Initiation of constitutionality control of acts by the President of the Republic of Poland from 1997 to 2020

Abstract

The President of the Republic of Poland, by virtue of Article 122 Paragraph 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997, has been furnished with the exclusive competence to initiate preventive control of legislation before the Constitutional Tribunal, aimed at assessing its compliance with the Constitution. The essence of this action is to strive for the verification of those regulations which raise doubts with the Head of State as to their compliance with the Basic Law. Legal regulations concerning the procedure for removing inconsistencies are found both in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and in the Regulations of the Sejm. On the other hand, the subjective legitimacy in the scope of application to the Constitutional Tribunal in matters listed in Article 188 of the Constitution – i.e., the provision defining the material competence of the Constitutional Tribunal – is indicated in Article 191 of the Constitution. Pursuant to this provision, the President of the Republic of Poland is one of the entities vested with the power to initiate proceedings before the Constitutional Tribunal in cases of subsequent control of hierarchical compliance of norms, as well as in the issue of constitutionality of objectives, as well as the activity of political parties. The Head of State thus belongs to the group of subjects possessing a special legitimacy – i.e. unlimited legitimacy. Its essence lies in the power to challenge all normative acts that have been included within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Tribunal. This article attempts to outline an analysis of the initiation of control of the constitutionality of laws by Polish presidents in the years 1997–2023.