researches show also that Silesians are the largest group that use its own ethnolect in domestic relations. In 2002, belonging to that minority declared 173 153 persons, and the use of Silesian ethnolect in domestic relations: 56 643 people. In 2011, the membership of this group declared more than 800 000 people, and the use of regional language more than 500 000. The problem lies in the fact that the Polish state does not recognize the existence of this minority in legal terms. This in turn results in increase of tensions between the center and periphery.Therefore the main purpose of this paper is to show efforts of the Silesian minority for a legal empowerment of the group, in particular, shows most advanced activities for the statutory recognition of the Silesian ethnolect as a regional language.

Elections in Rome in the Age of the Republic were considered just as important, and voters were as much manipulated in Rome of the time as nowadays. Manipulation was nevertheless easier, than nowadays because of the process of elections. The rule of the aristocracy against the masses, and especially the popular assembly was ensured institutionally. And as votes were cast within centurie, they could continue to make use of all means of manipulation arising from the centuria system against the masses. The campaign took one year, so albeit anybody could enter the elections (subject to meeting the above conditions), actually only those had any chance who did not make a living by working, earning wages, but had their own property. In this paper we shall survey the order of the election of consules and election campaign in the last century of the Republic. (I.) After that we analyse the role of associations (collegia) in the election campaign. (II.) Finally, we shall discuss order of procedure of criminal procedure in Cicero’s age with special regard to the criminal procedure in the cases of bribery, i.e. ambitus. (III.)

The right to access to public information in the  verdicts of administrative courts

The access to public information plays very important role in democratic society. He provides access to information about very important public matters, about activities of organs of public authority, public duties. The right to access to public information has been developed in Polen as a constitutional right only to the Constitution in 1997. Until the adoption and entry into force of the Act on access to public information, the Article 61 of Constitution was basic regulation which guaranteed access to public information. The right to access to public information was and is still developed in the verdicts of administrative courts. The administrative courts played very important role in configuration limits of protection this right.

The concept of representative parliamentary mandate in  Polish tradition and in contemporary Polish constitutional law

The purpose of this paper is to address the concept of a representative parliamentary mandate in Polish tradition and in contemporary Polish constitutional law. The paper touches upon the concept of the representative mandate in the Polish constitutionalism in a comprehensive and cross-cutting manner, with regard to both former constitutional rules and the current Constitution. The considerations are based on an analysis of the normative regulations and basic doctrinal approaches. Emphasis has been also placed on the historical context of a representative mandate and on conclusions flowing from comparing the two basic models of a parliamentary mandate. The author enriches his views with references to the everyday political practice, which has a significant influence on the real perception of the notion of a representative mandate.

The reasons of expire of local authorities seat

This article presents reasons of expiry of local authorities seat and forms wherein it happen. Local authorities seat usually expire by ending the cadency. Although it may happen before the end of cadency, because of reasons behind local authorities, legislative body of local government or objective reasons. Organs which expire local authorities seat are legislative body of local government, election commissioner and the Seym. Local residents may also contribute to recall executive body of local government, voting in local referendum. It base on the rules of Electoral code, systemic local government acts and local referendum act.

Scientific conference: Senat w tradycji i praktyce ustrojowej Rzeczypospolitej,  Senate, Warszawa, 11 December 2012 (report), Korneliusz Łukasik,  Alicja Brzozowska

Global Elections Day celebration, Toruń, 7 February 2013 (report),  Paweł Raźny

National interdisciplinary scientific conference: Wyzwania współczesnego prawa  wyborczego, Toruń, 15 marca 2013 r. (report), Radosław Zych

7th Seminar of Constitutional Law Scholars: Wolności i prawa ekonomiczne, socjalne i kulturalne w Polsce i państwach europejskich, Opole, 9–10 April  2013 (report), Bartłomiej Opaliński

Commentary on the Constitutional Court's judgment of 6th April 2011  (ref. No. Pp 1/10)

Leszek Józef Wiśniewski – in memory of a Friend

The Juridical power in selected postyugoslave states – Slovenia and Croatia

The government in the Republic of Slovenia is organized on the principle of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial branches. Judicial power is exercised by the courts. The judiciary is autonomous and independent. The courts administer justice according to the Constitution and law, as well as according to international agreements and treaties in force. Judges and lay assessors participate in the administration of justice in conformity with the law. In the Republic of Slovenia the administration of justice is carried out by 44 district courts, 11 regional courts, 4 higher courts: labour courts and social court, Higher Labour and Social Court, the Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia. In addition to courts with general jurisdiction, there are 4 labour courts and 1 social court. There are responsible for ruling on individual and collective labour-related disputes and on social disputes. For second-degree ruling the Higher Labour and Social Court is responsible.

The procedure for amending the Constitution of Belgium  in connection with the transitional provisions of the 2012

Changing of the constitution is usually followed by using a well-defined procedure. Few European countries allow the possibility of adopting a limited exception to the Constitution. Such a law introduced in 2012, Belgium, despite the lack of appropriate legislation and practice in this field. Belgian exception to the constitution temporarily modifies the procedure for changing the constitution. This involves the withdrawal of typical Nordic countries requiring approval of amendment of the constitution by two term of the parliament. Other elements of the procedure for amending the Belgian Constitution, such as equal rights of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and increased quorum and majority required for approval of amendment, remained unchanged. Validity exception of the Belgian Constitution ends with the term of the parliament elect-ed in 2010.

Constitutional entitlement to bring complaints  as the form of the public inspection

The object of this dissertation is to present the role of institution of complaint referred to in Art. 63 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2 nd , 1997 and in Art. 227 of the act of June 14 th , 1960 – Administrative Procedure Code. One of the more significant objects of complaints can be the violation of law and order. In accordance with Art. 7 of the Constitution, public authorities shall be acting on the basis and within the limits of the law. Similar rule is also included in Art. 6 of Administrative Procedure Code and also in Art. 120 of the act of August 29 th , 1997 – Tax Ordinance. In a democratic country governed my law, public authorities can only be established on a legal basis and legal regulations will specify their tasks and competences, mode of conduct, and define the limits of their activities. The obligation of public authorities is therefore abiding the law, which means undertaking any activities solely on the basis and within the binding legal standards.

The Limits of MP’s Amendments of Government Drafts  of Regular Bills and the Budget Act

The article concentrates on the issue of regulations of legislative proceedings in the Sejm in the scope of the right of Members of Parliament to put forward amendments to government bills. Analysis of the provisions of the Constitution of April 2, 1997 and of the Standing Orders of the Sejm of 1992 proves that the current regulations, both with reference to the so-called regular bills, as well as the draft of the budget act, create great possibilities for Members of Parliament to make changes to the government legislative proposals during the stages of the first and the second reading of a bill. This creates a serious threat to the material integrity of the projects, as well as limits the effectiveness of the policy conducted by the government. The previous amendments to the Standing Orders of the Sejm made in order to limit the influence of MP’s amendments on the contents of government projects proved to be not effective enough; therefore, the Author calls for the further modernization of legislative proceedings aimed at guaranteeing effective protection of government projects against their deformation during the legislative proceedings in the Sejm.

Polish parliamentary immunity on the comparative background

The purpose of this publication is to present the scope of the parliamentary immunity in the Polish legal system. The paper examines both non-accountability and inviolability of the members of parliament from four different angles: ratione loci (where the protection is granted), ratione temporis (when the protection starts and ends), ratione personae (to whom it extends) and ratione materiae (what acts are covered by the protection). Polish regulations are presented with numerous references to the legal systems of other democratic countries, especially those which are members of the European Union. The paper advances a thesis that the scope of the parliamentary immunity in Poland is relatively broad and consequently, it may be argued that some elements of this privilege maybe taken away from the Polish Members of Parliament without affecting their freedom of action within the scope of parliamentary mandate.

The Concept of Constitutional Reform of the  Republic of Poland According to the Polish Solidarity Party

In May 2013 the party of the Polish Solidarity with Zbigniew Ziobro (further called „SP”) announced the project of changes in the current Constitution of the Republic of Poland from 2 April 1997 (further called „Constitution RP”). This project was presented in the form of consolidated text of the constitution which obtained the name of „New Constitution of the Republic of Poland” (further called „Project SP”). The Project SP proposes amendments or repeals of 83 articles of the Constitution RP (it makes a bit more than a third of its all articles) as well as addition of nine articles, not always completely new as for their solutions. The Project SP proposes introducing changes in the Constitution of RP covering in particular: system of legal sources, list of general rules of the system of state, forms of direct exercising power by the nation, especially introducing the presidential system of government, which mean far-reaching reforms of constitutional system of authorities. The article focuses the attention on their analysis and assesses them from the viewpoint of their democratisation, rules of legal state and contributing to rising effectiveness of activities of authorities while comparing them with regulations introduced by the Constitution of 1997. The estimate of proposals of constitutional system of RP covered by Project SP is not to be unidirectional – only approving or only critical. Some of these proposals deserve a positive mark, others arouse estimative dilemmas due to their loose ends or controversial character; finally there are those which cannot result in other than negative marks.

The Constitutional Responsibility of the President of Serbia

The topic of this article is the constitutional responsibility of the President of Serbia and the powers of the parliament and the Constitutional Court in this regard. The procedures governing the President for pulling constitutional responsibility begins with the submission of the proposal in Parliament on the indictment of President of having committed a constitutional delict and carrying preliminary proceedings by the committee and adoption by Parliament of a resolution on the adoption or rejection of the application. When determining and adjudicating authority is the Parliament, a group of deputies initiated the proceedings. Then the major procedure is carried out and shall be tested the charges against President. In addition, the committed by the President of the constitutional delict is required the Constitutional Court decision. At the end of voting takes place on the submission of the President from office because of committing a constitutional delict and order early elections for President. The decision is made by a resolution of Parliament.

The Importance of Article XXVII of the Constitution  to Protect the Rights and Freedoms of the Individual

This article aims to highlight the importance of the regulation of the official language not only for the state authorities but also for the individual as a guarantee of fulfillment of its constitutional rights and freedoms.The Polish Constitution of 1997 introduces in Article XXVII the principle of officialdom of Polish language, giving it for the first time since the nineteenth century such a strong legal protection. This principle was developed subsequently in The Polish Language Act in 1999 regulating the use of Polish language as a national language.The right to use Polish language in public and in private as the hallmark of citizenship should be protected by the State. Mother tongue as an element of national culture forms part of the national identity and therefore of the individual. The lack of obligation to know languages other than the official protects citizens from having to comply with European Law that has not been translated into Polish. The individual may also allege to the breach of Article XXVII of the Constitution when applied to the law that was interpreted in violation of language norms. Outside the protection conferred by Article XXVII of the Constitution there are now, as a rule, private law relations. It is due to the assignment to Polish language the status of an official language at the constitutional level and not of a national language. The introduction of the principle of officialdom in Article XXVII of the Constitution of the Polish language implies an obligation of the State to protect individuals that do not speak in that language. It is a condition for the realization of, inter alia, the right to justice. Article XXVII of the Constitution, the second sentence, as a guarantee regulation, confirms the inviolability of national minority rights resulting from ratified international agreements. Therefore, it correlates with the principle of the protection of national and ethnic minorities without giving the possibility to establish in Poland Polish language other than as the official language.

The rights of the President of the Republic of Poland  in the scope of supreme authority over the Armed Forces  during the term of Constitution of 17th March 1921

The article concerns the rights and activities of the president as a superior of the armed forces while the Constitution of 17th March 1921 was in force. The first part of the article is dedicated to a short description of the relation between the legislature and the executive, and the position of the armed forces in the Constitution of 17th March 1921. The second part of the article relates to detailed analysis of the constitutional and the statutory responsibilities of the President as a Superior of the Armed Forces. It was difficult to determine the character of the supreme authority of the President because there was no regulation defining the organization of general military authorities in the country. Formally, in a time of peace, the armed forces were subordinate to the President through the Minister of National Defense, who was liable to Sejm. The third part of the article constitutes the analysis of discussed powers after the constitutional amendment of 2nd August 1926. According to the provisions of the amendment, the President received the rights to issue a regulation with force of statute. His systemic position has strengthened, and as a consequence, it has a major impact on the extension of his rights as far as his authority over the Armed Forces is concerned. Furthermore, the author conducts dogmatic analysis of the regulations and constitu- tional practice concerning the supreme authority.

The legal empowerment of Polish Accreditation Committee in the State

Considerations carried out in this publication are an attempt to locate The Polish Accreditation Committee in a Polish tripartite power and competences division system The paper also aims to establish legal basis and character of Committee’s actions as well as the compatibility of those actions with the constitutional directives and moreover to establish the legal status of Committee’s members. The essence of the research is an attempt to try to provide an answer to the question about the location of the Constitution in the legal-organizational system of the Polish state. In order to do so the author analyzed the legal regulation, on the basis of which the Committee is founded, its members are appointed and its tasks and competences were granted. An effort taken in the paper to explain the phenomenon of the independence of the activity of The Committee as an institution invoked by an organ of the state ad- ministration is of a great importance.

Scientific conference: Instytucjonalne gwarancje zasady pluralizmu politycznego  w Polsce na tle standardów europejskich, Nałęczów, 14–16 June 2013,  (report), Tomasz Koziełło

3rd European Congress of Human Rights, Katowice, 6 December 2012,  (report), Maciej Tarasek 

Scientific seminar: Rozważania nad istotą polityki i polityczności, Rzeszów,  22 April 2013, (report), Przemysław Maj