Nauru – the smallest republic in the world

The Republic of Nauru is an island country located in the south-western Pacific Ocean on the island of the same name. Nauru gained independence on 31 January 1968 and on the same day a new constitution came into force. The constitution of Nauru is similar to typical constitutions of modern democratic states, providing that the political system of Nauru should be based on such principles as independence, the republican form of government, the supremacy of the Constitution in the system of law, or the separation of powers. Nauru is an interesting country to research for several reasons. Firstly, Nauru is the smallest republic in the world and as the only state it does not have an official capital. Secondly, in parliamentary elections the Dowdall electoral system is used, which is a modified version of the Borda system considered to be an ideal electoral system in the theory of electoral law, which in national elections is not used anywhere else in the world. On the other hand, Nauru is an example of a state which has been brought from a paradise to an ecological degradation due to human activities involving the mining of phosphates and now it stands on the verge of bankruptcy.

The role of Constitutional Tribunal in the functioning of  Polish political regime described in the Constitution of 1997

The aim of the author of this article is to analyse the role played by the Constitutional Tribunal in the functioning of Polish political regime in the light of the provisions of the Constitution of 1997. Following hypothesis was verified: on the basis of the provisions of the Constitution, Constitutional Tribunal responds to conflicts arising from the dualistic structure of the executive and thus plays an arbitrary role in the functioning of Polish political regime. The article consists of four parts. The first defines the concept of the political regime and characterizes Polish system of government, with particular emphasis on its distinguishing feature – dualistic structure of executive. The second part was devoted to the description of arbitrary function of the Constitutional Tribunal in the Polish political regime. The third one describes ruling of the Tribunal that defines the central constitutional authority of the State that is entitled to represent the Polish Republic in the meetings of the European Council, as an example of the implementation of the aforementioned arbitrary role of Constitutional Tribunal. Findings and conclusions are presented in the end.

The finality of judgments of the Constitutional Court in the regulations  before 1997 and concepts of finality of judgments of the  Constitutional Court during the work of the Constitutional Commission  of the National Assembly and in the drafts of Constitution

The aim of this publication is to discuss issues of finality of judgments of the Constitutional Court. Noticeable date in the history of this matter is year 1997, which is associated with the enactment of the Constitution. From beginning of the constitutional judiciary (since 1982) until the enactment of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, a view of lack of need for any extra-parliamentary (and even more independent of parliament) forms of the constitutionality of legislation dominated the scene. And it was conditioned by the political system. This meant that the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling of non-compliance with the provisions of the constitutional laws have been subjected to the control of the legislature. Work towards adoption of the new Constitution began as a result of a major political changes after 1989. Actual beginning of the work is dated on 7 December 1989, when Constitutional Commissions of each of the houses of the Parliament were appointed, and later on the Constitutional Commission of the National Assembly. It was during the work of the Constitutional Commission of the National Assembly when issue of finality of judgments was discussed. In this article I will discuss that discussion and introduce concepts of finality of judgments of the Constitutional Court in the drafts of Constitution, to finally present a model of finality of judgements adopted in the Constitution of 1997.

Constitutional right to health care in jurisprudence  of the Italian Constitutional Court

The right to health care in the Constitution of the Italian Republic holds a special position among the rights and freedoms while the Italian Constitutional Court has many times dealt with this problem in its judicial practice. The article focuses on the analysis of the selected case law of the Italian Constitutional Court in relation to health care, in particular the one relating to the issue of involuntary treatment and the principle of patient consent to health care, the limits of forced medical treatment, basic levels of health services as well as the constitutionality of the regulations relating to the issue of artificial fertilization (in vitro).

The process of shaping the constitutional regulation of  local government in Poland in 1989–1997

The article describes the process of shaping constitutional provisions concerning local self-government and presents a phenomenon of increasing constitutionalisaton of this element of state policy. Author indicates four stages of this process: 1) establishing a principle of local self-government participation into system of public authority (1989), 2) establishing a constitutional chapter regarding structure of local self-government (1990), 3) complementing this regulation with provisions concerning self-governmental tasks (1992), 4) adopting the Constitution 1997, in which a chapter concerning local self-government.

Protection of human rights in selected postcolonial Asian countries –  current problems

Any discussion of human rights in post-colonial countries in Asia conducted from the perspective of Western civilization faces many obstacles, particularly related to the existing cultural differences, or even barriers and different traditions. Postcolonial states, despite the remaining remnants of the colonial era – visible example in their legal system, which still contains normative acts adopted before obtaining sovereignty – very firmly based universal adoption of the catalog of human rights as defined in the UN covenants, as well as the application of the standards in their compliance, which would be in line with those elaborated within the framework of the UN. The adopted ideology of so-called „Asian values” leads to a re-widening ideological differences, or even philosophical, in the further development of democracy between Western countries and Asia. At the same time, this gives rise to extract new direction of research, which is to analyze the development of human rights in post-colonial countries of Asia and the West, the study of unknown problems that will come up in relation to the existence of the doctrine of „Asian values”. The aim of this publication is to present current issues related to the debate on human rights, which recently appeared in Singapore and India.

Euthanasia – the „right to die”?

This article has no aspirations of all aspects which is related to euthanasia. Its aim is to try to draw attention to the most typical issues and presenting them in different contexts, historical, medical, social, legal and theological, with special consideration of waged discussions and solutions applied in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Poland.

Functions of the government in the Kingdom of Spain  according to the Constitution of 27th December 1978

The relationship between the legislature and the executive in the Kingdom of Spain has been based on the principles of a parliamentary cabinet system, in which the government that is appointed by the monarch must enjoy the confidence of the representative body. Therefore, the existence of the cabinet depends on the support of a stable majority in parliament. However, it does not mean that the legislative branch dominates the government. The Spanish Constitution created the model of rationalised parliamentarism by establishing procedures that not only favour the cabinet stability, but also ensure the effective fulfilment of its functions, which are the subject of this article. Due to the complexity and multidimensionality of the issue, the article focuses on the key roles and competences of the government. Following the example of many Spanish papers on this subject, the author uses the constitutional classification of functions of the government in the Kingdom of Spain.

Security in the Constitution of 1997 – initial diagnosis

The paper considers the constitutional recognition of security. It includes the basic regulations of the 1997 Constitution. The aim was also to make an initial assessment of the security research results in the doctrine of constitutional law. In conclusion of the article, the need for a new category of security reference was pointed out. The reference does not consist in the state itself, or a citizen, but the Republic of Poland perceived as a common good.

Public securities a legal reason of reduction of gatherings freedom  in administrative decisions on denial of public gatherings

In this article the author considers surprising legal reasons of administrative decisions on denial of public gatherings. All of them were issued on the ground of public security exception, between 2010 and 2014. Author divided analysed decisions on five basic groups: 1) where denial was issued on the ground of lapse of time prescribed for notification of the gathering, what rendered impossible for the authorities to provide appropriate safety measures; 2) where there was a risk that the gathering will not take a peaceful course; 3) where there was a collision regarding the time, and place with another gathering which was notified earlier; 4) where threat to road traffic safety, and 5) where it constituted an offence penalised under art 90 or 86 of polish code of offence.

Disinformation and propaganda in the terms  of the threats posed to the state security

The paper presents the role played by disinformation and propaganda in shaping state security. Common understanding of the terms is characterized by value judgment and differs from the one included in the subject matter literature. Both disinformation and propaganda are not newly implemented activities but they accompany the society from its beginning. Their usefulness during war has been proved by numerous historical examples. Development of disinformation and propaganda is connected with development of mass communication technology. Special meaning of the mentioned communication activities was confirmed during development of crisis situation in Ukraine in 2014. There are potential threats posed to Republic of Poland as a result of Polish involvement in democratization of Central and Eastern Europe. They include, inter alia, disinformation and propaganda. The way of eliminating the effects of disinformation and propaganda is understanding their mechanisms.

The admissibility of use of torture as a method of struggling  against terrorism in the light of Constitutional,  International and European law standards

Regulations of Constitutional, international and European law provide that torturing of human being if fully prohibited. There is no any reason that could justify such an act. The author of the article analyzes a problem if it is possible to legalize torture of a terrorist to achieve information which are necessary to avoid a threat caused by this offender. In this situation – torture is the only way to get knowledge about a prepared act of terror. The author claims that provisions of Polish Constitution generally prohibit the use of torture However, the Constitution permits to establish legal exceptions to this restriction. The 31th article of the Constitution provides that each Constitutional right or freedom may be limited by a statute when it is necessary in a democratic state for the protection of its security or public order. The author also finds, that International Agreements binding upon Poland absolutely prohibit to use torture against terrorists. Treaties don’t include any provisions that would legalize any exceptions to this rule. The Republic of Poland is supposed to respect international law binding upon it. Summing up, organs of authority of the Republic cannot be authorized to use torture against any offender in any situation. Especially the Parliament mustn’t establish any law act that allows to torture a human being because it leads to a violation of binding international treaties.

The president’s command over the Polish Armed Forces during a war

The objective of this paper is to analyse normative grounds for the president’s exercise of command over the Polish Armed Forces during a war. As a result of his research conducted, the author states that significance of the head of the state as regards military affairs in the period of war is subject to visible formal enhancement as compared to the period of peace. This is mainly due to the direct method of fulfilment of the president’s functions under Article 134, par. 1 of the Constitution and the president’s power to appoint the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, who reports directly to the president. However, effective exercise of the president’s command over the army during a war may prove difficult. The reasons for this may be, among others, problems in determining, whether there is a period of war in the territory of the Republic of Poland, it is necessary to act jointly and cooperate with the Prime Minister or there are no legal provisions relating to functions of the state during a war, including, supervision over defense of the state. Additionally, the author indicates to some legal gaps relating to the institution of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, as a result of which the current normative status of the subject issue has to be evaluated as very poor.

National Security Council

National Security Council is an advisory body to the President of Poland on issues relating to internal and external security of the country. This body is not equipped with any powers of a governing nature, its role is focused on advising the President on matters of national security. The Constitution does not specify who may be a member of the Council, leaving decisions on the composition of RBN to sole discretion of the head of state. The actual role of the National Security Council is determined by the activity of the President, who convenes sessions of that body, and also sets themes for such meetings.

Legal basis of the security system in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The article is an attempt to present and analyze the legal basis of the security system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are presented both its origin and subsequent evolution, which was mostly shaped by a direct pressure from the representatives of the international community. The article describes the roles played by the various organs of state power, with particular emphasis on the three-person Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Council of Ministers and the Parliament. Moreover, there is a description of the legal framework for functioning of the military and selected police forces.

Two models of relationship between freedom and security

The subject matter of the article revolves around two classical models of relationship between freedom and security contained in the theories formulated by T. Hobbes and J. Locke, as well as their conceptual development in the theories by H. Kelsen and J. Rawls. The model presented by Hobbes accentuates the primacy of security, whereas the one proposed by Locke, the primacy of the rights of an individual. A critical analysis of those models illustrates that one may not interpret the necessity of existence of a political power, or the requirement to guarantee the rights of individuals in an absolutist way. The validity of Hobbes’s model is limited to the statement regarding the necessity to establish a „decision-centre” ensuring „collective security”. Locke’s model, on the other hand, is not established upon the construction of an „ideal constitution” but rather it points to democratic forms of guarantying individual rights. This does not mean that one should acknowledge the absolute primacy of legislature. In both the theories proposed by Kelsen and Rawls this function may be fulfilled by constitutional judicature. While the model established by Hobbes is appropriate for the descriptive conceptualisation of constitution, the one offered by Locke serves the prescriptive formulation of this concept.

The exhibition of the crucifix in Italian public space

This article describes the problem of the presence of the crucifix in the Italian public space. At the beginning the author discussed the issue of the presence of crucifixes in public schools. The starting points are historical – legal issues and the Lautsi v. Italy case brought before the European Court of Human Rights. Than the author presents the problems concerning the presence of crucifixes in polling stations in respect of election judges and the voters themselves. The last part is dedicated to Judge Luigi Tosti, who objected to the presence of crucifixes in Italian courtrooms. The aim of the research of the author was to prove that, with respect to the problem of exposure of the crucifix in public places in Italy, there is a disagreement, which leads to an uneven line of jurisprudence. There are formed two views: a group of supporters and opponents of the presence of the crucifix in public space. The author used the historical – descriptive, formal – dogmatic and contextual methods.

Implementation of the openness of the judiciary judgments  as access to the public information as element of social control

The openness of public life is an event of the so called new time. It is a value that is evaluated positiv because by guaranteeing the access to the information about so called public affairs creates a possibility of the social control and by the same time an active function of the individual in the state with a democratic system. One of his elements is the possibility of gaining information via measures of public subjects that are called subjects that are obliged to give information. In view of the wide approach of the notion public information guaranteed by the legislator such information are also judgments of judiciary organs. In the Polish law order there are various forms of granting of the court judgments. One of the solutions is the granting according to the act of law dated 6. September 2001 about public information. This work shall evaluate that process of the granting and confrontation with other forms of the openness implementation of the court judgments.

Secondary unconstitutionality of legal regulations – chosen problems

In accordance with the regulations the Constitution of the Polish Republic Constitutional Court of Justice controls concordances with law of principle of constitutional sources of law: bills, international treaties and regulations given by central State-organs. Results of opinions of Court of Justice determine the extremely important problem from the point of view of the practice of the application of the law. In the face appearing cases of resolving by Parliament of legal provisions in the sound which previously was questioned by Court of Justice, the special meaning gathers the matter of unconstitutional of secondary in the sphere of the administrative law. The article is a test of defining of this occurrence and the performance of attentions effluent from the current jurisdiction and the practice.

Instruments of Constitutional Tribunal enabling  to avoid derogating unconstitutional norms

According to Article 190 para. 1 of the Constitution, Constitutional Tribunal has competences to derogate unconstitutional norms, therefore, to interfere in the legal system directly. However, there can be specified some exceptions to this basic result of Constitutional Court’s judgments. The article indicates that Polish constitutional court has instruments which enable to avoid derogating unconstitutional norms. It is worth underlining, that it is always Constitutional Tribunal’s decision to apply any of them. Especially, it doesn’t depend on petitum of pleading or procedures. In the article, it was taken into consideration: an adjournment of the date of the loss of unconstitutional provision’s binding force, a judgment concerning legislative omission, an affirmative interpretative judgment and a signaling. Their analysis is based on criterion of legal basis, aim and result of their application. It is described influence of these instruments on the legal system and, on the other hand, their significances for the authorities applying the law.

Polish constitutional normalization of the principle  of subsidiarity and its development in law

This paper is an attempt to show regulations on the principle of subsidiarity, enclosed in Polish Constitution and other legal acts. Polish legislation is familiar with the concept of subsidiarity, it is included in the preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. This provision was intended to emphasize its importance for the implementation of civil rights. It was considered that subsidiarity is important for strengthening the powers of citizens and communities they create. It is present to protect their rights, as well as any action taken by manifestations of civic activity in associations. This imposes an obligation on the legislature for an appropriate division of roles, in carrying out tasks of the local public administration. Applying the method of the institutional and legal analysis, demonstrated the presence and development of subsidiarity in the legislation. Analyzed materials also show the gradual, yet slow development of the principle of subsidiarity in Polish legislation. Its basis can be found in the constitutional law, which is the determinant of the direction of its development. The Constitutional Tribunal is also affecting subsidiarity by its decisions. The first part is a review of the principle of subsidiarity in Polish Constitution. It also expresses the impact of principle on the Republic of Poland. The second part concerns the principle of subsidiarity in the ordinary law. It shows how the principle is being developed since the late 80’s. The last part is an attempt to reveal the implementation of subsidiarity in activities of local governments. It focuses on how subsidiarity can provide the right to operate freely and retain autonomy of actions.

European Parliament election 2014 in Lithuania –  participation of Polish minority

The article deals with the issues of the elections to the European Parliament (EP) in Lithuania, which took place in may 2014 year. Author’s research interest is the Polish minority in Lithuania, the largest ethnic group after the Lithuanians in the country. For many years, the representatives of the Polish minority were actively involved in different types of elections. At first by the Union of Poles in Lithuania (ZPL), and then by the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (AWPL). The aim of the paper was to analyze the results of elections in Lithuania, with particular focus on the Vilnius region and AWPL participation. The main research material were the results of the elections presented by the Main Election Commission in Lithuania as well as documents related to the topic.

Scotland after the referendum.  Analysis of the results and of the consequences

The article focused on the roots of independence aspirations in Scotland and analyzed referendum in Scotland marked 18. September 2014; also described devolution carried out in 1998; analyzed not only the results of the referendum (by age and region of Scotland), but also the reactions of the UK and the rest of the world; described the referendums in the world after the World War II as well as plans for the future of Scotland.

Consitutional status Ombudsman institution in Latvia

The institution of Ombudsman originated in Scandinavia. The spread of the institution – which is now a solution typical of democratic countries – took place at the end of the twentieth century. At that time the institution has been widely welcome in the former socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In Latvia, it is not a constitutional body. Latvian Ombudsman acts on the basis of the Act of 2006, its predecessor was the National Bureau of Human Rights. Latvian legislator in a manner appropriate to democratic standards specify the position of Ombudsman of the political system and created him an opportunity to actually carry out the tasks assigned to it. Unfortunately, the practical effects of the activities of the Ombudsman leave much to be desired.

The constitutional directive proceeding without undue delay  as a part of the right to a court in criminal proceedings

The purpose of this publication was to present the issues of the efficiency of judicial proceeding as a part of the constitutional law to the court. Considerations begin from the presentation of how the doctrine of Polish law generally understand directive of the fast procedure. Next part of the text is a discussion of the regulations contained in international law, with particular regard to the European Convention on Human Rights, which formed the basis of the provisions enshrined in Art. 45 ust. 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland which contains the rule of law to the court. Then was presented the convergence of positions as to the interpretation of the provisions and their correct application by the authorities of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Constitutional Court.

Techniques of the implementation of Council of the  European Union framework decisions regarding  substantive criminal law into the Polish legal order

The purpose of this paper is the presentation of issues connected with the implementation of framework decisions regarding substantive criminal law into the Polish legal order. The paper is composed of two basic parts. In the introduction is described the most significant legal instrument of the III pillar, implementing the harmonisation of the criminal law of the member states, that is the framework decisions. In the main part are presented examples of the implementation of chosen framework decisions in Polish law – the Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA on combating terrorism and the Framework Decision 2005/222/ JHA on attacks on against information systems. Certainly the choice is not casual. The author endeavours to present two extreme models of implementing of framework decisions: a method of implementation consisting in transfer of legal rules, with the aim of inserting created norms into the Polish legal order and the contrary one of rewriting the content of the implemented framework decision without any reflection.

On the need for enacting the new standing order of the National Assembly

The article deals with the problem of the standing order of the National Assembly in Poland. The author indicates the reasons why it should be enacted as an unified, including all necessary issues, act, contrary to the present one, which is divided into a few independent, only partly adopted and referring to the significant competences of the National Assembly acts. The main argument is that the legislative method, that has been chosen by the lawmaker, seems to violate the constitutional provisions. It also looks not to be in accordance with the rules of legislative technique. Last but not least is that the present legal status causes a procedural gap, which means that some solutions, involved in the bill of State Tribunal, dealing with the procedure of presidential impeachment, cannot be applied until the entire standing order is adopted. Taking into account these arguments, the author raises a de lege ferenda postulate, aiming to change the current formula of the standing order of the National Assembly.

The impact of the place of residence on implementation electoral rights in Poland

The article focuses on the issue of restrictions on active and passive electoral law according to the place of residence. The article discusses regulations on the census of residence that have been in force since 1989. Changes to the electoral law related to the place of residence were caused by the Polish accession to the European Union. This involved the granting of voting rights in elections to the European Parliament and partly in the local elections, to those citizens of the EU who live in Poland. This article shows a problem of proper verification of residence in the electoral process too. The author notices also that existing solutions concerning the census of residence in the local government election law should be changed, because the current ones do not correspond with reality.

The institution of oath (affirmation)  and the protection of freedom of conscience and religion

Legal obligation to take the oath may interfere with the fundamental rights of the individual, especially with freedom of conscience and religion. In the particular states there are various ways to remove these type of collision, for example, the ability to take affirmation in place of the oath-taking or the extraordinary admissibility of the oath’s text modification. The given options are anchored in the statute law provisions or in the judicial practice. Not always, however, the indicated solutions are fully responsive to possible conscientious objections. In the author’s view, instead of derogation of the title institution from legal orders, oaths’ texts should attain the “appropriate” form – ie. oath wording refers to a relatively universal values –and a certain degree of flexibility in the interpretation of the law is needed. The obligation to take the oath and obligation to respect fundamental rights may be seen as the optimization requirements, and the most proper way to remove conflicts between them in a particular case is to use the method of proportional weighing in accordance with the Robert Alexy’s theory of legal principles.

Assessment of the effectiveness of the  Swiss constitutional popular initiative –  a few remarks regarding the legal framework  based on the analysis of the practical application

The Swiss constitutional popular initiative is often perceived as a prime example of such institution. It is characterized by its direct type (it is directly submitted to the vote of the people), it can be presented in a form of either a draft proposal or an idea for a future amendment, it is not thematically limited and finally, the conditions for its approval are not too rigorous. For its assessment to be complete, its practical application also needs to be analyzed. Since it is only the Federal Constitution that can be amended in a way of the popular initiative, usually the amended provisions need to be subsequently concretized by lower-rang legal acts which can allow the Federal Assembly to neutralize the goals of the initiative committee. In order to assess the effectiveness of this institution, the initiatives submitted to the vote of the people and the cantons between 2001 and 2014 were analyzed, with a particular attention being paid to the accepted initiatives and the subsequent legislative process commenced to enact legal acts aiming at concretizing the constitutional provisions.

The role of the international courts in the settlement  of the international law and domestic law rules collisions  on the example of state’s jurisdictional immunity

The Author analysis the role of international courts in the understanding and implementation legal institutions situated on the border between public international law and domestic law, on the example of the jurisdictional immunity of the state. The level of contact of those institutions under discussion relates to state’s using the immunity and human rights protection with special regard to the access to the court. The functions of international courts in discussed scope are particularly important in the opposite to public international law powerlessness according to the codification of its fundamental institutions. The lack of the treaty regulations and low specificity of custom norms relocate the liability of analyzing the substance, the scope of application, the admissibility of the limitation of immunity on international courts, whom statements can be a pattern for domestic courts. Unfortunately the judgments of international courts as well as domestic ones are not consistent – example of what are the differences in the approach to the immunity between European Tribunal of Human Rights and International Court of Justice. The lack of consistent vision of jurisdictional immunity is typical for international and domestic courts and in general is nothing special. However significant differences in the statements of main international courts deepen the uncertainty according to immunity’s scope, substance, possibilities of limitation (or lack of possibilities of limitation), that is especially deep regarding to simultaneous slowdown of codification activity.

The issue of deregulation in terms of liberalizing the provisions  related to the without legal counsel apprenticeship program access  to the profession of a legal adviser in the context of the provisions  of article 17 of the Constitution RP

The Act of 13th June 2013 to change laws regulating performing certain professions definitely facilitated access to the profession of a legal adviser as well as by opening paths ignoring legal counsel apprenticeship program, as well as by enabling migration between the legal professions. Because of that appeared a question of who is entitled to define the rules for access to the profession of public confidence. In this context, it is important to consider, in particular, article 17 of the Constitution of the Republic Of Poland for professional self-government. The professional self-government of legal advisers is designed to ensure the proper practice of the profession of a legal counsel within the limits of the public interest. The Constitutional Court has scaled that deregulation of the legal profession does not affect the competence and rights of professional self-government referred in article 17 of the Constitution, despite the fact that, in the opinion of the Court, the only body able to form the conditions of access to the profession of a legal adviser is the legislature. The role of professional self-government is the compliance of the established law, in particular the assessment of the candidates for the fulfilment of the statutory requirements for registration on the list of legal advisors, as well as those carrying out the profession of legal adviser. In fact deregulation of access to the profession of a legal adviser has resulted in an increase in the responsibility of the professional self-government for the quality of services provided by legal councils.

The complexity of the concept of energy security  and its basic principles in the Constitution

One of the important dimensions of the evaluation of society existence is energy security. Providing the right framework for the electricity sector is the basis for the operation of this type of security in its economic dimension, and so this issue can be seen as one of the top priorities of energy policies. This raises the need for an appropriate legal framework to enable proper interaction of administration bodies responsible for the overall relations, both inside and outside the state. Associated with this is also the issue of the appropriate rank of the fundamental – constitutional – norms. The Polish example of a system of constitutional law shows that, despite the lack of a reference to this issue in the Constitution, by means of interpretation of “sustainable development” (art. 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland) one can find the relevant legislation, allowing the chief state authorities to carry out the activity in relation to the issue of “energy security”.

The origin and constitutional basis of the Basque Autonomy

Spain is a unitary state according the Constitution of 1978, although it is administratively divided into autonomous regions. Basque Country has large autonomous aspirations. Over the years, coexistence in larger state organisms, the Basques had relative autonomy and obtained many rights and privileges named fueros. Despite the temporary restriction or partial repeal during the nineteenth century and in the dictatorship era of Francisco Franco, the Spanish Constitution took into account the ambitions of the Basques respecting their individuality also in the field of restoring fueros, updated to the current situation of the state. Basque Country has in some fields greater autonomy than other regions of Spain, which is reflected in the Statute of the Autonomy. The Basque society largely accepts current conditions of the autonomy regulated by the Constitution and the Statute of the Autonomy. This resulted in, among others, partial social discontent against the plan to modernize the Statute of Autonomy, and most of all, marginalized terrorist organization ETA.

25 years of self-government in the Third Republic of Poland –  an attempt to balance

Decentralization of the state was one of the most complicated processes of the democratic transition carried out in Poland at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. Although a quarter of the century has passed from events that have initiated the proces of restoration of the local self-government, this problem all the time returns in the public and scientific discussion. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to try to assess 25 years of local self-government in the Polish Third Republic.

Financial autonomy of the commune in Poland – assumptions and results

The present analysis is devoted to the financial autonomy of communes and the ways of understanding it. The author analyzes the legal, jurisdictional and actual determinants of the commune’s financial independence and points to the consequences following from them. The author poses a hypothesis that the constitutional value in the form of the financial autonomy of communes is not full realized by the parliament in contemporary Poland, with the Constitutional Tribunal underestimating it. The increase in the revenues of communes is not adequate to the duties assigned to them by the parliament. The consequences of the ongoing process include an increased debt of the communes and their problems with realization of the needs of local communities, the latter being the goal whose realization was the reason to have established the local self-government.

Information obligations of professional local authorities  in the light of the act on access to public information  and protection of business confidentiality

Act of 6 September, 2001 on access to public information guarantee everyone the right to public information, but the right to public information is subject to limitation of the secret of an entrepreneur. The same act on access to public information does not contain the definition of the secret of an entrepreneur. We are forced in this case to apply Article 11.4 of of Act of combating unfair competition. Company confidentiality is understood to include the entrepreneur’s technical, technological organisational or other information having commercial value, which is not disclosed to the public to which the entrepreneur has taken the necessary steps to maintain confidentiality. In this article indicates a problem associated with the provision of public information, because of the secret of an entrepreneur.

The jurisdiction activity of municipal revocatory governing bodies and the two-instance conduct judicial-administrative. Considerations over the right of the existence of municipal revocatory governing bodies

Before several years followed in Poland the rebirth of the territorial autonomy. From the time of the beginning the part and task of the local government systematically increase and the range of his assignments is constantly extended. From this even if the point of view constitutional guarantees of the protection of citizen’s rights in relations with structures of the territorial government and the inspection of his kelter are an interested investigative theme. From the point of view of the mechanisms of the inspection of the administrative activity of the local government and constitutional guarantees of the protection and the realization of the rule of the self-government on the first plan is shooting ahead jurisdiction activity of municipal revocatory governing bodies – organs about the character of hybrid, performing functions inspections of instance about the administrative character, though with typical competences for the organ of the administration of justice whose simultaneously the character did not become brightly explicit. Therefore the problem of the qualification of their character, the structure and the function in the system of the authority, and all the more the qualification of the constitutional part is interested and demands the reflection – all the more de lege ferenda, especially from the perspective need their constitutional regulation. The article is an attempt of the performance of the idea of the activity of municipal revocatory governing bodies and their further development.

The legal position of starost of a county (poviat) which is the statutory mess

The article regards to legal status of a starost of a county (poviat). There are doubts if this entity is an organ of public authority. According to statutory regulations the starost is a member (chairman) of The Board of Poviat – an executive organ of a poviat. Legal provisions don’t provide that a stoarost is an organ of self – government neither is this subject an organ of government administration. A starost performs self-government functions (obligations) as well as functions of government administration. The Polish Constitution generally separates local administration from government administration. The principle of decentralization provides that local government and its authorities are independent of organs of government administration. In practice the statost executes tasks of local and government administration. Because of this – this entity is treated as one of organs of government administration. The author of the article claims that this solution violates the Constitutional provisions. This legal act guarantees the independence of local – government and its authorities.

Comments on assumptions of governmental project of amendments  to the act of European grouping of territorial cooperation

Act of 7 November 2008 on European grouping of territorial cooperation constitutes an act implementing to Polish legislation provisions of Regulation EC No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and the Council of 5 July 2006, enabling the creation of European groupings of territorial cooperation as organizations serving to promote and facilitate cooperation between entities from different countries. The drafted amendment to the law, forced by changes in the European Union legislation brings forth, in relation to particular provisions, certain comments requiring broader discussion. The article specifically addresses the scope of the anticipated transformation, indicating the concerns in relation to their present form. Essential meaning was assigned to necessity to enlarge the circle of potential members of the European grouping of territorial cooperation, including statutory definitions adopted by the promotor, the form of consent to the participation of Polish entities in the grouping, the consequences of changes in the directory of data subject to EGTC registration led by the minister of foreign affairs, the procedure for reporting changes to the Convention of groupings and issues of control over the management of public funds by the EGTC. In conclusion, the finding was formulated that the current form of assumptions of project of amendments to the Act of 2008., may provoke accusations of inconsistency of the part of its legislation with European Union law.

Extraordinary measures in the event situations  of particular danger in cyberspace

In the article the Authors presented a problem of extraordinary measures in the event situations of particular danger in cyberspace. The analysis of this issue is made on the basis of constitutional and legal solutions (Act of martial law, Act of the state of emergency, Act of the state of natural disaster). The Authors refered to the concept of cyberspace and classified the risks in this area. The also assessed the appropriateness of the measures adopted by the legislature.

Formation of cabinet in countries of Central and Eastern Europe:  comparative analyze

The existence of cabinet in parliamentary systems of government depends on the parliament, which appoints and dismiss cabinet. Aim of the article is comparative analyze of cabinet appointment method in 11 post-communist countries of central and eastern Europe, which are members of European Union, based on constitutional provisions. Research question is whether constitution leave the presidents, who formally nominate the governments, the possibility of real influence on the cast of prime minister post. As a result, I position constitutions on a two dimension scale in which the ends are countries in which the president in principle has no possibility appoint the cabinet against the will of the parliamentary majority (the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Estonia, Poland and Slovenia) and countries where the constitution formally leaves the President ability to influence the composition of the government (Lithuania, Hungary and Slovakia). Other countries (Croatia, Romania, Latvia) are in between these extremes.

While the Court has, to some degree, started to protect against discrimination based on birth or nationality, the protection against discrimination on the basis of race until 2005 has been very poor and dubious. Upon reviewing the case law of the ECHR, we find that since the case “Relating to certain aspects of the laws on the use of language in education in Belgium” v. Belgium in 1968, the Court has decided to opt in favor of the original English version of art. 14, which underscores that the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms must be assured “without discrimination” and defends the concept that equality should be interpreted as non-discrimination, while clarifying that this disposition does not prohibit preferential treatment, such that, in the eyes of the Court, this principle is only violated when preferential treatment implies “a discriminatory treatment”, so the task for us is to determine in detail when the two are correlated. The cited decision is an essential reference as it provides the pointers needed to discern whether or not a violation of art. 14 exists, as in a “test” of equality that entails: (1) whether the distinction in treatment lacks objective justification; (2) whether the difference in treatment results in conformity with the objective of the effects of the measure examined attendant to the principles that generally prevail in democratic societies; (3) whether there exists a reasonable relationship between the means used and the end sought. Despite this interpretational recognition of art. 14, if we analyze in detail the Court’s jurisprudence, how the Court has approached the topic of discrimination on the basis of racial or ethnic origin is somewhat disappointing. The fact that during decades plaintiffs were required to provide proof beyond the shadow of a doubt has restricted the Court’s influence on discriminatory actions based on race or ethnicity; for this reason, it is not unexpected that in time critical dissidence arose, even within the Court itself. A good example of this is given by Judge Bonello in the decision Anguelova vs Bulgaria (2002). Here we analyze how the jurisprudence of the Court of Strasbourg has evolved in the context of discrimination against Roma, so as to ascertain the challenges that remain in this area.

The Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997, similarly as constitutions of some other contemporary states, expresses a postulate of “good administration”. It can be perceived both in the preamble as in many detailed provisions of the fundamental act, regulating particular institutions related to the legal system. The article describes frames of organisation and functioning of good administration determined by the Constitution and adduces opinions of the doctrine on the subject of the notion and features of good administration. A carried out analysis leads to a conclusion that the Legislator expressed the postulate of good administration in a sufficiently unambiguous way, however an unambiguous constitutionalisation of the right to good administration is required.

In this paper, I’d like to provide an overview of the presidents of the Hungarian Royal Administrative Court (Magyar Királyi Közigazgatási Bíróság) which operated in Budapest between 1897 and 1949. I wish to present the legal status, the political and social prestige and the scholarly background of the presidents of that court. In the opening, however, I will outline the organisation, the scope of authority and the operation of the Administrative Court.

Poland is a country of the so-called “young democracy” type. As provided for in art. 2 of The Constitution of the Republic of Poland dated 2 April 1997, “The Republic of Poland is a democratic state of law, fulfilling the principles of social justice”. Art. 4 of The Constitution of the Republic of Poland gives superior authority to the Nation. This authority can be exercised “through representatives or directly”. But Poland does not have much experience with the institution of a people’s initiative, nor with other forms of direct democracy. The Polish national law provides for two types of people’s initiative. One type is a people’s initiative of putting a bill before the parliament as provided for in art. 118 subpar. 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and the Act dated 24 June 1999 on the use of a legislative initiative by citizens. The second type is a people’s initiative of putting forward a motion to hold a legislative referendum regulated by the Act dated 14 March 2003 on holding a national referendum. The legislature did not provide for, however, a people’s initiative for the purpose of amending the constitution or its abrogation. The subject of this paper is the institution of a people’s initiative of putting forward a motion to hold a legislative referendum.

This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the rules of appointment and removal of Hungarian judges with special focus on constitutional controversies that got a wide national and international publicity. Besides providing an overview of the relevant legal provisions, I shed light on the constitutional difficulties the 2011 judicial reform faced. The independence of the judicial branch and the individual judge as basic constitutional principles require that judges are selected under high professional standards following the most transparent and adequate procedural rules. The 2011 judicial reform in Hungary with the implementation of two cardinal acts on the judiciary certainly aimed to guarantee more professionalism. The question rather was if it could observe the existing independence at the same time? Some elements of the reform provoked reaction from both national and international fora arguing the violation of basic rule of law standards. The national and international, scholarly, political and also judicial pressure was followed by the partial consolidation of the original text of the cardinal acts.

The present analysis is devoted to the financial autonomy of communes and the ways of understanding it. The author analyzes the legal, jurisdictional and actual determinants of the commune’s financial independence and points to the consequences following from them. The author poses a hypothesis that the constitutional value in the form of the financial autonomy of communes is not full realized by the parliament in contemporary Poland, with the Constitutional Tribunal underestimating it. The increase in the revenues of communes is not adequate to the duties assigned to them by the parliament. The consequences of the ongoing process include an increased debt of the communes and their problems with realization of the needs of local communities, the latter being the goal whose realization was the reason to have established the local self-government.

Based on Hungarian period literature, the study presents the main features of 1920s Polish electoral law, while comparing it to the Hungarian electoral law of the same period. Those elements of Polish electoral law are highlighted that the interwar Hungarian literature covers. Likewise, the study outlines the two differing directions which – already apparent in the first decades following the world war – the development of Polish and Hungarian electoral law had taken, despite starting out on a similar footing in the wake of independent statehood. Before drawing conclusions – with a consideration of their impact on political life – the study touches upon, in both states, the structure of the legislature, the electoral system and the distribution of seats, the conditions of active and passive suffrage law and the questions surrounding the nomination process. While in Poland “politics was shaped by electoral law’s chronic state of crisis”, in Hungary the admittedly manipulated electoral law ensured governability.

The current political-military situation enforces verification of existing structural and procedural arrangements relating to the functioning of Polish defense system. According to a number of conceptual documents (including National Security Strategy of 2014) the system consists of two kinds of subsystems: the controlling and the executive. The latter kind of subsystems includes operational and supporting sorts. The Polish Armed Forces (PAF) are the key element of the national defence system and are subject to civilian supervision of the democratic authorities. With regard to this kind of supervision there are two primary (fundamental) notions that deserve particular attention: headship and control. Both forms of supervision are reserved for civilian authorities during peacetime, respectively for the President of Poland and the Minister of National Defence. During the war time, the Council of Ministers gains greater importance in controlling the state defence. In this context, the category that invariably remains in the PAF domain is command understood as a specific form of control. Noteworthy, however, is the fact that the war-time PAF command structure, considering existing legal regulations, does not seem fully optimized. Therefore the reform of PAF control and command system, initiated in 2014, requires continuation and completion.

From the perspective of the political party, defining the sources and funding models are very important issues. Defining the legal standards, which provide in particular the certain and secure political parties funding, in a right manner, enables to direct their main activity on the more substantive areas. The subject area of the sources and models of political parties funding causes a great deal of emotions and controversy, not only among the political class, but also among the representatives of the science world and scholars. While the issue concerning the scope and amount of the funds has been revived at almost every single local, parliamentary or presidential elections, the analysis of and debate on the systemic solutions have been continued permanently.

The article is devoted to the characteristics of the ‘hung parliament’ in the Westminster System and its influence on government formation. Some interesting aspects has been chosen to illustrate the problem of minority government existence in Great Britain. Author explains normative and non-normative systemic factors that influenced the formation of the government cabinets without a sufficient majority in the parliament. The main thesis is that creation of minority governments is closely associated with the evolution of the party system and can be a kind of political barometer that predict or confirm appropriate changes at the party scene.

The article is devoted to the constitutional protection of the environment in Poland. The analysis includes environmental protection as one of the tasks of the Republic of Poland, duty of public authorities, a condition limiting the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, as well as rights and obligations of the individual in the area of environmental protection, including right to be informed of the quality of the environment and its protection. According to the author the scope of constitutional protection of the environment is sufficient. However the Constitution of the Republic of Poland does not guarantee right of the individual to use unpolluted environment.

The aim of the article was to present the electoral strategy of the Freedom Union and The Democratic Party demokraci.pl. Strategies that were used during the parliamentary and the government elections were analyzed. In the first case a way of expressing major purposes that both the UW and the PD wanted to achieve by gaining parliamentary representation was discussed. In the second case the way of conducting self-government campaign, which was carried out usin slightly different electoral strategies was discussed. It involved the possibility of joining electoral coalition and gaining seats in local provinces, districts councils, municipal councils and offices of mayors and presidents of cities. The thing that was characteristic of the UW and the PD in the electoral strategies was inefficiency in terms of activities.

The Polish model of the executive power presupposes the existence of two pillars of the executive. The Council of Ministers is strong by the virtue of its constitutionally granted competences, whereas the strength of the President is in the direct universal election. This situation creates a zone of conflicts between the supreme organs of the state. The author presents contemporary model solutions of the system of goverment and on this background he argues for a change in the Polish Constitution and the introduction of the model solutions of the chancellor government.

This work is an attempt to determine the axiological basis for the constitutional system of the Republic of Poland. Summing up the findings concerning the fundamental values of the state political system underlying the solutions of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997, we can conclude that it should have the following attributes: to be the common good of all the citizens, a democratic state implementing the idea of the sovereignty of the Nation and civic society, a state that is ruled by law, independent and sovereign, secular, diligent and efficient, implementing the concept of separation of powers. The constitutional values referring to the status of “human and citizen” are: the dignity and freedom of the person, equality and solidarity of all persons, an individual’s personal, social and legal security and the protection of their freedoms and rights. In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the axiological foundation of the socio-economic system is social market economy based on three pillars: 1) freedom of economic activity, 2) private ownership, 3) solidarity, dialogue and cooperation of social partners. The list of these values should be complemented with the social values which determined the adoption of the concept of social market economy, social justice and social security of citizens.

The article refers to the problem of inadequacy of the classification of the constitution due to the mode amend them. The purpose of the analysis was to determine the scope of the diversity of procedures for the amendment of constitutions as well as to create a typology of such procedures, with consideration to their individual components, their functions and effects of their use. To this end, I conducted a review of applicable solutions in terms of grouping related institutions. Considerations begin with indication of systemic importance of amendment procedures, the reasons for the use of stringent solutions and low popularity of flexible acts. For this purpose, it was necessary to present the origin and foundations of the division into rigid and flexible constitutions. Two-step classification proposed by JB Bryce over 130 years ago is not applicable to modern constitutions. The new three-step classification takes into account hedging instruments, which are used in the constitutions created in the twentieth century. The analysis included the following stages of work on the revision modern European constitution. As a result, they managed to identify different types of instruments intended to ensure the functionality and stability of the political system. Because of its universal nature it can be applied to all of the constitution historical and current, regardless of the provisions made for their protection.