Constitutional aspects of cassation judgment in the Polish criminal trial

The article shows how the cassation appeal model determines the exercise of the right to a fair trial. The aim was to examine the constitutionality of solutions concerning retrial not considered to a greater extent in the science of the criminal process. The formal and dogmatic method was used in the research. The Constitution of the Republic of Poland does not indicate what the model of the criminal trial is. It does not explicitly contain an order or a prohibition to repeal judgments and refer the case for reconsideration. The legislator, while shaping the right to revoke judgments, including legally binding ones, and to refer the case for reconsideration, must, however, particularly carefully balance all the conflicting values. It must particularly take into account the importance of hearing a case without undue delay and the stability of final court decisions as constitutional values.

The article aims to draw attention to such an administrative procedure in which a citizen’s right to control administrative decisions issued by an administrative authority is guaranteed. This control is carried out mainly in the course of an instance examination of a case. The analysis of solutions in this respect against the background of constitutional guarantees will allow for the answer of whether legal solutions guarantee the right of an individual to hear an administrative case. The analysis of these solutions is based on the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Tribunal and administrative courts and the views contained in the literature.