Anti-Defection Law as a Remedy for Legislative Party Switching? The Case of New Zealand

The article addresses whether the enactment of anti-defection legislation reduces legislative party switching in parliament. This question is pertinent because some researchers cease to analyze cases of legislative party switching when anti-defection legislation is present in a political system. However, the example of New Zealand demonstrates the fallacy of such an assumption. Despite anti-defection legislation being passed twice, it has not effectively deterred parliamentarians from changing party affiliations. Instead, they have strengthened the position of parliamentary group leaders in relation to parliamentarians and the necessity for the latter to rely on loopholes that shield them from the severe consequences of party switching. A dogmatic analysis of the current legislation and a systemic analysis of the selected case lead to this overarching conclusion.

Custom as a Creator of Legal Norm on the Example of Standing Orders of the Sejm

Parliamentary custom has been present in modern parliament since its inception. The functioning of the British or German parliament shows that customs can co-create or supplement parliamentary procedure. In the Polish parliament, customs also regulate a number of proceedings. The subject of this article is the custom found in the practice of the lower house of the Polish parliament – the Sejm. Examples of customs that have been transformed into norms of the Sejm’s rules of procedure despite their long practice are indicated and discussed. However, the analysis of these examples does not give a clear answer to the question of the reasons for turning custom into law. It shows the inconsistency and discretionary nature of the changes. It is also in vain to find purposefulness and consistency in the creation of norms on the basis of custom.

The article is devoted to the analysis and the characteristics of the rights and the proxies of the monarch in Romania according to the Constitution of 1866. The adoption of the first Basic Law was the fateful act in the history of the state-building processes of Romania and contributed to its development as the sovereign state. The Constitution had the contractual nature and established the compromise between the young bourgeoisie and the large landowners in the form of the constitutional monarchy. The king in Romania for a long time remained the person who was «above» of all the state and political leadership of the country. This status and the proxies of the monarch were delegated with the first Basic Law. The legal fixing of such legal status of the monarch at the level of the Constitution made it possible to establish full-fledged royal power, which was an extremely important state-political step for the development of Romania as the independent country. The constitutional foundations, the functions and the limitations of the institution of the monarchical power in the principality were fixed in the number of the articles of the Constitution of 1866. At the same time, the important state-constitutional aspect was the clear fixation that all proxies of the monarch could be done based on the interests of the Romanian nation. The Basic Law of 1866 established the proxies of the monarch such as in the legislative branch of power (the right of legislative initiative, the right of the interpretation of laws, Articles 32–34); executive power (had to implement it in the manner determined with the Constitution, Article 35) and partially in the justice system (the right to declare amnesty on the political issues, the right to postpone or to mitigate punishment in criminal cases, Article 93). For strengthening of the foundations of the statehood, the Constitution officially established the principle of the hereditary power of the monarch (Article 82). His person was declared inviolable. Herewith, the Romanian constitutionalists fixed that the monarch did not have any other proxies, except those granted to him with the Basic Law (Article 96). Adopted in 1866, the Basic Law approved legally the democratic aspirations of the Romanian nation. It defined directly the most important principles of the state functioning as the principle of the national sovereignty, the principle of the division of powers, the principle of representative government, the principle of hereditary monarchy, the principle of the responsibility of the state officials, the principle of the Rule of law, etc. The Basic Law definitely contributed to the gradual democratization of the state-governing and public structures, the formation of the concept of the civil personality and untouchability, foresaw the presence of the political and legal pluralism in the country, etc. Due to the introduction of the institution of the constitutional monarchy, that ruler in the person of Karl I could establish and hold the certain political balance in the country between the liberals and the conservatives, which opened the possibility to potentially strengthen the two-party system and laid the foundations of the civil society and the future constitutional life of Romania.

Difficult parliamentary beginnings? ‘Rookie MPs’ in Poland of the 9th and 10th term on the electoral lists

This article presents statistical data on the ‘rookie MPs’ of the 9th and 10th Sejm of the Republic of Poland. The authors, by means of a statistical analysis of the election results, point out the factors that make it possible to win a parliamentary seat for the first time and the prospect of retaining it in the next term. Three groups of MPs were analysed: rookies winning their MPs mandate for the first time in 2019, 2019 rookies seeking reelection in 2023 and rookies winning their MPs mandate for the first time in 2023. The analysis carried out in this way made it possible to identify the determinants of winning a mandate and possibly retaining it. Based on the research, it can be concluded that is the place on the electoral list that is important for first-time electoral success.

The Second Chamber of the Polish Parliament in the Concepts of the Polish People’s Movement

The objective of the article “The second chamber of the Polish parliament in the concepts of the Polish people’s movement” is to analyze the issue of the Second Chamber of the Polish Parliament in the political thought of the People’s movement. The People’s Party supported a unicameral parliament. The Second Chamber reappeared in the 1930s as a Chamber of Commerce or Local Government (similarly in the Third Polish Republic). However, in practice, they voted for the adoption of subsequent constitutions, in which the Senate was present. This was not the expression of their political thought, but of their ability to make compromises and put the interests of the state above party particularism.

The author analyzed the issue of the impact of international standards on the relationship between the parliamentary majority and the minority. Although the regulation of these issues is the sovereign attribute of the state, international organizations may influence this sphere as a consequence of the obligations arising from membership. The protection of opposition rights is included in the axiological systems of both the European Union and the Council of Europe. Of particular importance here will be the implementation of the document of the Venice Commission, which contains a checklist of requirements that should be implemented to ensure proper relations between the parliamentary majority and minority. Although this document is only the so-called “soft law”, so it is not legally binding, it should be implemented into the political practice of the member states of the Council of Europe.

Sejm legislation during the 1733 interregnum and the internal and external security of the Republic of Poland

This article deals with matters concerning sejm legislation during the 1733 interregnum. As a contributory text, it attempts to answer the question to what extent the two undisturbed sejms raised the extremely important matter of state defence. The conclusions of the Convocation and Electoral Sejm of 1733 are analysed, i.e. the general confederation concluded at the Convocation and the constitutions of the Electoral Sejm, which have not yet been analysed. The text also examines the limited enlargement of the Lithuanian army at the end of 1733.