The direct application of the constitutional provisions gives rise to many problems due to the particularities involved. These problems can be encountered not only in a judicial, but also in a managerial type of law application. Within the framework of the last model, the application of the constitutional provisions has to be considered through the Sejm of the Republic of Poland. The constitutional law focuses on the institutions of the political system.It determines the structure, functions, the competencies and the relationship between them. Taking into consideration the fact that the parliament has an important influence on the functioning of governance, the issue of the direct application of constitutional provisions by that authority is taking on new significance. The issue of the application of the constitutional rules relating to the Sejm internal organisation and its political functions has to be considered as relevant. The order of the direct application of the constitution indicates not only the necessity of application of the regulations, which define its organisation, operation and the subject of activity, but also these, which express so-called principles and values. Their full normative content is generally determined in jurisdiction of Constitutional Tribunal, which in turn obliges the Sejm and its authorities to apply these regulations in a manner which takes into account the judicial acquis of this organ.

autonomy to select The objective of this study is to analyze the process of implementing European Union law into the legal system of the Republic of Poland. EU law is to be incorporated in the Polish legl system in such a way as to safeguard its binding force. In other words, it is necessary to ensure the effectivness of European Union law in the legal system  of the Republic of Poland. The Member States are obliged to implement European Union law.This obligation arises out of the adoption of the treaties establishing the European Union, but it s also rooted in the Constitution. It is worth noting that a Member State has the autonomy to selectthe method of incorporating European Union law in its legal system. In the case of the Republic of Poland, the process of implementing European Union law is linked particularly closely to the adoption of statues implementing the provisions of European Union law into the legal system of the Republic of Poland. Should Poland fail to implement EU laws in its legal system properly, it may incur financial liability to the European Union, as well as its own citizens.

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.

The government legislative process as proof of the fictitious division of powers in Poland

The article is devoted to the analysis of the government’s legislative process in the context of Poland’s political regime conditions. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the specifics of the government’s legislative process and explain its significant drawbacks. The author tries to show that the transparency of the legislation has been disturbed and that, in this context, there is a deformation of the separation of powers. Government and parliamentary centres interpenetrate each other, and the observed functional unity of the executive and legislative authorities, which proves a secure management method, causes the prevailing legislative discourse to be illusory essentially. It does not strengthen the quality of the law being created in Poland. Unfortunately, the observation of negative phenomena after the 2015 elections confirms these trends.

Privileging of Government Draft Laws in the Spanish Legislative Process

In the article the author identifies the normative arguments as well as the arguments from the constitutional practice justifying the axiom contained in Article 89 of the Spanish Constitution that government draft laws are privileged at the stage of exercising the legislative initiative by constitutionally authorised entities. This allows us to conclude that the thesis of privileging government draft laws finds support in other constitutional provisions and in the provisions of the standing orders of both parliamentary chambers at the stage of initiating legislative proceedings, which allows the Government to have a real influence on the scope of the legislative matter considered by the Cortes Generales.

Public Hearing in Poland – a Legitimising Dimension of Citizen Participation in the Legislative Process

The article is devoted to the practice of using participatory tools in the law-making process in Poland. The subject of the study was the public hearing introduced into the Polish legal order in 2005. It mainly used the institutional-legal and comparative methods. Embedded in the framework of the theoretical concepts of participatory, deliberative, and pluralist democracy, the presented analyses focus on the legitimizing dimension of the public hearing procedure. The analysis of the normative construction and practice of using this institution allows for formulating general conclusions that indicate its legitimizing potential, including its potential to influence institutional arrangements. At the same time, however, this practice revealed a specific “sensitivity” of public hearing procedure to the political and social context, carrying the risk of transforming it into a kind of facade institution for the representative rule (with a somewhat illusory participatory character.

Direct Effect of Applicability of the Ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal after Publishing it

The subject of this elaboration is legal effect of the ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal, that arises after it has been published. The purpose of this elaboration is to present doubts related to application of rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal, based on the art. 8 para. 2 of the Constitution due to the art. 118 and 190 of the Constitution. Pursuant to these articles, the ruling is given legal effect after its publication, not earlier. By adjudicating with regard to the provision being at variance with the Constitution, the Constitutional Tribunal actually imposes the effect on the legal system in the form of repeal of this provision. On the one hand the legal system becomes constitutional but on the other a legal loophole may arise from lack of regulations.

The process of consultations with civil society is important as it contributes to a transparent legislative process and a good balance of interests in the legislative proposals. In the European Union works on the consultations with stakeholders have accelerated with the publication of the White Paper on European Governance in 2001. In Poland, we have been observing a number of initiatives concerning public consultations and dialogue with civil society in recent years, both on the side of the central administration and the non-governmental organisations. In this context, the analysis of the European consultation standards is even more important. It seems that the European experience in that area constitutes a good reference for the national solutions. This article analyses the EU standards concerning the process of consultations with interested parties. Having in mind effectiveness of EU lobbying groups as well as certain weak points of the Commission consultation process, this article seeks, in particular, to evaluate the Commission new “Stakeholder Consultation Guidelines”. The article concludes also with some reflections on how the EU standards could apply for the Polish consultation practices in the legislative works.

On the Volatility of the Concept of Demographic Norm in Elections to Municipal Councils

The demographic norm is an institution of high importance from the point of view of the final election results and the detailed rules for conducting the electoral procedure. As an instrument separating majority and proportional electoral systems, it affects the procedure for submitting candidates, the structure of constituencies and the methods of mandates distribution. The aim of the study was to present and evaluate legislative projects regarding the demographic norm in 1990–2018 period. The conducted analysis leads to the conclusion that no unified concept of the demographic norm has been developed, and the cyclical changes within discussed institution are a consequence of the current interests of political parties.

The Innovation of the Citizens’ Legislative Initiative in Finland

Finland was relatively late in introducing the institution of the citizens’ legislative initiative into its legal order, only in 2012. However, it can be said that the solutions adopted, both constitutional and statutory, differ to some extent from typical regulations. There are both formulated and unformulated initiatives, and the choice of the form of initiative depends on the initiators. Moreover, the digitisation of the initiative submission process is noteworthy. Particularly noteworthy is the creation of a generator of such initiatives. It has translated into a significant interest of citizens in this form of initiating the legislative process. However, this does not change the fact that the success rate of such initiatives is not particularly high. This concerns both the successful collection of signatures of support and the eventual subsequent acceptance of the citizens’ proposal by the Finnish parliament.