Używane w prawie i literaturze terminy „wolny zawód” i „zawód zaufania publicznego” nie zostały zdefiniowane, dlatego też stosowane są często zamiennie. Określają one jednak dwie różne grupy zawodów, zatem nie powinny być używane jako synonimy. Brak definicji tych pojęć stwarza wiele wątpliwości, których wyjaśnienie jest bardzo istotne ponieważ przyznanie określonemu zawodowi statusu „zawodu zaufania publicznego” wiąże się z przyznaniem mu pewnych istotnych przywilejów, obowiązków, ale i ograniczeń. Chodzi m.in. o możliwość tworzenia dla nich samorządów zawodowych upoważnionych do reprezentowania osób wykonujących te zawody i sprawujących pieczę nad należytym ich wykonywaniem w granicach interesu publicznego i dla jego ochrony. Powyższe z kolei, może pociągać za sobą konieczność wprowadzenia wielu ograniczeń zarówno w zakresie wolności wykonywania zawodu, jak i wolności podejmowania działalności gospodarczej, jeżeli z działalnością taką wykonywanie zawodu miałoby się wiązać.
EN
The terms ‘liberal profession’ and ‘profession of public trust’ used in law and literature have not been defined, and therefore are often used interchangeably. However, they define two different occupational groups, so they should not be used as synonyms. The lack of a definition of these concepts creates a lot of doubts, the explanation of which is very important because granting a given profession the status of “profession of public trust” is associated with granting it certain important privileges, obligations, but also restrictions. It regards, among others for the possibility of creating professional self-governments authorized to represent persons exercising these professions and overseeing their proper performance within the limits of the public interest and for its protection. The above, may entail the need to introduce many restrictions both in the scope of freedom to practice a profession and the freedom to start a business, if such activity would be related to such activity.
„Zawód zaufania publicznego” poprzez art. 17 Konstytucji stał się instytucją konstytu-cyjną, jednak niezdefiniowaną prawnie. Tymczasem określenie zakresu znaczeniowe-go tego pojęcia jest bardzo istotne z kilku powodów. Przede wszystkim z uwagi na fakt, że z zaliczeniem określonego zawodu do tej grupy wiążą się skutki prawne w postaci przyznawania szczególnych uprawnień i obowiązków osobom taki zawód wykonują-cym. Po drugie, brak definicji tego pojęcia generuje problemy w zakresie labilności jego znaczenia. Po trzecie, pojęcie to, w sposób błędny, stosowane jest zamiennie z pojęciem „wolnego zawodu”. Dlatego też, powstaje konieczność przybliżenia rozumienia tego po-jęcia formułowanego w literaturze prawniczej i orzecznictwie.
EN
“Profession of public trust” through the provision of art. 17 of the Constitution became a constitutional institution, but not legally defined. Meanwhile, determining the mean-ing of this concept is very important for several reasons. First of all, some legal effects are associated with assigning a particular profession to this group such as granting spe-cial rights and obligations to persons performing such a profession. Second, the lack of the definition of this concept generates problems in the lability of its meaning. Final-ly, the term is erroneously used interchangeably with the concept of ‘liberal profession’. Therefore, it is necessary to approximate the understanding of this concept formulated in legal literature and case law.
The legislature introduced a new category in the Polish law with the provisions of the Constitution. This category is ,,the profession of public trust”, which is currently an important element of the professional body characteristic. The provisions of the Basic law or other laws do not define this type of event, they do not indicate a list of professions that could be considered as ,,the professions of public trust”, leaving these issues to the legislature’s recognition, creates a number of practical problems. The attempt to define ,,the professions of public trust” is undertaken by doctrine and case law, which leads to formation of various structures of this definition, as well as determine various characteristics of people who perform such profession. In general, it is assumed that definition of the profession should respond both social idea and needs to be worked out in accordance with the definition, indicating that individuals who practice profession of public trust entrust with information about the private life of people who are provided by their services. This information, that are essential issues of the individual, determine its social status, are also professional secrecy of the person providing services. In particular, such profession is to handling personal or business needs, and can be performed only by persons permitted to practice this profesion after checking the necessary knowledge and skills. The Constitutional wording “professionals of public trust” indicate also an individual providing the profession by the public trust by a person. It is not therefore possible to pursue the profession of public trust neither by a legal person or an organizational unit without a legal personality. Individuals performing that professions are entrusted with public functions, who are associated with public powers. Therefore, to give some professions a character of the profession of public trust, within the meaning of the Constitution, is the statutory imposition of certain restrictions in the scope of the constitutional freedom of access to the profession and for its providing, and the inclusion of persons providing such professions obligation membership of professional body. Imposition of certain restrictions is not for creating a specific group of professional privilege, but serving the public interest, and the scope of the restrictions should be adequate to protect that interest. An attempt to build a normative definition of ,,the profession of public trust” has been also taken by the government in the draft law of the professional body custody of the proper providing the professions of public trust and supervision of the activities of professional bodies. The draft met with sharp criticism and as a result that has not been adopted. As a consequence of above, in spite of the rich literature and case law, it is difficult to clearly define the term ,,profession of public trust”. It has been unable to work out a compromise as the catalog of the characteristics of group of professions, even though some of its attributes are repeated by authors expressing their opinion on this subject, as well as the case law of the Constitutional Tribunal. However semantic range of the term is particularly important because allocating a specific profession in the group is related to the legal consequences by granting specific rights and obligations of parties executing ,,profession of public trust”. There is a need, again, to take an eff ort in the performance of legal concepts of ,,the professions of public trust” for which professional bodies are established in Article 17 of the Constitution. Certainly, this is a contest in which the general well-being and social welfare are entrusted to the professional group, and therefore they require a high level of ethics. Moreover, the relations between the persons performing the profession and their customers are characterized by a relationship of trust, certified by the criminal law, and by certain privileges in administrative proceedings. People performing such professions come under specific codes of deontological ethics. They act in the public interest and to protect certain public goods.
Self-governments of professions of public trust are empowered in the Constitution, where it derives its rank. Empowerment of activities of Professional self-government is therefore a very strong and unique. Article 17 of the Constitution establishes two types of self-governments. The legal situation of both types of local government referred in Art. 17 of the Constitution is not identical. Art. 17 Par. 1 of the Constitution shows the basic objectives of the functioning of professional self-governments and „the other types of self-government”, which states in Art.17 Par. 2, does not ascribe objectives, while establishes the limits of their influence. These self-governments cannot in any way infringe the freedom to practice the profession or limit the freedom to undertake economic activity. These reservations do not extend, however, to professional self-governments representing the professions of public trust, which may, in some cases even be limited to a certain extent the freedom of the profession or business for the purposes for which they have been implementing. The essence of the professional self-government mentioned in Art. 17 par. 1 of the Constitution is the exercise by a separate entity, in the limits set by law, a public authority. This is possible by giving him a personality of public law and equipping it with powers to exercise part of the public authority, which can perform without management and another entity interference, such as the state. However, staying under control in this independent action with the authorization of their authority. That relative independence from the state union of professional self- governments and their powers mean that they act as an intermediary between the state and the people performing specific professions, limited direct impact of the administration on certain professional groups.
The article focuses on the role and importance of self-regulatory bodies of public trust professions, in the light of Article 17 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997, in the context of applications submitted to the Constitutional Tribunal to examine the compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of the provisions guaranteeing the pluralism of the functioning of these self-regulatory bodies. Based on the analysis of the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the views of the doctrine and the positions expressed in the judgements of the Constitutional Tribunal issued between 1997 and 2015, the authors prove that the initiative to question the existing regulations adopted in relation to the professions of a lawyer, legal adviser, doctor and dentist is intended to serve solely by questioning their independence from the political authorities. At the same time, the authors indicate threats related to questioning the status of other professional self-regulatory bodies, including those of architects and construction engineers.
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