Representation of the Member States in the European Council in the context of political principles

The article presents the principle of institutional representation in force in the EU in relation to the members of the European Council. The purpose of this article was the analysis of the principles for the participation of the Member States in the European Council, which was presented on the basis of their constitutional regulations. The first document of the European Communities, which regulates the composition of the European Council, was the Single European Act. Subsequent reform treaties complemented and modified the board of the institution. The article analyzes the conditions for the representation of Member States in the European Council by the heads of governments or states, based on the constitutional principles of the representative Members. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the choice of a representative in the European Council belongs to the exclusive competence of the EU Member States. This choice is largely conditioned by the principles of the political system – the form of government and political system in force in the Member State concerned. A vast majority – twenty-two EU member states are represented in the European Council by the heads of their governments. Four Member States are represented by their heads of state, while the Federal Chancellor is the representative of two Member States in the European Council. Each change in terms of the political system of a Member State can be made only on the grounds of constitutional provisions.

The republican system from the perspective of the century of the March Constitution of 1921

The main purpose of this article is to show the evolution of the understanding of the republican form of government in the Republic of Poland. This analysis concerns not only the legal regulation of this constitutional principle, but also refers to changes in the views of the constitutional doctrine on the perception of the republican principle, including its components. Discrepancies in the perception of the principle of the republican form of government among researchers were and are significant, which shows that for over 100 years of an independent Polish State, these disputes are still vigorous. The aforementioned differences in the interpretation of the republican principle concern primarily the material elements of this principle, revealing the relationship between the republican system and other principles of the system, first of all the principle of the sovereignty of the people (the nation), the principle of the separation of powers and the principle defining the system of government. For this reason, it becomes necessary to decode these rules in a way that respects the republican traditions. and, consequently, in a way that allows the implementation of the values that underpin the creation of the republican system, not so much as a negation of the monarchy, but as an alternative form to it.

On the Compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of the Appointment of Judges – Members of the National Council of the Judiciary by the Sejm

The subject of this text is to determine whether Article 9a of the Law on the National Council of the Judiciary is compatible with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. In order to answer this question, the relationship that should prevail between the various authorities in a system based on the principle of separation of powers was analyzed. Then, doubts were resolved as to whether the NCJ is a body appearing in the division of powers of the judiciary. In the end, it was concluded that in the RP, the Sejm should have no other creative powers over the judiciary than those expressly provided for in the Constitution of the RP. Otherwise, the chamber is placed in a position of unjustified supremacy vis-àvis the judiciary, and the judicial power provides no guarantee that human freedoms and rights will be decided by independent and impartial courts staffed by independent judges.