The rights of the President of the Republic of Poland  in the scope of supreme authority over the Armed Forces  during the term of Constitution of 17th March 1921

The article concerns the rights and activities of the president as a superior of the armed forces while the Constitution of 17th March 1921 was in force. The first part of the article is dedicated to a short description of the relation between the legislature and the executive, and the position of the armed forces in the Constitution of 17th March 1921. The second part of the article relates to detailed analysis of the constitutional and the statutory responsibilities of the President as a Superior of the Armed Forces. It was difficult to determine the character of the supreme authority of the President because there was no regulation defining the organization of general military authorities in the country. Formally, in a time of peace, the armed forces were subordinate to the President through the Minister of National Defense, who was liable to Sejm. The third part of the article constitutes the analysis of discussed powers after the constitutional amendment of 2nd August 1926. According to the provisions of the amendment, the President received the rights to issue a regulation with force of statute. His systemic position has strengthened, and as a consequence, it has a major impact on the extension of his rights as far as his authority over the Armed Forces is concerned. Furthermore, the author conducts dogmatic analysis of the regulations and constitu- tional practice concerning the supreme authority.