The rule of democratic state and the state governed by the rule of law versus the principle of social justice

Abstract

The article presents the principle of social justice, which is formulated in the art. 2 of the Polish Constitution dated April 2 nd ,1997 and in its wording it is nearly the same as the art. 1 of the December Novelization of 1989 in which the new system of rules and values corresponding with West European standards of democracy has been expressed. The art. 2 of the binding Constitution places the principle of social justice next to inter alia the rule of the state of law and democratic state. Thus the relation between these principles and their refining in the literature and jurisprudence of the Constitutional Tribunal are addressed in the paper.