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 aim of the article is to define a rule of law for a proper functioning of the state, especially in the context of the provision of legal freedoms and guarantees to constitutional units. The determination of the was presented consequences of a breach of the rule of law which governs the complex acquis. The study will consist of attempts to define the rule of law, starting from the scope of this rule, on the basis of a doctrinal interpretation. This rule based on the Constitution of the Republic of Poland as well as on the Judgments Constitutional Court of the Republic of Poland. The specificity of the functioning of the European Union system requires to consider in this context the relationship between national and EU law on the regulation of the rule of law at the Community level. For the topic addressed, it is equally important to refer to the mechanisms provided by EU law to enforce Member States to respect common principles and values. The method used to implement the previously articulated objectives legal text interpretation.

Position of the Leader of the Opposition in the Maltese Constitutional System

The subject of the article is the institution of the Maltese Leader of the Opposition. Using the institutional and legal method, the Author analyzes constitutional solutions (and, to a limited extent, their evolution since 1921), the practical use of provisions with reference to the political crisis of 2020 and recommendations for changing provisions that would enable the empowerment of the Opposition Leader and making the nominations to the most important organs of the Maltese state less partisan. As part of the summary, the Author points out: the relatively high level of detail in the solutions regarding the appointment of the Opposition Leader by the President, which, however, did not protect the Maltese system from the 2020 crisis; a very ineffective mechanism for appointing persons specified in the constitution with the participation of the Opposition Leader; a very limited catalog of matters in which the Opposition Leader participates in decision-making mechanisms.