The 9^th International Conference of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland Systems of Protection of Human Rights in Europe and in Australia & Oceania. Warsaw, (April 24-25, 2017), Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce and the Polish Parliamentary Association. 

Did Siciński act alone? A new look at the causes of the rupture of the Sejm in 1652

More than half a century ago, it has been proven that the author of the first practical application of the liberum veto institution was Władysław Siciński during the Winter Sejm of 1652. The opinion presented by the senior Polish parliamentarian researcher of the mid-17th century, Ludwik Kubala, about the reasons of the breakdown of the discussed Sejm has been fixed. It was pointed out to Janusz Radziwiłł’s activity, which was to use Siciński for his own political games. For over a hundred years, the position presented by Kubala has not been challenged, even though it does not have sufficient reasoning in the sources. It can not be ruled out that the current hypothesis is correct, but it is also necessary to look at other possible reasons for the precedential application of the liberum veto institution.

About the need to restore the honorary court and introduce the parliamentary and senatorial apology to the Polish parliamentary law

There is no universal regulatory model of parliamentary ethics. The issues of parliamentary ethics are regulated in various countries by acts of varying degrees, usually statutes and parliamentary standing orders. There are countries where redress for abusive conduct of MPs is subject to general rules such as civil liability. Law in other states provides specific sanctions and means of redress for breach of ethics. Traditional forms of redress, referring to the rules of honor procedure of knighthood and nobility, include various forms of apology: personal, written, in mass media, and a particularly interesting type of apologies – to the whole parliament (chambers) as an offended “person”. The inter-war history of the Polish parliament provides an interesting example of an honorary court institution that dealt with cases of offence of one member by the other and the marshal’s court – gathering in case of the violation of the honor of a member by a non-parliamentarian. The honorary court survived until the first years of the communist period. Since 1997, there has been a parliamentary commission in the Polish Parliament, whose mode of operation and system of sanctions’ apply – does not meet its task. The aim of this article is to propose innovative and restorative changes in the area of the subject matter in Poland -- first of all – the restoration of court of Honour and the introduction of an apology from MPs and Senators for breach of ethics.

Individual Political Responsibility of the Cabinet Minister in Political Practice under the Constitution of the Republic of Poland from 2nd April 1997

According to the Constitution of Poland from 2nd April 1997, a cabinet minister is political responsible for the political direction of his office to the Sejm and to the Prime Minister. The main goal of this paper is to show, that in practice, the political responsibility of the ministers before the Sejm is illusory. The majority of the vote required to adopt a motion of no confidence is so high that its vote is only possible in exceptional circumstances. Since 1997, no motion of no confidence have been successful, so the Sejm has never succeeded in enforcing the resignation of a minister. That is why, only the political responsibility of the minister before the Prime Minister has a real meaning. The head of government can lead to the dismissal of each minister at any time. When deciding to file an application to dismiss a minister, the Prime Minister must take into account only whether such a decision does not endanger the political support of the majority of the Sejm.

Sejm after four years from the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon

The article attempts to give a comprehensive analysis of the legal and parliamentary practice in Poland, made after four years from the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon. The special focus is given to three issues: regulations of the so-called cooperation law, regulations of the Rules of Procedure of the Sejm for the Committee of the European Union and the practical aspects of proceedings of the EU legislative proposals in the Sejm. The starting point of the above analysis is protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, which impose on the EU institutions to directly inform national parliaments of the content of EU legislative proposals for which is provided to express an opinion. Therefore, the Lisbon’s Treaty confers on Polish parliament the power having the nature of a veto in relation to decision reducing sovereign rights of Poland as the one of the member states. However, the present role of the Sejm in the functioning of the EU depends on its ability to exert a real influence on the European policy conducting by the government, which is related with a possibility of concluding the political consensus on the national level. The author suggests that for supervision of the EU’s principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, not only greater activeness of Polish parliament, but also providing mechanisms for the enforcement of the members of the Council of Ministers of the political responsibility for their actions in the EU institutions, is required. Otherwise, the solutions adopted in the Treaty of Lisbon will not affect on the existing European policy way in Poland, which leads government.

Reflections on the Polish model of parliamentarism

The political system of each country is subject to constant change. The actual position of the state organs may therefore differ from the legal position described in the constitution. The analysis is aimed at determining if this is the case with the first Polish parliament. For this purpose, cases are indicated where the Sejm exceeds its powers or abuses its political position. Research focuses on three functions implemented by the Polish parliament: legislative, control and creative. On this basis, final conclusions are formulated regarding the Sejm, parliamentarism in Poland, laws changing under the influence of political practice, as well as research attitudes allowing to accurately assess the processes taking place.

The procedure for setting up parliamentary agenda in the Sejm of the People Republic of Poland

The article concerns the procedure for setting up parliamentary agenda in the first chamber of the polish parliament – Sejm. It is composed of five main parts: 1) historical roots, 2) general overview of legal provisions, 3) analysis of normative aspects of the procedure, 4) critical look at the current ideas and assumptions underlying the procedure, 5) propositions de lege ferenda towards change of the model of the procedure. All considerations included in the text go far beyond simple demonstration of how the rules being in force in Poland are formulated. In fact they aim to expose advantages and disadvantages of the solutions in question and by this way to indicate opportunities and directions for future reforms. The author supports such a vision by “reviving” some draft provisions from the past which have never been enacted, however which could have helped make the Sejm to be more pluralistic institution and stop being perceived as a body working too much under pressure of conductive majorities.

Some remarks about formal requirements of the motion of no confidence to a cabinet minister

According to the Constitution of Poland from 2nd April 1997, a cabinet minister is political responsible to the Sejm and to the Prime Minister. The Sejm has power to lead to the dismissal of each minister by passing a motion of no confidence. The main goal of this paper is to show the formal requirements of an motion of no confidence to a single minister, and to answer questions: what are the reasons explaining to submit this kind of motion and when member of parliament have a right to demand a dismissal of a cabinet minister. In this paper it is shown the results of an analysis of motions of no confidence to a cabinet minister from 1997 to 2015.

A few questions concerning the discharge

The institution of discharge is one of numerous instruments available to the Sejm in order to exercise the control function regarding the activities of the Council of Ministers. It is an institution with historic lineage, whose origins are closely connected with the formation of the parliamentary system on the Polish soil. The importance of the discharge and the control process associated with it is noticeable in its regularity, repeatability, but also in that it enables detection of irregularities. Conclusions drawn from this fact may lead to the elimination of such irregularities in the future budget legislation. However, the analysis of solutions devoted to the institution of discharge conducted in the normative plane and by means of the parliamentary practice assessment indicates deficiencies and the encumbrance of this institution, such as the excessive politicization of control procedures, as well as lack of clear consequences arising from resolution through which the Sejm can refuse to grant the Council of Ministers the discharge.

This article provides an analysis of selected problems regarding the mechanism for convening sessions of the Sejm by its Marshal. The author criticizes the adopted legal solutions, first of all paying attention to the excessive strengthening of the role of the chairman of the first chamber of parliament in this respect. In his opinion, doubts must be raised by the fact that under the regulations, the right to convene meetings of the Sejm has got only the Marshal, whereas such entities such like parliamentary factions, as well as the President and the government, are formally deprived of it. In addition, he also shows the dilemmas that may arise in the course of applying those provisions in systemic practice. M. in here, he indicates the problem of setting dates of a sitting of the Sejm, inviting guests and the situation when a sitting cannot be convened for objective reasons.

The Polish Constitution from 1921 established the bicameral model of the parliament composed of Sejm and Senate. The Article 35 para. 2 of the Constitution clearly sanctioned the right of the Senate to reject the whole draft of the bill adopted by the Sejm. However, neither this rule nor any other rule of the Constitution precised the consequences of such practice. This loophole in the constitutional rules caused controversies among constitutional law experts from that time and remains controversial even at present. The main aim of the article written within the constitutional-legal perspective is to present the position of the most prominent legal experts and the position of the author on the analyzed issue.

Sejm committees are internal, collegiate bodies of the Sejm, the establishment of which is required by the Basic Law. The regulations in force, which set the number of standing parliamentary committees (29), allow to state that we are currently dealing with a complex structure. Standing committees are formed to consider and prepare cases which are the subject of the Sejm’s work, to express opinions in laws delegated to the Sejm, the Marshal of the Sejm or the Presidium of the Sejm, as well as to perform control tasks. The spheres of activity of Sejm committees are analyzed in the broader context of legislative, control or creative functions.

The Work of the Commission on Local Self-Government and Regional Policy in Polish Parliament (2015–2019)

Parliament and self-government have become a foundation of the modern democratic state. In order to achieve to proper significance of the self-government in the works of the Parliament it is crucial to establish institutional guarantees in its organisation. Commission on Local Self-government and Regional Policy is one of the most fundamental instutional guarantees of representing the intrests of local self-government in Polish Parliament which is confirmed by its practice. That is why it is necessary to study its activity. An analysis of the Commission’s tasks performed in accordance with its statute provides the basis for assessing the activities of the Commission during the eighth term of office of the Parliament (2015–2019).

Professional Self-Government and the Sejm in the Republic of Lithuania

The basics of professional self-regulation are not enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, in ordinary law and legal doctrine, this professional self-regulation institution was determined thanks to the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania. One foprofessional self-regulation is the Lithuanian Bar Association, which is discussed in more detail in this paper. The subject of the analysis are the features of the legal status of the Bar Association in Lithuanian law and legal doctrine and its practical impact on legislative processes.

On 26 March 2020, by a resolution adopted on 26 March 2020, the Standing Orders of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland were amended to allow the sessions to be conducted using electronic means of remote communication. These amendments raise serious reservations as to their constitutionality. This is due to the fact that the Constitution of 1997 stipulates that the Sejm and Senate shall meet at sessions, while the meeting, being a concept that has been defined, is defined as the assembly of MPs in one place in order to consider the matter under discussion. In addition, as parliamentary practice has demonstrated, the changes introduced have generated a number of problems related to Deputies’ attendance at such remote sessions, participation in debates and casting votes. As a consequence, this may lead to weakening of the legitimacy of the work of the Chamber and a reduction in the capacity to exercise the mandate.

The article is entirely devoted to the issue of adopting the resumption of voting in the Sejm of the Republic of Poland. It concerns all the aspects of this institution, starting with genesis, through its systemic ratio legis, and ending with the material premises and the procedural mechanism of its application. The main goal is to analyze the normative content of the legal solutions in force in this area and, at the same time, to present selected experiences of political system practice. Focusing on these elements, the author answers the question of necessity of establishing the Article 189 of the Standing Orders of the Sejm, as well as the limits of using the institution of resumption in parliamentary practice. These efforts are accompanied by in-depth reflection on what should be changed in the content of the mentioned provision in order to make resumption an even more effective tool for verifying parliamentary votes.

Debut Members of Parliament in the Sejm of 7th, 8th and 9th term. The contribution for the analysis of the phenomenon of the party circulation of elite

Parliamentary representation of political parties is nowadays becoming an important field of activity of every grouping. Members of Parliament, following the standards of party charters, become an element of party elite, holding the official positions in collegiate organs. Personal changes in the parliament then mean changes in the party elite. The goal of the article is defining the scale of the phenomenon of debut Members of Parliament in the years of 2011, 2015 and 2019. The research question which the author was faced with is the question about the scale of the phenomenon of debut Members of Parliament and its consequences for the demographic structure of the Polish Sejm and the particular party representations in the parliament, defined as party elites. Detailed questions concern: the importance of parliamentary representatives in contemporary political groupings; defining whether the scale of the phenomenon in 2015 was significantly different from the election results from 2011 and 2019. The established hypotheses assume that: the important of parliamentary representation in contemporary parties is on a constant growth on the formal level and also within the political praxis, and consequently, Members of Parliament can be called party elites. Another hypothesis assumes that the phenomenon of debut MPs has stood out quantitatively in the analyzed period of time, nevertheless, it has not changed the demographic structure of the parliament dramatically, concerning the other two analyzed terms. The period of the analysis concerns the three parliamentary elections in 2011, 2015 and 2019, which allowed to pick up on the possible tendency of the phenomenon.

Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z 2 kwietnia 1997 r. stworzyła możliwość wprowadzenia trzech odmiennych stanów nadzwyczajnych w sytuacji szczególnych zagrożeń. Specjalne przepisy dotyczące stanów nadzwyczajnych zostały określone w trzech odrębnych ustawach, które zostały przyjęte w 2002 r. W latach 2005–2019 w Polsce wystąpiły liczne zdarzenia, które media określały jako klęski żywiołowe. Pomimo że regulacje ustawowe obowiązują od 2002 r. (Dz.U. 2002 nr 62 poz. 558), w Trzeciej Rzeczypospolitej nigdy nie wprowadzono stanu nadzwyczajnego. Posłowie w ramach swojej aktywności parlamentarnej kierowali na przestrzeni V, VI, VII i VIII kadencji zapytania i interpelacje w tej sprawie. Analiza aktywności poselskich związanych ze stanem klęski żywiołowej może być pomocna przy próbie identyfikacji sposobu postrzegania tego stanu nadzwyczajnego przez polityków, a to z kolei pozwoli ustalić przyczyny nieposługiwania się tym instrumentem prawnym przez rządzących.

Some remarks about the Cabinet reconstrucion in Poland

The article provides the analysis of the current regulations about changing the organisation and composition of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) in Poland. In light of the Constitution of Poland of 1997, the Prime Minister is responsible for the composition and overall organisation of the Cabinet and the allocation of functions between ministers according to the Branches of Government Administration Bill. In addition, the head of government has a certain margin of discretion in delivering the Cabinet reconstructions and the Machinery of Government changes. The Sejm plays a small role in this matter, however the consent of the parliament is necessary to change the Branches of Government Administration Bill.

Mediation committee in the parliament

The subject of the article is the possibility of establishing a mediation committee in the Polish parliament. It is a special type of parliamentary committee responsible for resolving disputes between parliamentary chambers. The need to establish such committee results from the fact that the Senate exercises a number of constitutional powers independently of the Sejm. They include, among others, approval of the election of the Commissioner for Citizens’ Rights made by the Sejm. This issue became the subject of a long dispute in the Polish parliament. Solutions to this type of problem could be served by a mediation committee composed of representatives of both chambers, which main task would be to work out a compromise solution in the dispute between the Sejm and the Senate. The mediation committee could also facilitate the legislative procedure in the parliament, although in this case the final vote almost always belongs to the Sejm, which may reject amendments or the Senate’s objection to the bill.