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The monography provides a comparative analysis of the constitutional review bodies' activities, their status and efficiency in different Post-Soviet States. It deals with the complex description of the constitutional provisions' compliance, the problems of legal mechanisms and stability, evolution of the local legislation. In this book the authors provide a detailed report of the constitutional review institutions' problems in the process of ensuring its legislative position. In this context we find in the research a description of the legal, political risks of the constitutional control in Post-Soviet States, its social perception and the predictability of its legal systems' development. This work integrates the unique structure of presentation and research materials. By the reflection of this type the authors lay the base for continuing further researches of constitutional review development dynamics in the countries of the region.

The influence of French constitutionalism on the Polish legal order is still present in the studies and analyses of the doctrine of constitutional law. Indeed, the French constitutional tradition forms part of the European legal heritage to which the founders of Polish statehood readily referred. The present text outlines the main thoughts and ideas which, over a period of more than two hundred years – from the second half of the 18th century to the present day – have influenced the constitutional shape of the Polish state either by way of recapitulating or negating various institutional solutions.

This article will analyse the Polish constitutional regulations on the numer of parliament in comparison with the relevant provisions of the basic laws of the other 26 EU member states, and Great Britain. In particular, a comparison will be made between the Polish proposals to reduce the number of parliamentarians and the regulations adopted in the Italian Constitutional Law of 2019, together with their justification. The analysis of these issues allows the conclusion, that the number of parliamentarians in Poland is relatively high compared to the so-called large European countries. In the conclusions will be presented the proposals for changes to Polish constitutional provisions regarding the number of members of the Sejm.

The debate on the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland that has been going on in recent months concerns one of the principal foundations of a state governed by the rule of law: the place of the constitution in the system of sources of law and the related role of the constitutional judiciary in a political regime founded on the separation of powers. Throughout recurrent discussions in Poland since 1989 the axiom of the role of the constitution and the autonomy of the court adjudicating on the compliance of laws with the constitution, which is an element of the European and democratic constitutional tradition, has always remained intact. The current political debate would appear to undermine this axiom today.The constitutional judiciary is an important foundation of democracy; consequently the concern of European institutions about changes implemented in this area in any European state is not surprising.The European Union Commission, commonly referred to as the Venice Commission, plays a special role here. This role may be described as that of a specific body giving legal advice on matters of public law. The Commission acts at the request of an interested state or other European body. In its opinions it indicates certain substantive issues that are essential for ensuring the autonomy and impartiality of constitutional courts. Although the opinions of the Venice Commission are not binding, the soft law that the Commission makes is relevant not only for its member states but also for other states which work with it and which wish to be perceived as members of a community of states sharing ideals of human rights, democracy and the rule of law as set out by the Venice Commission. As a reputation-enhancing community, the Venice Commission provides an opportunity for states to participate in the preparation of these standards, at the same time treat the recommendations of the Commission as part of their sovereign responsibility for the shape of their legal system. ; Debata, jaka toczy się od kilku miesiącu wokół Trybunału Konstytucyjnego, dotyczy jednego z zasadniczych fundamentów państwa prawa, jakim jest miejsce konstytucji w systemie źródeł prawa i związana z tym rola sądownictwa konstytucyjnego w systemie ustrojowym opartym na podziale władz. W toku wielu dyskusji ustrojowych, jakie toczyły się w naszym państwie od 1989 r., aksjomat dotyczący roli konstytucji i autonomii sądu oceniającego zgodność prawa z konstytucją, jako należący do europejskiej i demokratycznej tradycji konstytucyjnej, był nietknięty. Trwająca debata polityczna wydaje się ten aksjomat podważać.Skoro mamy do czynienia z tak ważnym fundamentem demokracji, jakim jest sądownictwo konstytucyjne, trudno się dziwić zainteresowaniu instytucji europejskich zmianami dokonywanymi w tym obszarze w jakimkolwiek państwie europejskim.Szczególną rolę w tym obszarze pełni Komisja Rady Europy nazywana potocznie Komisją Wenecką. Można ją określić jako swoisty organ udzielający doradztwa prawnego państwom z zakresu prawa publicznego. Działa na wniosek danego państwa albo organów europejskich. Komisja wskazuje w swoich opiniach na cały szereg merytorycznych kwestii istotnych dla zapewnienie autonomii i bezstronności sądów konstytucyjnych. Opinie Komisji nie mają charakteru wiążącego. Mimo niewiążącego charakteru, tworzone przez Komisję wenecką soft law jest istotne nie tylko dla państw będących jej członkami, ale także dla państw współpracujących z Komisją. Państwa te bowiem chcą być postrzegane jako należące do wspólnoty państw przywiązanej do idei praw człowieka, demokracji i rule of law w granicach nakreślonych przez Komisję Wenecką. Jako reputation-enhancing community, Komisja Wenecka stwarza państwom możliwość współudziału w przygotowywaniu tych standardów, a zarazem traktowania rekomendacji Komisji jako części swojej suwerennej odpowiedzialności za kształt system prawnego.

The publication discusses the current problems of the sources of electoral law in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. In the indicated countries, the basic sources of electoral law are their constitutions and statutes, which are a development of constitutional norms. Of great importance in the field of electoral law are also acts of international law, the parties to which are the above-indicated states. At the statutory level, Central Asian countries have developed two models of regulation of electoral law norms: the model of dispersed regulation, in which the provisions of electoral law to representative bodies were regulated in separate acts, and the model of concentrated regulation, expressed in one normative act – the electoral code. In each of these countries the system of sources of electoral law is generally consistent in terms of normative technics and axiological values with similar regulations in developed democratic countries.

The article tries to bring to the light the role of symbolism in the organized human life, in general, and the contemporary societies with the accelerating changes almost in all social structures, in particular. The rational of symbolism in changing socio-political and legal environment creates complexity of the issue, which has been studied in the article, taking into account the methodology of complex system theory. The interconnectivity and interdependency of law, morality and politics create the picture of synergy of different social norms with each other in changing environment. Their positive synergy is able to create a perception of the 'ethical state' – the focal point of equilibrium expressed in the attractor of future admired development. In the legal perspective, the symbol of that attractor appears to be the constitution as the society's and the nation's symbol of coexistence based on the values of mutual past, necessary present and admired future. It is substantiated that the Constitution is the phenomenon, representing a concrete constitutional idea and constitutional identity, and should be the one to be considered as such in a lot of people's minds if we intend to have a proper constitutional system and values. Hence, the Constitution is not just a document with a highest legal force, but also a symbol of a concrete constitutional system, and from this viewpoint the Basic Law has a symbolic significance. The authors substantiate that the mentioned significance of the Constitution makes it clear that constitutional policy in any state should be established and implemented in a manner, obviously demonstrating an attitude towards the Constitution, in the frames of which it is considered as a symbol of a concrete constitutional system. The most important circumstance in this context is to never transform the Constitution (directly or indirectly) from a symbol to an instrument in the hands of both the people and the state power and the whole constitutional policy of the state should be based on the discussed essential idea. Moreover, according to the authors the Constitution should not be subject to amendment parallel to every change of political situation of the state or formation of a new political majority merely conditioned by the mentioned changes. The Constitution has a fundamental role from the aspect of regulating social relations, has symbolic significance and can't be used just as a tool for solving ongoing political problems.

Slovenia is one of the European Union Member States which disproportionately restricted political rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the new government of Prime Minister Janez Janša came to power in March 2020, the anti-government and anti-lockdown protests have been taking place across the country. The pandemic-related restrictions have been introduced by government's ordinances. They have greatly limited political rights of citizens, in particular the right to public assembly and association. Citizens' dissatisfaction with the government's policies and inadequate handling of the epidemic, resulting in undue restrictions on liberty and other fundamental rights, led to the filing of petitions to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court, resolving the dispute between citizens and the government, ruled that government regulations implementing restrictions on fundamental rights, particularly the rights to public assembly and association, were unconstitutional in several cases. ; Elżbieta Kużelewska - e.kuzelewska@uwb.edu.pl ; Małgorzata Podolak - Malgorzata.Podolak@umcs.lublin.pl ; Elżbieta Kużelewska – University Professor at the Department of Constitutional Law and Political Systems, Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok, Poland, where since October 2019 she holds a position of Vice-Dean for Science. She is a Chair of the Centre for Direct Democracy Studies (CDDS) at the Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok. She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of European Integration and Democracy Series, published by Intersentia: Cambridge-Antwerp-Chicago. ; Małgorzata Podolak – University Professor at the Department of Political Systems and Human Rights, Faculty of Political Science and Journalism, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Poland. Author of papers on direct democracy, environmental policy and political systems of European states. ; Elżbieta Kużelewska: University of Białystok, Poland ; Małgorzata Podolak: Maria Curie-Skłodowska Univiersity, Poland ; Bardutzky S., Limits in Times of Crisis: on Limitations ...

The present monograph constitutes a constitutional study of the institution of the local government discussed through the prism of the principle of local self-government. Such an approach to the titular principle allows to consider it not only from the political and legal perspective, but also from a functional one, while the discussion oscillates around: the constitutional status of a person regarded as an individual as well as their dignity guaranteed by the Constitution, the constitutional status of a person regarded as an obligatory member of the self-government community, the status of the self-government community, the status of the national community, the status of the state, as well as the status of the underlying structures of the civil society and non-governmental organizations. The argument leads to the conclusion that the local government is an institution deeply entrenched in the structure of the civil society, and, as a result, should be guaranteed by the state the right to evolve naturally, in accordance with the evolution and maturation of the Polish civil society. As a consequence, the constitutional regulations of the local government should not constitute an inhibitive factor for the natural processes accompanying the development of the civil society. The present study could find its practical application both in cases of judicial control of the constitutionality of legislation with regard to the law on local selfgovernment, as well as judicial control over exercising and applying the law, the didactic process at the university, the day-to-day functioning of social and nongovernmental organizations as well as the bodies of local self-government agencies and councilors. Moreover, it could prove helpful in the processes of reform of the public administration and the creation of institutions for the study of the effectiveness of the creation and operation of public administration systems.

The Constitution of Montenegro describes the state as a "civic, democratic, ecological state of social justice, based on the reign of Law." Montenegro is an independent and sovereign republic that proclaimed its new constitution on 22th October 2007. The President of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Predsjednik Crne Gore) is the head of state, elected for a period of five years through direct elections. The President represents the republic abroad, promulgates law by ordinance, calls elections for the Parliament, proposes candidates for Prime Minister, president and justices of the Constitutional Court to the Parliament. The President also proposes the calling of a referendum to Parliament, grants amnesty for criminal offences prescribed by the national law, confers decoration and awards and performs other constitutional duties and is a member of the Supreme Defence Council. The official residence of the President is in Cetinje. The Government of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Vlada Crne Gore) is the executive branch of government authority of Montenegro. The government is headed by the Prime Minister, and consists both of the deputy prime ministers as well as ministers. The Parliament of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Skupština Crne Gore) is a unicameral legislative body. It passes laws, ratifies treaties, appoints the Prime Minister, ministers, and justices of all courts, adopts the budget and performs other duties as established by the Constitution. Parliament can pass a vote of no-confidence on the Government by a simple majority. One representative is elected per 6,000 voters. The present parliament contains 81 seats, with a 47-seat majority currently held by the Coalition for a European Montenegro as a result of the 2009 parliamentary election

The hereby paper undertakes the analysis of the genesis and evolution of the Finland's Parliament Eduskunta from the moment of its establishment till nowadays, including the characteristics of its present constitutional position, being a result of its development during the centuries, with paying special attention to the current normative state and made on the basis of the hitherto constitutional practice. The article aims at deriving the origin and presenting the development of this organ in Finland, which in consequence leads to reliable conclusions in the field of determining its current constitutional position in the system of the supreme state authorities of Finland. The subject of the paper particularly focuses mostly on the analysis of the beginnings of Eduskunta's formation and Finnish parliamentarianism, as well as its further evolution during different periods of its history, i.e. the time when Finland was included into the Kingdom of Sweden, the period when it was incorporated into the Russian Imperium and after it gained independence in 1917. The work also concentrates on the analysis of Eduskunta's current constitutional position, its composition, internal structure, functions and competences presented on the basis of the exegesis of the provisions of the binding Basic Law of 1999 and the Parliament's Rules of Procedure. The constitutional principles referring to the Parliament also seem to be of particular significance in this context, for they contribute to a more precise definition of Eduskunta's constitutional position, as well as to pointing out its originality and dissimilarity regarding parliaments of other contemporary democratic states. ; W niniejszym opracowaniu przeprowadzono analizę genezy i ewolucji parlamentu finlandzkiego – Eduskunty: od chwili jego ustanowienia do czasów współczesnych, w tym – na podstawie dotychczasowej praktyki ustrojowej – dokonano charakterystyki obecnej pozycji ustrojowej tego parlamentu, będącej wynikiem jego rozwoju na przestrzeni wieków, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem aktualnego stanu normatywnego. Artykuł ma na celu ustalenie źródeł powstania oraz przedstawienie rozwoju tego organu w Finlandii, co w konsekwencji prowadzi do wiarygodnych wniosków w zakresie określenia jego obecnej pozycji ustrojowej w systemie naczelnych organów państwowych Finlandii. Przedmiot pracy koncentruje się przede wszystkim na analizie początków Eduskunty i parlamentaryzmu fińskiego, a także dalszej ewolucji Eduskunty w różnych okresach, tj. w czasach, gdy Finlandia była włączona do Królestwa Szwecji, funkcjonowała w obrębie Imperium Rosyjskiego oraz po uzyskaniu przez nią niepodległości w 1917 r. Opracowanie koncentruje się też na analizie obecnej pozycji ustrojowej Eduskunty, jej składu, organizacji wewnętrznej, funkcjach oraz kompetencjach przedstawionych na podstawie egzegezy postanowień obowiązującej ustawy zasadniczej z 1999 r. oraz regulaminu parlamentu. Zasady konstytucyjne odnoszące się do parlamentu również wydają się mieć w tym kontekście szczególne znaczenie, ponieważ przyczyniają się one do dokładniejszego zdeterminowania pozycji ustrojowej Eduskunty, a także wskazują na jej oryginalność i odmienność w stosunku do parlamentów innych współczesnych państw demokratycznych.

In the present paper the author attempts a general characterization of the national security policy of Ukraine in the context of its constitutional foundations and geopolitical location. The security policy of Ukraine is determined by several factors and in particular by the economic interests, geographical position, political system ("oligarchic democracy") and possible alliance with the European Union, United States and NATO. These factors work together with the historical experiences and political relations with countries of the Post-Soviet area, especially with Russia under V. V. Putin regime. Russia's annexation of Crimea in 18 March 2014 violated rules of international law, because for the end of the Cold War the borders in East Europe were redrawn by use of force. The author tries to present the conceptions, documents and practical implications of the Ukrainian national security policy ; W przedstawionym artykule autor dokonuje generalnej charakterystyki polityki bezpieczeństwa narodowego Ukrainy w kontekście jej podstaw konstytucyjnych oraz położenia geopolitycznego. Polityka bezpieczeństwa narodowego tego państwa jest uwarunkowana paroma czynnikami, szczególnie jej interesami ekonomicznymi, położeniem geograficznym, właściwościami systemu politycznego ("demokracja oligarchiczna") oraz możliwymi sojuszami z Unią Europejską, Stanami Zjednoczonymi oraz NATO. Te czynniki współgrają z ukraińskimi doświadczeniami historycznymi oraz stosunkami politycznymi z państwami obszaru postradzieckiego, szczególnie z Rosją, pod rządami W.W. Putina. Rosyjska aneksja Krymu dokonana 18 marca 2014 r. złamała reguły prawa międzynarodowego, ponieważ po zakończeniu ery zimnej wojny, granice w Europie Wschodniej zostały zmienione przy użyciu siły. Autor podejmuje próbę prezentacji koncepcji, dokumentów oraz implikacji praktycznych ukraińskiej polityki bezpieczeństwa narodowego

Przedmiotem artykułu jest ‒ w pierwszej części ‒ próba odpowiedzi na pytanie, w jakim stopniu fakt powoływania sędziów Trybunału Konstytucyjnego przez organ polityczny, tj. Sejm RP, determinuje polityczny charakter samego Trybunału Konstytucyjnego. Autor wskazuje m.in. na podstawie swoich własnych doświadczeń sędziego TK, że poszukiwanie iunctim pomiędzy aktem politycznego wyboru sędziów a ich aktywnością orzeczniczą nie znajduje uzasadnienia, co wyraźnie potwierdzają przykłady konkretnych rozstrzygnięć sądu konstytucyjnego w tzw. hard cases. Sędziowie wyposażeni w bardzo silne gwarancje niezawisłości potrafią zachować obiektywizm ocen i niezależność także od swoich własnych przekonań politycznych. Prawdziwym zagrożeniem niezależności Trybunału Konstytucyjnego jest natomiast presja polityczna wywierana przez rządzących, której przejawem jest np. bezpośrednia personalna krytyka sędziów TK lub odmowa wykonywania orzeczeń sądu konstytucyjnego. Szczególnie niebezpiecznym instrumentem jest próba ingerowania ustawodawcy w sprawy wewnętrznej autonomii proceduralnej TK, zmierzająca m.in. do narzucenia kolejności rozpatrywanych spraw, wprowadzenia większości kwalifikowanej 2/3 przy podejmowaniu orzeczeń w pełnym składzie czy określenia quorum na takim poziomie, który może paraliżować funkcjonowanie sądu konstytucyjnego. W drugiej części artykułu podjęto próbę odpowiedzi na pytanie, czy Trybunał może zbadać konstytucyjność procedur wprowadzonych nową ustawą o TK, zanim przystąpi do stosowania tych procedur. Autor udziela odpowiedzi twierdzącej na to pytanie, przytaczając argumenty na rzecz bezpośredniego stosowania Konstytucji, która w takich wypadkach staje się jedynym punktem odniesienia oceny nowych regulacji proceduralnych. ; In the first part of this paper an attempt is made to answer the question to what extent the fact that judges of the Constitutional Tribunal are appointed by a political organ (the Seym of the Republic of Poland) determines the political character of the Tribunal itself. Based, among otherthings, on his own experience, the author, a retired judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, states that the search for a iunctim between the political appointment of constitutional judges and their adjudicating activity is unjustified, as can be seen from the example of particular judgments delivered by the Constitutional Tribunal in what might be termed hard cases. Judges endowed with very strong guarantees of independence are capable of remaining impartial in their judgments and making decisions independently of their personal beliefs. The real threat to the independenceof the Constitutional Tribunal is political pressure exercised by government, which manifests itself in, for example, direct and personal criticism of Constitutional Tribunal judges or a refusal to implement judicial decisions issued by the Constitutional Tribunal. A particularly dangerous situation arises when a legislator attempts to intervene in the internal procedural autonomy of the Constitutional Tribunal with a view to determining the order in which the matters before the Tribunal should be dealt with, setting a 2/3 qualified majority for decisions 'when sitting as a full court' or determining the required quorum at a level which may paralyse the work of the Constitutional Tribunal altogether. In the second part of the paper the question is asked whether the Constitutional Tribunal may examine the constitutionality of the procedures being introduced by a new law on the Constitutional Tribunal before it proceeds to apply them. The answer to this question is in the affirmative, followed by arguments calling for the direct application of the Constitution which in such cases becomes the only point of reference when new procedural regulations are to be evaluated.

Das aus zwei Hauptteilen bestehende verfassungsvergleichende Werk ist den Grundrechtsordnungen in Polen und Deutschland gewidmet. Der erste Teil enthält eine längere Studie zur Struktur der Grundrechtsordnung beider Staaten, ihrer Bedeutung für die jeweilige Verfassungsordnung und den historischen, kulturellen und politischen Grundlagen im Kontext eines Ius Publicum Europaeum.Der zweite Teil bietet eine Reihe von Einzeluntersuchungen aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, darunter zehn Beiträge von ehemaligen und amtierenden Richtern der Verfassungsgerichte beider Länder sowie des EuGH. Schwerpunktthemen sind aktuelle Herausforderungen für die Grundrechtsordnungen im Spannungsfeld von Freiheit und Sicherheit, die europäische Dimension des Grundrechtsschutzes und die Lage der Grundrechte in einer globalisierten Welt.Der zweisprachige Sammelband bietet seinen Lesern fundierte und facettenreiche Analysen der Grundrechtsordnungen in Polen und Deutschland sowie reichhaltige rechtsvergleichende Bezüge.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a political and legal analysis of the choice options, decisionmaking processes and negotiation strategies of political actors in dispute over the date of the presidential elections in Poland the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Possible decisions are outlined in the form of a modified decision tree known from the decision theory, taking into account not only the options falling within the scope of individual actors' performance, but also scenarios triggered by specific choices and interdependent on the behavior of other actors (their cooperation or lack of cooperation). The descriptive-explanatory and predictive analysis is based on the assumptions of the public choice theory. The article also explains the legal determinants and boundaries of actions available to political actors ; Teisės fakultetas ; Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas