The paper investigates legal funding of the right to petition in Poland. It starts from a comparative background and it introduces the institution in a wider context, as a transparent and accessible for citizens legal solution, that has become an essential instrument of contemporary direct democracy and civic society. The author discusses regulations of the 2014 Acts on Petitions with reference to the Constitution of Poland and organisation of the Sejm and the Senate proceedings. Moreover, the study has placed the right to petition in a fieldwork of Polish system of human rights protection and Polish legal system in general. Finally, the paper presents results of opinion polls on direct democracy and civic engagement in Poland to discuss them with reference to previously presented construction of the right to petition as a legal institution. The author concludes with a relevant question on its further development in times of deep polarisation of Polish politics and during the Constitutional Crisis in the county. 

The subject of the article is a petition, or rather the right to submit it, understanding the concept of petition, as well as the nature of the petition and its relationship with the concepts of a complaint and a proposal in the context of Art. 63 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997. The notion of the right to petition in both narrow and broad terms has been analyzed. The position of the doctrine on this issue was presented.

The right to petition as an instrument for the development of the Senate’s legislative activity

This article presents the issue of the right to petition as a social tool influencing legislative proceedings in the Senate. The considerations begin with an analysis of the legal norms regulating the institution in the presented scope. Some suggestions for changes have also been made with the aim of improving the quality of the petition process. Practice shows that this instrument of social participation is an important source of inspiration for the creation of the Senate’s legislative initiative, but it could be used even more effectively. In the context of the principle of national sovereignty, the principle of a democratic state ruled by law and social dialogue, it is extremely important to give the institution of petition a substantial shape and ensure it has a real influence on the legislative process.