Court clerk jurisdiction to issue an order for payment in civil proceedings in the light of the constitutional principle of the judicial administration of justice

The subject of this article is to analyse the constitutionality of the court referendary’s jurisdiction to issue an order por payment in civil proceedings. While the ordinary legislator is entitled to extend the competences of this body, it cannot, in this respect, infringe art. 175 of the Polish Constitution, according to which justice is administered only by courts. Considerations presented in this study first of all address the issue of whether issuing of an order for payment in each of the four separate civil procedures can be regarded as administration of justice. Resolving this issue seems to be of key importance with regard to the subject of this paper, as art. 175 of the Polish Constitution suggests that the permissible scope of competences of court referendaries should end where the administration of justice begins. The assumption that issuing an order for payment falls within the sphere of administering justice moves the considerations to the compliance of entrusting this competence to court referendaries with art. 175 of the Polish Constitution. The analysis carried out in this respect includes an attempt to resolve whether it can be considered compliant with the principle of the judicial administration of justice.