The institution of oath (affirmation)  and the protection of freedom of conscience and religion

Legal obligation to take the oath may interfere with the fundamental rights of the individual, especially with freedom of conscience and religion. In the particular states there are various ways to remove these type of collision, for example, the ability to take affirmation in place of the oath-taking or the extraordinary admissibility of the oath’s text modification. The given options are anchored in the statute law provisions or in the judicial practice. Not always, however, the indicated solutions are fully responsive to possible conscientious objections. In the author’s view, instead of derogation of the title institution from legal orders, oaths’ texts should attain the “appropriate” form – ie. oath wording refers to a relatively universal values –and a certain degree of flexibility in the interpretation of the law is needed. The obligation to take the oath and obligation to respect fundamental rights may be seen as the optimization requirements, and the most proper way to remove conflicts between them in a particular case is to use the method of proportional weighing in accordance with the Robert Alexy’s theory of legal principles.

Institution of President’s oath of office in the Polish legal order

The President’s oath of office is a solemn declaration taken in the presence of the National Assembly by which a new head of state swears to be faithful to the provisions of the Constitution; to steadfastly safeguard the dignity of the Nation, the independence and security of the State, and also that the good of the Homeland and the prosperity of its citizens shall forever remain his supreme obligation. The oath of office has been taken by all Presidents of the Republic of Poland, from Gabriel Narutowicz in 1922 to Bronisław Komorowski in 2010. Over the span of 90 years the words and the form of the oath of office were subject to changes. In the interwar period, the President’s oath of office was religious in nature and was articulated in following words „I swear to Almighty God, One in the Holy Trinity”. After World War II, i.e. between 1947 and 1952, the President’s oath of office partially lost its sacral dimension, although it was still ended with obligatory Invocatio Dei. Nowadays, namely from 1992, secular oath of office may also be optionally taken with the additional sentence „So help me, God”. President’s oath of office is an example of a specific type of legal institution that originated from interaction between different normative systems. This institution combines law with morality, religion and custom. Legal relevancy of the President’s oath of office reveals itself in the fact that swearing-in is a condition which President has to fulfill to take over the office. Whereas infringement of the oath of office can be one of the grounds, rather than the only ground, for Presidential impeachment before The Tribunal of State. Swearing-in is a crucial element of Presidential inauguration. Official schedule of the first day of the Presidential term also contains taking control of the Armed Forces and receiving insignia of the two highest polish orders (The Order of the White Eagle and The Order of Polonia Restituta). The President also participates in the Eucharist held in the Archcathedral in Warsaw, which is rather a private ceremony. Characteristic of the given institution requires not only the analysis of the law but also its practice. Analysis of statues and other normative acts should be accompanied by empirical case study.