President of the Republic of Poland – reflections on the 100th anniversary of the institution

The author presents the historical regulation of the President in the Polish constitutional law of the period 1918–1939. He shows the evolution and specific features of the institution, from the office of the Chief of State in years 1918–1922, through the limited regulation of the President in the Constitution of 1921 and its amendment of 1926, to the original concept of the head of state in the polish Constitution of 1935. The author notes the visible, sometimes negative impact of personal conditions on the regulations contained in the constitutions of the Second Republic, as well as the importance of Polish tradition for the process of creating and the content of the currently binding Constitution of 1997.

The Guarantor or an Arbitrator? The Role of the President of the Republic of Poland in the Light of Art. 126 sec. 1 of the Polish Constitution

The author of the study claims that assigning the role of an arbitrator to the President of the Republic of Poland is incorrect. It is a misleading reference to the constitutional position of the President of the Fifth French Republic, who vests much stronger power. It deprives the function of the guarantor of the continuity of power, referred to in Art. 126 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, of its content and systemic significance. The President of the Republic is not impartial and apolitical and takes part in the implementation of state policy. These features prevent him from taking a neutral position towards the participants in the conflict and from resolving it impartially. In addition, the Polish Constitution does not equip him with the appropriate competencies.

Act of March 11, 2022. on defense of the Homeland is a classic example of an “executive act” for the constitutional regulation of issues related to state security, including military security. The Homeland Defence Act contains the so far missing specification of the normative solutions contained in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997. They concern in particular the development of regulations concerning the following constitutional issues: the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland, the duty of a Polish citizen to defend the Homeland, the President of the Republic as the supreme commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland and the Council of Ministers as the body that ensures the external security of the state and exercises general management in the field of national defense. The main goal of the legislator is to replace the archaic and incompatible with the current needs and tasks of the Polish state and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland regulations contained in the Act of November 21, 1967. on the general duty to defend the Republic of Poland.