The Constitutional Tribunal in Poland in the context of constitutional judiciary

Abstract

Experts on constitutional law have been analyzing the issues of constitutional judicial system for many years. Also in Poland a great number of excellent academic works in this field have been published. They were both monographs and specific papers (articles, studies, glosses, etc.) and were devoted to constitutional judiciary and the Constitutional Tribunal. A considerable number of legal comparative and monographic papers have been published, where the functions and activities of constitutional courts in European countries were discussed. It is not surprising since the existence of a body (bodies) controlling the constitutionality of the provisions of law is an indispensable element of a modern democratic rule of law. Also the judicial practice of the constitutional court is very inspiring. Not only is its substantive activity (solving the questions of the constitutionality of regulations) interesting, but its procedural aspects as well. This monograph, The Constitutional Tribunal in Poland in The Context of Constitutional Judiciary was prepared in the English language, for it is possible to notice a considerable disproportion in the number of academic publications in Polish on the Constitutional Tribunal and constitutional judiciary (there are plenty of them), and publications in foreign languages (they are far less numerous). Moreover, publication in English increases the potential number of readers and helps the users of this language collect necessary information on Polish constitutional institutions. This paper is addressed to a wide group of readers; to all who study the issues of constitutional judiciary (theoreticians, practitioners, undergraduate students and doctoral students). The author’s intention was to make this book a practical source of knowledge and may also be useful for undergraduate and doctoral students of foreign universities who are staying in Poland within the framework of student exchange programs or various academic internships. They quite frequently, following their interests and preparing research papers, take the issues of Polish constitutional law. This monograph is intended to be anextension of general information on Polish constitutional law. This monograph aims at demonstrating the issues of constitutional judiciary from the perspective and accomplishments of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal. It is intended to present the specificity of functions of the Constitutional Tribunal in a synthetic way. As the result of this assumption, a broad reference to the practice of the Polish Tribunal, of course on the grounds of the currently valid regulations, turned out indispensable. This monograph includes such fields as the adaptation process of the idea of constitutional judiciary in Poland, as well as the organization and the functions of the Constitutional Tribunal. It was also necessary to present general information on forming constitutional judiciary in the world (genesis and legitimacy) as well as its models, taking into consideration fundamental two of them: the model of judicial control and the model of concentrated control.