EN
Using the dogmatic and legal method, the constitutional and statutory regulations in force in Poland were examined and evaluated in order to identify the fundamental features of the provisional budget. By means of exegesis of the normative material and the achievements of the doctrine, the essence and functions performed by this institution of budgetary law were established. It was shown that the provisional budget is an extraordinary, exceptional and temporary budget act, that is a substitute for the budget law in the corresponding period. The legal standards in force concerning the provisional budget were shaped through multi-annual evolution of the legal order. It was established that so far in Poland provisional budgets have been used during periods of socio-economic or political crises and without a proper basis in constitutional provisions. Currently, the provisional budget act is an important element of the budget procedure regulated in the Constitution of the RP and the Public Finance Act.