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Ostatnie proby nowelizacji prawa wyborczego do parlamentu w pracach Komisji Konstytucyjnej Sejmu I kedencji 1922-1927

100%
Kacperski K.
Przegląd Sejmowy
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2012
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issue 1(108)
71-80
EN
After the May coup d’état of 1926, the modification of the system of parliamentary elections has become a subject of public debate in the Second Republic, as well as an important element of political dispute in the last year of the Sejm of the first term of office.. The acts governing parliamentary elections, in force since 1922, aroused widespread criticism, except for the left-wing and national minority parliamentary groups. However, between February and September 1927 it has not led to any effective action enabling an evolution of legal norms governing the operation of that element of the constitutional system. The centre left members of the Constitutional Committee were so convinced of their infallibility that even an obvious need for conciliation, to rationalize mechanisms contained in electoral laws, has not compelled them to abandon their most controversial concepts. The members of parliamentary left also have not had a vision, and the slogans of defence of parliamentarism they articulated (in the form applied before May 1926) did not provide adequate justification for their decisions. Therefore, they – together with representatives of national minorities – took an uncompromising stance, leaving no room even for a slight compromise. Bearing in mind these considerations, it is worth noting the position of the Pilsudski’s camp on this issue. Since spring 1926, Prime Minister Kazimierz Bartel has repeatedly raised the issue of electoral reform, but these declarations were not accompanied by real action in parliament. Despite the favourable atmosphere, senators did not submit their own draft of electoral law, nor did they support submissions by the centre-right. Their actions were limited to verbal declarations. It may be assumed with some degree of certainty that this was because, under the regime established in the May coup d’état, the elections were deprived of the function of alternation of power, but had to serve as a means of spreading ideological slogans by the government camp. These actions were not caused by a desire for social acceptance. On the contrary, they only reflected the exercise of control over the general public. It was intended to test public sentiments during the election. However, it was not planned to create state authorities endowed with legitimacy.
2
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THE SMALL CONSTITUTION OF 1947 AND THE POLISH CONSTITUTIONAL TRADITION

80%
Czarny P.
Przegląd Sejmowy
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2007
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issue 5(82)
57-73
EN
The article deals with a 60 year-old act, the Constitutional Act of 19th February 1947 on the system and scope of operation of the supreme organs of the Republic of Poland, which is also called the Small Constitution. The main purpose of the article is to examine whether, and to what extent, this Act could be treated as part of the Polish constitutional tradition. The first part presents the origins of the Small Constitution. The Act is seen as the realization of the concepts promoted by the political camp gathered around the Communist Party, which took power in 1944 and succeeded in the parliamentary election to the legislative Sejm in January 1947. As that was not a democratic election, the Legislative Sejm was not adequately legitimized to adopt a new constitution, even if some minor political opposition still existed at the moment. According to the Small Constitution the system of government of the State was to be based on the principle of temporariness and principle of separation of powers as well as the superior position of the Legislative Sejm guaranteed as a unicameral parliament shaping basic assumptions of the State policy. The applied system resembled to a large extent the parliamentary cabinet model. Many provisions of the Small Constitution were incorporated directly from the March Constitution of 1921. The new institution, inconsistent with a Montesquian division of powers, called the Council of State (composed of the President of the Republic, and Marshal [Speaker] and Vice-marshals of the Sejm) was established. It was modelled on the solutions existed in the Soviet Union. In practice, the process of exercise of power in Poland did not conform to the provisions of the Small Constitution. Under the then existing system of government, called people's democracy, the basic law had to play a special role, to legitimize a 'new authority' and not limit its powers. An important thing, from this point of view, was that the Small Constitution completely ignored the issue of human rights. The hegemonic position of the Communist Party led to the situation in which political decisions were, in fact, made by party organs. Even if the Small Constitution is assessed negatively in the Polish literature, in a relatively long period of operation (i.e. until 1952) it enabled to retain domestic solutions of constitutional law and to strengthen some elements of the Polish constitutional tradition..
3
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF THE DUCHY OF WARSAW

80%
Kallas M.
Przegląd Sejmowy
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2007
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issue 5(82)
11-32
EN
The author describes the political consequences of the war campaign of 1806/1807 in the result of which Napoleon established the Duchy of Warsaw, being in fact a continuance of the Polish Commonwealth in part of its territory. Then there was created a Polish state with limited sovereignty and dependent on the French Empire. Over time, the Poles had gradually got used to treat the Duchy of Warsaw as their own state, in the hope of extending its territory in result of subsequent war campaigns of Napoleon. Their expectations were partly met in effect of the campaign of 1809. At that time, part of Galicia was incorporated into the Duchy of Warsaw. In the face of another war campaign, a new legal regime was established. Poland was expected to be restored within its pre-partition boundaries. However, as a result of the defeat of the Great Army in 1812, a Russian military occupation was imposed on the territory of the Duchy of Warsaw (1813-1915). The description of the constitutional system of the Duchy of Warsaw constitutes the main part of the article. The author presents the origins and circumstances in which the constitution was given by Napoleon in Dresden.. He pointed out similarities with and distinctions among the Constitution of the Duchy of Warsaw of 22 July 1807 and other Napoleonic constitutions. He enumerates systemic principles contained in the basic law and describes the position of state organs within the system of government, including the king, ministers and the Council of Ministers, the Council of State, the Sejm, local government and self government administration as well as the judiciary. He also deals with religious issues and social order of the Duchy of Warsaw. Finally, he discusses the discrepancy between the constitutional and actual system of government of the Duchy of Warsaw..
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THE SMALL CONSTITUTION OF 1992

80%
Chrusciak R.
Przegląd Sejmowy
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2007
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issue 5(82)
89-110
EN
The Constitutional Act of 17 October 1992 on the mutual relations between the legislative and executive institutions of the Republic of Poland and on local self-government, called popularly the Small Constitution, is the third constitutional act in Poland's modern history characterized by a limited scope of regulation and temporary (provisional) nature. The one and a half year period of preparation and adoption of the Act was an essential element of shaping the concept of a democratic constitutional order. The essence of this process was to depart from the system based on the principle of uniformity of power and on formal supremacy of the Sejm, and to strive to build the constitutional system based on the principles of a democratic state governed by the rule of law. Another important background of this course of action was the protracted work on a comprehensive and new basic law. The Constitutional Act of 17 October 1992 contained the provisions concerning mostly the Sejm, the Senate, the President of the Republic of Poland, the Council of Ministers and local self-government. Its adoption has made it possible to repeal the Constitution of 1952, however some provisions of the latter was continued in force. So, it was decided that the Small Constitution (composed of 78 articles) was in effect together with 62 articles of the Constitution of 1952 continued in force. Moreover, the Constitutional Act of 23 April 1992 governing the procedure for work on a new basic law was in force. The most significant solutions implemented by the Small Constitution of 1992 include: the tripartite division of powers; regulation of the relations between the executive and the legislative branches of power on the basis of mechanisms typical of the parliamentary system of government (particularly a vote of no confidence); the enhanced status of a Deputy and Senator; improved and modernized legislative and budgetary procedures; altered powers of the President of the Republic (particularly by introducing the requirement of countersigning); strengthening the position and increasing autonomy of the Council of Minister and Prime Minister. High political tensions, in particular between President Lech Walesa and the Sejm, as well as imperfection of adopted regulations, has caused that the practice of application of the Constitutional Act of 17 October 1992 was accompanied by frequent disputes on competence, as well a applications being addressed to the Constitutional Tribunal. As a transitional act, the Small Constitution was in force from December 1992 to October 1997. Nevertheless, many of its solutions, especially those concerning the relations between the legislative and executive branches of power were maintained in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997.
5
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THE ORIGINS OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE POLISH PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF 22 JULY 1952

80%
Borecki P.
Przegląd Sejmowy
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2007
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issue 5(82)
75-87
EN
The subject of the creation of the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic is not yet sufficiently examined. This is because the most important and crucial decisions on the content of the future constitution were taken by a select group which included state and party leaders of the Polish People's Republic. Having taken power in Poland, the Communists arbitrarily rejected the April 1935 Constitution, and declared that the March (1921) Constitution is in force. The official work on constitution that took place between May 1951 and July 1952 within the Legislative Sejm, as well as in its Constitutional Committee and subcommittee, was a phoney activity. Its purpose was, above all, to give the appearance of legality and social acceptance to the decisions taken outside parliament, or even outside Poland, in the Soviet Union. In order to improve social acceptance, a public debate on the constitution was held between January and April 1952. The debate had, in fact, a proclaiming nature. The contents of the draft of a basic law was determined, most of all, by the leaders of the Polish United Workers Party (PUWP) and two commissions of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist party existing from June 1949 to March 1951. Moreover, Stalin himself exerted influence directly on some provisions of the constitution inserting (probably in early autumn 1951) around 50 corrections into its text. The contents and origins of the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic show that it was intended to confirm the systemic transformations which were taking place since 1944. The Constitution was one of the last basic laws adopted in the countries of the Soviet bloc in Europe after WW II. Its was consistent with the Stalinist concept of the basic law as the so-called constitution of balance. The circumstances of the creation of the Constitution of 1952 proves that at that time the Polish state lacked democracy and sovereignty. This constitution was, in fact, imposed on the people by the then policy-makers from the PUWP, under the supervision of Stalin.
6
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THE RESOLUTION OF THE LEGISLATIVE SEJM OF 20 FEBRUARY 1919 PROVIDING FOR THE CONTINUED EXERCISE BY JÓZEF PILSUDSKI OF THE OFFICE OF THE HEAD OF STATE

80%
Kulesza W. T.
Przegląd Sejmowy
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2007
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issue 5(82)
33-55
EN
The return of Józef Pilsudski from German prison and the decisions of the Regency Council formally handing power over to him and, then, granting to him the whole military power in the country marked the beginning of the reconstruction of an independent Polish state. The first legislative act concerning the system of government (i.e. the Decree of 22 November 1918 on the supreme representative authority in the Republic of Poland) was drawn by Piłsudski who, became a Provisional Head of State. He was given the entire civil and military powers to be exercised until the election of a parliament. The parliament was to adopt a new constitution. However, prior to that, the Legislative Sejm adopted another provisional act. The resolution of the Legislative Sejm of 20 February 1919 providing for the continued exercise by Pilsudski of the office of the head of state was composed of two parts: in the first one the Sejm took cognizance of the declaration by Pilsudski about his resignation from office to the Sejm and expressed gratitude for his previous activity. In the second part, the Chamber entrusted Pilsudski with the continued exercise of the office, at the same time specifying the 'principles' of such exercise. The Legislative Sejm was made a 'sovereign and highest authority', while the Head of State was given the status of a 'representative of the State' being 'the supreme executor of the resolutions adopted by the Sejm on civil and military matters'. He was given the power to appoint 'a government in its entire composition based on agreement with the Sejm'. Both the Head of State and the government were accountable to the Sejm for 'the exercise of the office' and a signature of an appropriate minister was required for validity of any official act (the so-called state act) issued by the Head of State. In the opinion of the Polish constitutionalists of the pre-war period (such as Waclaw Komarnicki), as well as constitutional law historians after WW II (including, in particular, Michal Pietrzak and Andrzej Ajnenkiel), this act was quickly prepared and imperfectly constructed from the point of view of legislative standards and - according to the intention of its authors - was to be a provisional solution. The resolution implemented a system based on a superior position of parliament. However, the practice strengthened the position of the Head of State in his relations with the constituent assembly. As a Commander-in-Chief, Pilsudski retained full control over the army and was able to substantially influence foreign policy of successive governments. What was the most important, was that as a result of his actions, Pilsudski led to the situation in which each newly formed government had to gain confidence of both the Legislative Sejm and the Head of State. Comparing the events during the first years after regaining independence in Poland with the situation of its neighbours, especially those that at that time appeared in the map of Europe as independent states, we can find some regularities. Provisional acts concerning the system of government were created in two phases: first, preceding the setting up of the constituent assembly and the second - by virtue of decisions of the constituent assembly itself (given at that time the highest place within the branches of power). The provisions of provisional constitutional acts, based on the principle of supremacy of the legislature, very often substantially influenced the solutions of 'regular' constitutions. .
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