The constitutional principle of the reliability and efficiency of public  institutions in the case law of the Constitutional Court in the years 2006–2016

The article presents selected line of jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court with regard to judgments referring to the reliability and efficiency of public institutions. The principle indicated in its title was expressed by Polish constitutional lawmaker in the preamble to the Polish Constitution of 1997. In the introduction, there are identified various positions of doctrine regarding the normative character of the preamble. Due to the lack of a legal definition the author defines the concept of “fairness” and “efficiency”, and “the integrity of the state” and “the efficiency of the state”. This article in its essential part takes into account judgements of the Constitutional Tribunal issued in 2006–2016. Adopted timing is determined by the judgement oth the Tribunal passed in 2006, where the principle of fairness and efficiency has been called the “principle” and where the Court recognised its normative charcter. The judgments are discussed in chronological order. The aim of this article is to show the substantial meaning of the principle of fairness and efficiency of the state which was provided in discussed court cases. The idea is also to draw attention to the Introduction to the Constitution as its important part.

Constitutionality of acts of ceremonial deism in the U.S. case law

The paper deals with the notion of ceremonial deism, as it is understood in U.S. case law and jurisprudence. This term describes on kind of the government’s acts of symbolic references to God or religion, for example words „under God” in Pledge of Allegiance or the national motto – „In God We Trust”. American courts hold that particular forms of ceremonial deism are in accordance with the Establishment Clause due to their lack of a religious meaning (secularization thesis), nonsectarian nature, secular aims, historicity, ubiquity and non-controversiality. In the Author’s view, the above mentioned understanding of ceremonial deism is not fully proper. He calls on the rejection of secularization thesis and premise of non-sectarian nature. According to him, the public authorities’ acts of religious references are compliant with the Constitution when they perform significant secular aims, they do not have a devotional character and they constitute a testimony to the history and tradition of a particular country and its citizens. The criteria of ubiquity and non-controversiality may, due to its highly evaluative and subjective character, serve only a supportive role within the verification of the legality of a prima facie religious expression acts of the state. Theory of ceremonial deism, being understood properly, may constitute a valuable tool to evaluate the constitutionality of the public authority’s actions, also outside the United States.

Implementation of the openness of the judiciary judgments  as access to the public information as element of social control

The openness of public life is an event of the so called new time. It is a value that is evaluated positiv because by guaranteeing the access to the information about so called public affairs creates a possibility of the social control and by the same time an active function of the individual in the state with a democratic system. One of his elements is the possibility of gaining information via measures of public subjects that are called subjects that are obliged to give information. In view of the wide approach of the notion public information guaranteed by the legislator such information are also judgments of judiciary organs. In the Polish law order there are various forms of granting of the court judgments. One of the solutions is the granting according to the act of law dated 6. September 2001 about public information. This work shall evaluate that process of the granting and confrontation with other forms of the openness implementation of the court judgments.

Civil Service in the Jurisprudence of the Constitutional Tribunal

The civil service (c.s.) is a key element of any nation of law. As an institution responsible for exercising the public authority c.s. is not free from political pressure and takeover attempts for the purposes of the party. Polish experience in the creation of a politically neutral c.s. has not been impressive. The first regulation was created during the interwar period. After the World War II, the idea of an independent and professional c.s. was gradually dismantled to be completely abandoned in 1974. After the collapse of PRL, until 1996, there were several unsuccessful attempts to revive c.s. In that year the parliament adopted a basis for the c.s. system but even that attempt was subsequently revised in upcoming years by further changes (three new acts of law). Moreover, it has to be pointed out that during those years the actions of decision-makers concerning the c.s. have been the subject of jurisprudence by the Constitutional Tribunal. The rulings issued by the Tribunal have shaped the operational conditions which are important for c.s. and have developed an interpretation of the constitutional axioms of that institution. Analysis of key sentences of the Constitutional Court is the subject of this paper.

Participation of the Children’s Ombudsman in Administrative Court Proceedings

The publication aims at presenting the problem of participation of the Children’s Ombudsman in administrative court proceedings, based on the analysis of case law available in the Administrative Courts Case Law Database. Referenced judicial decisions demonstrate that while actions taken by the Children’s Ombudsman in the administrative court proceedings focus on the necessity of protecting the rights of the youngest ones, the Ombudsman’s activity is limited by the nature of the judicial activity of administrative courts within the polish legal framework and by their subject-matter jurisdiction.

The U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence has often delineated the borders of American racial politics. In some way, the Supreme Court decisions reflected economic, political, cultural, and ideological values of the contemporary society. The decision of Plessey v. Ferguson was a symbolic establishment of the separate but equal doctrine. It was also significant from the perspective of American federalism. In the 1950s, several rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court influenced American racial politics and paved the way for changes in the context of the development of civil rights. The decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was victory of the civil rights movement. It was perceived as a model for the subsequent cases. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the right of interposition. It was assumed that the power to declare federal laws unconstitutional applied not to the state but only to federal judiciary.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the American reform movements tried to match American ideals with the challenges of the times. Progressive attitudes highlighted the necessity of reforms. The Chinese issue, often risen in the public dialogue, was the subject of deliberation of the Supreme Court, the Congress, and the federal executive branch of government. Chae Chan Ping v. United States and subsequent cases established the doctrine of consular noneviewability referring to immigration law and delineating the scope of judicial review for decisions concerning the admission of immigrants to the United States. They also strengthened the plenary power doctrine. We may ask if the Supreme Court judgments were in conformity with the ideas of American Progressivism. Unfortunately, the Chinese Exclusion Cases were not compatible with the visions of progressive reformers and reflected anti-Chinese sentiment rather than an aspiration for reforms.

The Category of “Legitimation” in the Jurisprudence of the Constitutional Tribunal – Constructive Semantic Conditions

This paper aims to analyze the Constitutional Tribunal’s (CT) jurisprudence regarding the term “legitimation” to reconstruct its definition and compare it with its lexical meaning. Despite its varied use across multiple contexts, the jurisprudence lacks a uniform definition of legitimation. This situation necessitates reliance on diverse semantic intuitions. A doctrinal-legal method combined with logical-linguistic analysis was employed, analyzing 100 CT rulings that used the term “legitimation”. The CT’s jurisprudence shows that the application of the term is not limited to legal legitimacy but also includes broader contexts such as social perception, alignment with the values of the legal system, or the sovereign’s will. It is used in contexts that align with previous lexical findings, suggesting that legitimation can be viewed both as a state and a process. The analysis confirms the need for a terminological distinction, which could help organize discourse around this concept.