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THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ACT OF 29 DECEMBER 1989 (Nowela konstytucyjna z 29 grudnia 1989 r.)

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Ciemniewski J.

Przegląd Sejmowy

2009

issue 3(92)

27-46

The Act of 29 December 1989 on the Amendment of the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic put an end to the constitutional system based on the Marxist-Leninist doctrine and has laid the legal foundations for the formation of a democratic system of government in Poland. According to the original intention of its initiators, the amendment to the basic law was very narrowly drawn and would limit itself to establishing constitutional guarantees for the functioning of political pluralism, which became a political fact as a result of the Round-table discussions, a result of the election of 4 June and the appointment of the Cabinet of Tadeusz Mazowiecki. Fundamental changes in the system would have to be made by a new constitution (to be drafted and adopted in a near future). However, in the course of work on the draft amendment, it turned out that the basic principles of the system of government formulated in the then existing constitution are incompatible with the requirements of the ongoing process of political and economic transformation. Therefore, the need was recognised to repeal the introduction and two initial chapters. The provision stating that 'the Republic of Poland is a democratic state ruled by law and implementing the principles of social justice' was of a key importance for the systemic changes. The application of this provision in the constitutional system (as Article 1), has meant not only imposing the duty on public authorities to observe the law, but also provided the basis for determining material and formal requirements to be met by the existing law. The notion of a democratic state ruled by law, as a constitutional category, set the direction for change in legislation and created an area for judicial practice of the Constitutional Tribunal which, especially prior to the adoption of the Constitution of 1997, played important role in defining the principles of the Polish legal system. The second area of change concerning the amendment of the Constitution was national economy. A new economic system was based, above all, on the elimination of the privileged status of state ownership and the constitutional guarantee of ownership, on the basis of equality of treatment, and the guarantee of freedom of economic activity. As concerns public awareness building, the changes in the Polish national symbols, effected by the constitutional amendment, were of great significance. The official name of the state was restored to be the Republic of Poland and the Polish white eagle, as the state emblem, regained its crown to symbolise the state sovereignty. These changes reflected the collapse of the Soviet-dominated system of rule imposed on Poland in 1944.

BICAMERALISM UNDER THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF THE THIRD REPUBLIC OF POLAND (Dwuizbowosc w systemie konstytucyjnym III Rzeczypospolitej)

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Ciemniewski J.

Przegląd Sejmowy

2010

issue 5(100)

53-70

Re-establishment of the Senate in 1989, as a freely-elected chamber of legislature, was intended to constitute the first stage of the transformation of the institutions of the Communist state into democracy. However, the results of the election of June 4th, 1989 followed by the appointment of Tadeusz Mazowiecki's government thwarted those political foundations on which the constitutional concept of bicameralism was based.. Since then, the model of bicameralism has not been changed significantly despite changes of the political situation, and further amendments provided in constitutional acts. The model is based on the principle of identity of electorates of both chambers (universal suffrage) and asymmetry of competences and decisive powers between the Sejm and the Senate. The Sejm has been given a dominant position. The main function of the Senate is to participate in the legislative process. The Senate has the right to initiate bills and the right to either reject as a whole the bill passed by the Sejm or to offer amendments thereto. However, amendments submitted by the Senate is limited to the matters covered by the contents of the bill passed by the Sejm. The Sejm has the power to turn down , by an absolute majority of votes, both the regulation of the Senate rejecting the bill as a whole, and the amendments offered by the Senate. In 2005, the Senate initiated specific kind of legislative initiatives in relation to statutes adopted as a means of implementation of the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal. From the perspectives of the provisions of the constitution, this initiative does not amount to widening of the scope of competences of this chamber, since it falls into its powers to exercise legislative initiative. Charging this task with the Senate, in practice, has made it possible to fill the gap by the structures of the State as concerns the fulfillment of the requirements of the 'state ruled by law'. Special formula of participation by the Senate is specified by the provisions governing the procedure for amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Adoption of such amendments requires passing of a bill in the identical wording by both chambers (the Sejm by a two-thirds majority of votes and the Senate by an absolute majority of votes). Nevertheless, the Constitution does not specify the procedure for reaching the identical wording of such a bill. The model of bicameralism existing in Poland excludes the Senate from the process of appointment and dismissal of the government and the exercise of oversight of the government. However, the constitutional provisions, as well as provisions of ordinary statutes, provide for participation of the Senate in appointment other organs of the State, particularly those which, by nature, require independence. The position of the Senate in relation to both the Sejm and the government was strengthened after Poland's accession to the European Union. Another step on this path was the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon which provides for separate participation of every chamber of national parliaments in the decision-making processes of the EU.

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2 Przegląd Sejmowy

2 Ciemniewski J.

1 2010

1 2009

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THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ACT OF 29 DECEMBER 1989 (Nowela konstytucyjna z 29 grudnia 1989 r.)

BICAMERALISM UNDER THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF THE THIRD REPUBLIC OF POLAND (Dwuizbowosc w systemie konstytucyjnym III Rzeczypospolitej)