Poland
Poland in Europe
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Outline of the Country´s Legal System
According to the work "Guide to Foreign and International Citations", by the Journal of International Law and Politics (New York University School of Law): "The Polish Constitution, which became effective on October 17, 1997, establishes the form of government. Executive power is vested in the President, who is the head of state, and the Council of Ministers, which is headed by the Prime Minister and responsible to the Lower House. The President is directly elected by the people to a five-year term. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Lower House. Other Members of the Council of Ministers are proposed by the Prime Minister, appointed by the President, and approved by the Lower House. Legislative power is vested in a bicameral legislature, which consists of the Lower House (Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskieje or Sejm) and the Upper House (Senat Rzeczypospolitej Polskieje or Senat). The 460 Members of the Lower House are elected by a complex system of proportional representation to four-year terms. The 100 Members of the Upper House are directly elected by the people on a provincial basis, with the exception of two Members who represent ethnic minority parties. On rare occasions when the two houses meet jointly, the term National Assembly (Zgromadzenie Narodowe) is used. Its legal system is based on the civil law tradition. Judicial power is vested in the courts, which include the Constitutional Tribunal (Trybunal Konstytucyjny), Supreme Court (Sad Najwyzszy), and other common and special courts. The Constitutional Tribunal adjudicates cases that deal with political and criminal infringements of the Constitution or other laws by high-ranking state officials. The Supreme Court is Poland’s highest court of appeal. Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President based on recommendations by the National Council of the Judiciary to indefinite terms. Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal are appointed by the Lower House to nine-year terms. Common courts include Courts of Appeal, Provincial Courts, and District Courts. The District Courts are courts of first instance for a wide variety of cases, including criminal, civil, commercial, labor, family, land, and mortgage matters. Each District Court has jurisdiction over several counties. The Provincial Courts are established for one or several Regions (voievodes). These courts have jurisdiction over appeals against decisions of the District Courts and also serve as courts of first instance for specific cases as defined by law (usually more serious or complicated cases involving serious crimes, complex civil suits, etc.). The Provincial Courts also include specific departments which hear commercial cases (Commercial Courts). The Courts of Appeal hear appeals from decisions of the Provincial Courts. The Courts of Appeal are established for one or several voievodes. Finally, the Supreme Administrative Court has jurisdiction to review administrative acts." Online Resources:
Official Site: poland.pl
Polish Parliament: sejm.gov.pl
Biblioteka Kodeksó (Codes): kul.lubin.pl/~fajgiel/kodx.htm
ABC (legislation since 1996, free): abc.com.pl/serwis/login.htm
LexPolonica (leg. database)
Polskie Prawo (leg. database): pp.pl
Description of Poland
The Concise Publication of the European Union describes poland in the following terms: [1] The Polish national anthem, 'Poland has not yet been destroyed', bears witness to the country's oppression over the centuries. Split between Austria, Prussia and Russia in 1795, Poland regained its independence in 1918, only to be redivided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 following Hitler's invasion. Overrun by the Red Army in 1944, Poland became a Soviet puppet state after the war, a process completed in 1952 when the socialist and communist parties merged to form the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP). Strikes in 1980, caused by price rises, involved 300,000 workers and forced the PUWP to allow independent trade unions, notably Lech Walesa's Solidarity movement, which continued to exist underground after the declaration of martial law in 1981. Further concessions made by the government during the 1980s, including the freeing of political prisoners, failed to arrest the growth of Solidarity. Renewed strikes in 1989 culminated in talks between Lech Walesa and the PUWP. The resultant package of reforms led to elections in the summer of 1989, in which the PUWP was defeated.
Succeeding coalition governments instituted market liberalisation, but the initial outcome was higher prices, rising unemployment and a breach of internationally agreed budgetary limits, leading to a prescription of shock therapy from the IMF in 1992 and 1993. The medicine was efficacious. Rapid GDP growth has curbed unemployment and privatisation is transforming industrial competitiveness. Supported by a favourable Commission Opinion, Poland began accession negotiations with the EU in 1998.
An invitation to join NATO in 1997 perhaps owed something to Poland's historical position as a buffer state (Russia, at least, construed the invitation negatively), but from Poland's standpoint it stood alongside the application for membership of the EU as evidence of the national determination to be accepted back into the mainstream of Western civilisation. Poland's accessionto the EU will add a Catholic population of approximately the same size as that of Spain, and agricultural land about equal to that of the UK or Italy. With GDP per head at one-third of the level of Portugal and Greece, the poorest current member states, Poland would in theory be entitled to structural funds and CAPsubsidies beyond the compass of the EU budget as it now stands. Moreover, wage levels will make it a formidable competitor (see more in this European publication). Already the prospect is causing distress and pre-emptive protest from the main recipients and providers of Community largesse (see more in this European publication). Thus although the country is expected to be among the first East European states to be accepted, the process still has much resistance to overcome.
Resources
Notas y References
Based on the book "A Concise Publication of the European Union from Aachen to Zollverein", by Rodney Leach (Profile Books; London)
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