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. 

During the last decade the separatist activities of the Catalan nationalists have intensified. Despite the enactment of the Statute of Autonomy in 2006, extending the existing autonomy of the Autonomous Community, Catalonia’s governing political parties strived for total independence. In view of the consistent attitude of the central government in Madrid refusing any concessions on the extension of autonomy or independence, the Autonomous Government of Catalonia (Generalitat) appealed to the institutions of direct democracy, calling twice for a Catalan referendum on independence. In both cases, the Spanish Constitutional Court declared the referendum unlawful. In spite of this, Catalonia declared independence after the referendum of October 1st, 2017, although the effects of the declaration were also suspended – a situation so far unknown to law.

The Application of Popular Initiative in the Swiss Confederation

The institutions of direct democracy are being applied in the Swiss Confederation on a scale that is incomparable with any other country. The popular initiative itself is being used by various interest groups, as well as by political parties, at least a few times each year. This article aims at presenting in a complex manner both legal and practical aspects of the popular initiative’s application in the Swiss Confederation. The first part of the article deals with the origin and the development of the direct democracy institutions throughout the years. In the next part the legal regulations concerning the popular initiative and the proceedings relating to it (from its submission to results’ publication and possibilities of their verification) are being presented. The following fragment of the article describes the interest groups and political parties submitting the initiatives and also initiatives’ objects. The article is concluded by the presentation of the various purposes, which popular initiative can serve, apart from its aim to amend the Federal Constitution.

The Concept of Constitutional Reform of the  Republic of Poland According to the Polish Solidarity Party

In May 2013 the party of the Polish Solidarity with Zbigniew Ziobro (further called „SP”) announced the project of changes in the current Constitution of the Republic of Poland from 2 April 1997 (further called „Constitution RP”). This project was presented in the form of consolidated text of the constitution which obtained the name of „New Constitution of the Republic of Poland” (further called „Project SP”). The Project SP proposes amendments or repeals of 83 articles of the Constitution RP (it makes a bit more than a third of its all articles) as well as addition of nine articles, not always completely new as for their solutions. The Project SP proposes introducing changes in the Constitution of RP covering in particular: system of legal sources, list of general rules of the system of state, forms of direct exercising power by the nation, especially introducing the presidential system of government, which mean far-reaching reforms of constitutional system of authorities. The article focuses the attention on their analysis and assesses them from the viewpoint of their democratisation, rules of legal state and contributing to rising effectiveness of activities of authorities while comparing them with regulations introduced by the Constitution of 1997. The estimate of proposals of constitutional system of RP covered by Project SP is not to be unidirectional – only approving or only critical. Some of these proposals deserve a positive mark, others arouse estimative dilemmas due to their loose ends or controversial character; finally there are those which cannot result in other than negative marks.

The text presents an outline of the history of local government development in Poland over the last hundred years, with particular emphasis on the last three decades. Its importance was discussed in the process of decentralization and democratization of the broadly understood political system. It was emphasized that it was this segment that was the first to be subjected to democratic changes and that it is in this area, both objectively and in the opinion of the public, that one can speak about the greatest success in rebuilding the social and political system of Poland. The extremely important role of self-government in the socio-economic development of the state was also pointed out, which is also connected with the fact that in no other country local governments play such a significant role in using EU structural funds. The role of local self-government as a school of democracy was also presented, showing that it is increasingly a kind of a center for the cadres of central power elites. Particular emphasis was placed on the fact that it is at this level that the instruments of direct democracy are used to the greatest extent, which favors democratic education in increasing social subjectivity. . It was also pointed out that after the parliamentary elections in 2015, won by the "Prawica Razem" coalition, the central authorities are taking steps to strengthen their position in relation to the local government.

The institution of a nationwide referendum has taken root in the Polish democratic system, but it is not often used. There may be several reasons for this condition. These include the existing representative system, which makes it possible to settle matters without recourse to the will of citizens who have chosen their representatives. Another reason is the party system – parties in power often block the possibility of holding a referendum, especially when such a proposal is made by the opposition or by citizens. The subject of the article is the analysis of cases of the use of a nationwide referendum in Poland after 1945.

Even though participatory budgets have rather short history in Poland criticism of its unwanted side effects have pushed some municipal authorities towards quick reforms of their initial visions. Most of them have decided just for small adjustments, but some have tried to be innovative and have reformed the whole mechanism. In this article, author attempts to take a closer look at consequences that accompany changes aimed at more quality of the whole procedure. The article aims to examine how more deliberation affects legitimization of participatory budgets. It is also an attempt to find out whether it brings expected outcomes within quality and profile of selected projects. Finally, we may learn here how people deal with more advance procedures. The analysis should serve anyone who is willing to search for new solutions among direct democracy tools in Poland.

A large number of authors, both academics and novelists, contend that there is an affinity between the Polish April Constitution of 1935 and that of the Fifth Republic of France. In their view, such an affinity results from the dominant political position of the president, his powers and general consolidation of the executive power2. Another reason for such an assertion is a similar model of leadership adopted by Piłsudski and de Gaulle. Some authors even assert that “Polish Constitution was an inspiration for the constitutional thought of general de Gaulle”3. Special attention should be paid to the different axiology of the two constitutions, including rigidity of the April Constitution provisions, designed exclusively for the presidential system, and distrust of the Polish constitutional thought in direct democracy. Different leadership models adopted by Piłsudski and de Gaulle also contributed to the general disparities between Polish and French fundamental statutes discussed in this paper.

The school protest in the Polish part of Russia and Germany that took place in 1907 forced young Poles to educational emigration. In Galicia, Polish-language academic institutions have developed a new elite. Together with Polish graduates of Western European universities turned out to be the main factor consolidating society around the idea of rebuilding the state. In the revived Second Republic of Poland, academic circles proved a counterbalance to autocratic rule in 1926-1939. The more so because the number of universities increased from 8 to 32 and they represented a high, world class level of education. After 1945, the rapid reconstruction of Polish universities and the consolidation of the academic community have prevented the communists from taking over higher education. In addition, after the turn of 1956, the autonomy of Polish universities was expanded despite the riots in 1968. Martial law and the breakdown of Solidarność resulted in taking over the function of socio-political opposition by academic circles up to 1989. In turn, the breakthrough made at that time was also thank to Polish elites, but at the same time led to a rapid development of the number of universities and the birth of academic capitalism. An attempt to violate the autonomy of universities in 2005-2007 stimulated the academic community and contributed to the collapse of the PiS government in 2007. Universities and the elites educated in them are in the long run more important for society than the institution of the state, material or economic resources, or armed forces. From this perspective, the Polish case confirms the proposed thesis and the visibility of the third function: supporting democratization processes in the society.

The Constitution in Article 118 (2) granted the group of at least one hundred thousand citizens the right to submit a citizens’ bill and initiate the legislative process in the Polish parliament. Due to the formalized mode of implementation of the constitutional right of citizens to submit draft bills, this form of initiating the legislative process constitutes a negligible percentage compared to the number of submitted drafts by other authorized entities. Sometimes, the submitted projects concern controversial matters, arousing emotions and distorting public opinion. An example of such a draft is the citizens’ bill proposed in the 8th term of the Sejm, amending the Act of 7 January 1993 on family planning, protection of the human fetus and conditions for the admissibility of termination of pregnancy (Sejm print 2146). The article analyzes the legislative process of the project.

Citizen Initiated Referendum and Polish Referendum Law

The main aim of this study is to respond to the call to give citizens the power to initiate a referendum in a binding way. The key question in this context is whether such a postulate should not be treated as just a typical manifestation of political populism and thus rejected, or whether it should be supported by recognizing the institution of a referendum initiated by the citizens as a factor conducive to a more complete implementation of the idea of democratic rule, without threatening the destabilization and dysfunctionality of the political system. The analysis carried out in the article proves that this institution cannot be discredited because it should be seen as a necessary element of the process of exercising power in a democratic state. The proposed legal regulation may be conducive to achieving such a role in Polish political practice.

On the basis of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the binding effect of the result of the vote in a nationwide referendum depends on attainment the attendance threshold. This threshold was determined as participation in a referendum of more than half of persons entitled to vote. The systemic argumentation in favor of establishing this threshold proves to be weak and unconvincing. The constitutional regulation is characterised in this scope by inconsistency in the form of not covering the constitutional referendum by the requirement of the attendance threshold. Furthermore, the desire to ensure the legal effectiveness of the outcome of the vote in the referendum results in extending time of the vote in the referendum. The conclusion includes the proposal to introduce an amendment to the Constitution consisting in resigning from the threshold in question.

Foreign Experience of Establishing the Right of the People to Participate in Legislation

The article analyzes the foreign experience of consolidating the right of the people to participate in lawmaking. The following conclusions were made in the course of the research: in general, there are two common approaches to determining the minimum number of persons (only citizens who have the right to vote): proportional (the proportion of the total number of voters is set); quantitative (a clear number of voters is determined, whose initiative is sufficient to be considered “popular”. Foreign experience in the forms of people’s participation in law-making is extremely multifaceted, as it provides a wide variety of forms, which we think should be classified according to the criterion of bilateral obligations and the level of inclusiveness of Parliament in relations with the people. It should be noted that we see the greatest efficiency in the implementation of such forms of direct participation of the people in lawmaking, namely: legislative initiative; referendum; activity of consultative and advisory bodies, and the people’s veto should be considered as a kind of referendum, with a complex structure and mechanism for implementation. The existence of the limits of people’s access to participation in law-making is analyzed and it is determined that most of the Constitutions of states declare the inadmissibility of putting to a referendum issues related to: tax and budget system, international activities, amnesty. Instead, we believe that the wording of the Swiss Constitution is extremely accurate. The first set of issues on which the people have the right to initiate legislation is identical to the range of issues considered by Parliament. As for the Swiss Constitution, it gives extremely broad initiatives to the people not only at the level of the state as a whole, but also at the level of the cantons. Thus, we conclude that the right of the people to participate in lawmaking is an integral part of the system of democratic rights and freedoms, and the trend we see based on the analysis of the Constitutions of democracies shows a trend towards expanding models and forms of such participation. what should be taken into account during the constitutional and legal regulation of this issue in Ukraine.

Referendum Votes in Romania – Success or Failure of Direct Democracy?

In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the institution of a referendum is the most popular tool of direct democracy used in the decision-making process. We can see the extension of the scope of issues that are put to the vote, in addition to traditional issues, the subject of a referendum are issues that strongly polarize public opinion and evoke significant emotions. The article presents the political practice of referendum votes in Romania. In the years 1991–2019, eight votes were held on the most important issues of public life, including the recall of the president twice Traiana Băsescu. The matters put to the vote to a large extent result from the existing conflicts in the ruling camp, between the president and the government and parliament, as well as from party rivalry and preferred issues consistent with the party’s programs and social expectations.

Institution of Recall – a Tool of Democracy or a Toy in the Hands of the Opposition?

The subject of the study is one of the institutions of direct democracy sensu stricto – recall, which operates in Poland at the level of local government. This article is an attempt to answer the question whether this institution should be introduced into the Polish legal system at the national level. In order to answer the above question, it is necessary to present the principles of the functioning of this institution in other countries. The use of the comparative legal method allows for the submission of a postulate to introduce such an institution into the Polish legal system. However, only practice would show whether it would become another form of direct democracy or a tool in the hands of the opposition.

Problems of the Legal Structure of the Participatory Budgeting

The article subjected the regulation of the participatory budget to a critical analysis as internally contradictory and controversial (including constitutional doubts). It pointed out some resulting paradoxes and discrepancies between practice and jurisprudence in fundamental issues: the eligible participants and the permissibility of using specific personal data. Because such a state of affairs is unacceptable in a democratic legal state and attempts to resolve it through interpretative means have not yielded satisfactory results, selected arguments for providing participatory budgeting with new legal framework are presented. It also highlighted some benefits that could arise from regulating the participatory budget within electoral law (as a distinct type of local referendum) and proposed in an outline some specific solutions.

October 15, 2023 – a celebration or failure of direct democracy?

This publication aims to present the most important problems that occurred in connection with the referendum, which, despite numerous voices of opposition, took place on October 15, 2023. It was also the day on which elections to the Sejm and Senate were to be held. Therefore, the authors decided not to refer to or comment on the extensive discussion of doctrinal issues related to the referendum, but to address only the practical dimension of the vote held in order to formulate de lege lata conclusions. The subject of the analysis was the issue of the validity and binding nature of the referendum, as well as the issue of the refusal of the voter to collect the referendum ballot in connection with the implementation of the principle of secrecy of the vote, which provokes many controversial assessments.