ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL NOTION OF THE CONDUCT OF POLICY

• Authors: Stemplowski R.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

As the Constitution stipulates that 'The Council of Ministers conducts home and foreign policy' (Article 146.1), the author begins his article by emphasizing the comprehensiveness of the term 'policy'. It is the Council of Ministers and only the Council which is empowered to conduct the policy. He explains the social roles of the politician, the official (civil servant), and the expert, and dwell upon the status of 'rzad fachowców' (a caretaker government by experts). This leads to the examination of the complex issues of responsibility, the implications of parliamentary scrutiny, and the dual nature of executive power under the Constitution (the President, the Council of Ministers). The author elaborates on the duty of the President to act - in the domain of foreign policy - in consultation with the Prime Minister and the relevant minister (Article 133.3). Policy assessment and/or implementation requires use of such criteria as 'raison d'état' and/or national interest, and in Poland the notion of consensual policy has also become important as part and parcel of the transformation of the political system. The author concludes the article by proposing two constitutional amendments: (1) Article 133.3 should require that the President acts at the Council of Ministers' request or by the Council's previous consent; and (2) clause 144.3.4 should be deleted (President should be deprived of the prerogative to introduce an act of Parliament). The author's final observation is that although nothing will happen without the proper actions of politicians, civil servants and experts, it is also true that without a proper school education that inculcates the rule of law nothing will be permanent.

Keywords

EN

CIVIL SERVANT; CONDUCT OF POLICY; CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (POLAND)

Discipline

• LAW_&_ADMINISTRATION: LAW & ADMINISTRATION

• Publisher: Kancelaria Sejmu / Chancellery of the Sejm
• Journal: Przegląd Sejmowy
• Year: 2007
• Issue: 4(81)
• Pages: 229-253
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Stemplowski R.

• R. Stemplowski, Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, Wydzial Studiów Miedzynarodowych i Politycznych, ul. Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

07PLAAAA03226678