Informal Constitutional Change. The Case of Poland
- Institution: Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
- Year of publication: 2017
- Source: Show
- Pages: 199-218
- DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppk.2017.06.13
- PDF: ppk/40/ppk4013.pdf
This article describes the theoretical concept of constitutional change. The cases of constitutional changes and amendments since 1989 have been analyzed in the text. The historical approach is used as a background for the current Polish events conceptualization.
The theories formulated by Y. Raznai, R. Albert, B. Ackermann, S. Griffin, D. Landau are applied for purpose of the analysis. The authors consider the problems of: constitutional change, constitutional amendment and dismemberment, constitutional moment, as well as a kind of constitutionalism, which is connected to an abuse of power by the parliamentary majority (illiberal constitutionalism).
This paper analyses following issues: the conceptualization of constitutional amendment procedure and constitutional change in formal and informal ways as well as the constitutional moment. Moreover, the Polish academia opinions on the amendment and change are presented. Eventually, the identification of the recent Polish systemic events from a theoretical perspective and the summary of the research are provided.
The assessment of current events takes into account the historical background – the transformation started in 1989 and ended with the adoption of the 1997 Constitution. The conclusion is connected to identification of the constitutional moments which legitimize or not the transformation of the system.