CHANGES OF THE LEGAL ORDER AND THE PROTECTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS (IMPACT OF TIME FACTOR ON THE PRINCIPLE OF LEGALITY)

• Authors: Zdziennicki B.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

This article deals with the issue of protection of acquired rights in the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Tribunal. Determining the scope of protection of rightly acquired rights, the Tribunal indicated that it applies, above all, to natural persons and other subjects of private law. However, it does not cover the State Treasury, as, for notional reasons, it is not possible for the State Treasury to raise claims against the State for the purposes of protection of acquired rights or other constitutional rights. The Constitutional Tribunal remarked that absolute protection of acquired rights would result in petrification of the legal system, thereby making the implementation of necessary changes in it impossible. The Constitution allows adoption of the provisions to limit or waive these rights provided that such action is justified by a constitutionally legitimate aim. The author points out the question of derogation of legal provisions as a consequence of finding them unconstitutional as well as the problem of execution of judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal. He stresses that the fundamental task of the Tribunal is to adjudicate whether norms of lower status are in conformity with norms of higher rank, particularly the Constitution. The declaration of unconstitutionality of a given regulation in a judgment of the Tribunal results in the loss of binding force of that regulation. Implementation by the lawgiver of decisions of the Constitutional Tribunal has two aspects: a positive one which includes enactment of necessary changes in the legal system, aimed at ensuring its cohesion and completeness, and a negative one (consisting in the prohibition against adoption of legal regulations having defects which caused the decision finding unconstitutionality). The number of decisions of the Constitutional Tribunal that have not been implemented increases. Serious deficiencies and loopholes in the legal system have been maintained for years and may plunge it into anarchy. Therefore, legal solutions should be found to secure full execution of the decisions of the Constitutional Tribunal.

Keywords

EN

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS; CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL

Discipline

• LAW_&_ADMINISTRATION: LAW & ADMINISTRATION

• Publisher: Kancelaria Sejmu / Chancellery of the Sejm
• Journal: Przegląd Sejmowy
• Year: 2008
• Issue: 3(86)
• Pages: 41-53
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Zdziennicki B.

• B. Zdziennicki, Trybunal Konstytucyjny, al. J.Ch. Szucha 12a, 00-918 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

08PLAAAA053315