Constitutional transformation of the Republic of Croatia during the monitoring procedure of the Council of Europe

The author analyses the constitutional transformation of the Republic of Croatia during the monitoring procedure of the Council of Europe. Croatia once achieving the membership in the Council of Europe took several obligations to change constitutional system according to values and democratic standards represented by the Council of Europe. They have included e.g. protection of national minorities, freedom of media, changing of the system of the local government and the election law. Realization of those obligations was controlled by the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Council of Europe, through the Venice Committee, has helped Croatia to fulfill those obligations.

The finality of judgments of the Constitutional Court in the regulations  before 1997 and concepts of finality of judgments of the  Constitutional Court during the work of the Constitutional Commission  of the National Assembly and in the drafts of Constitution

The aim of this publication is to discuss issues of finality of judgments of the Constitutional Court. Noticeable date in the history of this matter is year 1997, which is associated with the enactment of the Constitution. From beginning of the constitutional judiciary (since 1982) until the enactment of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, a view of lack of need for any extra-parliamentary (and even more independent of parliament) forms of the constitutionality of legislation dominated the scene. And it was conditioned by the political system. This meant that the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling of non-compliance with the provisions of the constitutional laws have been subjected to the control of the legislature. Work towards adoption of the new Constitution began as a result of a major political changes after 1989. Actual beginning of the work is dated on 7 December 1989, when Constitutional Commissions of each of the houses of the Parliament were appointed, and later on the Constitutional Commission of the National Assembly. It was during the work of the Constitutional Commission of the National Assembly when issue of finality of judgments was discussed. In this article I will discuss that discussion and introduce concepts of finality of judgments of the Constitutional Court in the drafts of Constitution, to finally present a model of finality of judgements adopted in the Constitution of 1997.

The Main Factors Determining the Process of Shaping the Basis of the Polish Parliamentary System in the First Stage of the Political Transformation (1989–1991)

The article is devoted to the functioning of the Polish parliamentary system during the period of the political transformation in the years 1989–1991. A study of the phenomena that occurred in those times is particularly important in connection with the fact that it was then when the systemic position of the Polish parliament was taking shape. The years 1989–1991 were especially important as they included political decisions made by the Round Table, their systemic realization in the Constitutional Amendment of April 7, 1989 and the following elections statutes for the Seym and the Senate, as well as in the constitutional output of the Seym of the 10th term and the Senate of the 1st term and in the practice of both chambers of the parliament. Those transformations were obviously based on two rudimentary fundaments: a new shape of the parliament, especially in terms of its creation and structure, and in reactivation the office of the president. Both spheres were interconnected both on the systemic plain and – which determined the specific character of this system – also on the political plain.

Chairman of the Government in the Czech Republic - Evolution of Political System and Constitutional Practice

The article discusses the evolution of the political position of heads of government in the Czech Republic. Time censures are between 1992 and 2019. The institution of the Prime Minister has become a real instrument of political power for the leaders of political groups in the country discussed. The parliamentary model of government in force in the Czech Republic assumes close cooperation between the legislative and executive authorities. The analysis includes both the constitutional regulations and political practice of the last nearly 30 years.

The aim of this article is to present the dependence path and the number of factors which influenced its shape in the process of achieving transitional justice on the post-Soviet area. In comparative studies carried out in Estonia, Georgia and Poland, it has been demonstrated that there were a number of factors that diversified the process of transformation from the authoritarian to democratic system. The need to settle accounts with the Soviet authoritarian regime was diverse and depended on historical and geopolitical conditions, as well as on the political system which was adopted by individual states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It has been observed that in Georgia the process of achieving transitional justice was not initiated but replaced, after consolidating the democratic system, by the process of achieving historical justice; however, in Estonia and in Poland, the problem of settling accounts with the outgoing authoritarian regime constituted one of the key issues of the transformation.

The Case of KLD. A History of a Community

The article is an attempt to scratch environmental portrait „of Gdansk liberals” who founded the Congress of the Liberal-Democratic. KLD came from Gdansk Social Economic „Congress Liberals”, an informal organization set up two years earlier, a grouping of opposition from environmental Donald Tusk, Janusz Lewandowski and Jan Krzysztof Bielecki – the creators of the magazine „Political Review”. National conference founder held on 29 and 30 June 1990, the group formally registered on October 9 of the same year. His program KLD described as „pragmatic liberalism”. He preached the need for privatization and extension of the scope of the free market. He advocated the Polish integration with Western structures, carefully carried decommunization and the ideological neutrality of the state.

“Self-governing Republic” – the ideological signpost of “Solidarity”

In the autumn of 1981, the 1st National Congress of Delegates of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity” took place, which democratically elected its authorities and adopted a modern program. The program covered all areas of life. Its basis was supposed to be workers’ self-government. The gradual implementation of the program was to lead to the democratization of the system through free elections at the regional and then national level. The introduction of martial law made it impossible to start reforms and delayed the political transformation. During the system change in 1989, during the Round Table talks, some of the provisions contained in the “Solidarity” program were used. We can acknowledge that the 1st National Congress of Solidarity Delegates played a role in the process of political and social transformation in Poland. Further implementation of the postulates was possible in a democratic system.