Zjawisko priorytetów konstytucyjnych jako przykład tzw. zmiany nieformalnej konstytucji

The aim of this article is to present the phenomenon of constitutional priorities as an example of so-called informal constitutional change. Constitutional priorities are a form of informal (substantive) constitutional amendment. Constitutional priorities are construed as a process of determining or giving priority to certain constitutional rules (constitutional provisions) and assigning lesser importance to others. Constitutional priorities are not permanent, they are a response to emerging social and economic, as well as political issues (situational context). They follow the changing reality and have an impact on the content and understanding of the provisions of the Constitution. The “substitution” of constitutional priorities may proceed in a crawling manner, i.e. through transformation of the state (e.g. environmental protection and sustainable development) or in an immediate manner as a response to a serious threat to the state and its citizens.The aim of this article is to present the phenomenon of constitutional priorities as an example of so-called informal constitutional change. Constitutional priorities are a form of informal (substantive) constitutional amendment. Constitutional priorities are construed as a process of determining or giving priority to certain constitutional rules (constitutional provisions) and assigning lesser importance to others. Constitutional priorities are not permanent, they are a response to emerging social and economic, as well as political issues (situational context). They follow the changing reality and have an impact on the content and understanding of the provisions of the Constitution. The “substitution” of constitutional priorities may proceed in a crawling manner, i.e. through transformation of the state (e.g. environmental protection and sustainable development) or in an immediate manner as a response to a serious threat to the state and its citizens.Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie zjawiska priorytetów konstytucyjnych jako przykładu tzw. zmiany nieformalnej konstytucji. Przez priorytety konstytucyjne rozumiemy proces ustalania lub przyznawania pierwszeństwa jednym normom konstytucyjnym (przepisom konstytucyjnym) oraz wyznaczania podrzędnego znaczenia – innym normom konstytucyjnym. Priorytety konstytucyjne nie są stałe, stanowią one odpowiedź na pojawiające się problemy społeczne i gospodarcze, a także polityczne (kontekst sytuacyjny). Podążają za zmieniającą się rzeczywistością i mają wpływ na treść oraz rozumienie przepisów konstytucji. „Zamiana” priorytetów konstytucyjnych może się odbywać w sposób pełzający, tj. przez stopniowe przeobrażenia państwa (np. ochrona środowiska i zrównoważony rozwój), lub w sposób natychmiastowy jako reakcja na poważne zagrożenie dla państwa i jego obywateli

Glosa do postanowienia Trybunału Konstytucyjnego z 28 kwietnia 2022 r., sygn. akt SK 88/20

The case before the TK concerned a socially important issue. As Sejm, a participant in the proceedings before the TK, noted: "[...] the existing legal state of affairs, limiting the scope of protection of the guardian in the event of incapacity due to disability, is not reconcilable with the state's obligations under Article 71(1) of the Constitution. This provision stipulates that the state, in its social and economic policy, takes into account the welfare of the family, and families in a difficult material and social situation, especially those with many children and incomplete children, have the right to special assistance from public authorities "This assistance should be special", i.e. beyond the scope of ordinary needs. In the case under consideration, it is clear that the legislator has not ensured that carers are entitled to social security in the event of the onset of disability. Thus, it did not ensure the family's social protection in case of health loss or the breadwinner's life.Sprawa zawisła przed TK dotyczyła ważnego społecznie problemu. Jak zauważył Sejm, będący uczestnikiem postępowania przed TK: „[…] istniejący stan prawny, ograniczający zakres ochrony opiekuna na wypadek niezdolności do pracy spowodowanej inwalidztwem, nie daje się pogodzić z obowiązkami państwa, wynikającymi z art. 71 ust. 1 Konstytucji. Przepis ten stanowi, że państwo w swojej polityce społecznej i gospodarczej uwzględnia dobro rodziny, a rodziny znajdujące się w trudnej sytuacji materialnej i społecznej, zwłaszcza wielodzietne i niepełne, mają prawo do szczególnej pomocy ze strony władzy publicznych «Pomoc ta powinna mieć charakter szczególny», a więc wykraczający poza zakres zwykłych potrzeb. W analizowanej sprawie oczywiste jest, że ustawodawca nie zapewnił opiekunom prawa do zabezpieczenia społecznego na wypadek powstania inwalidztwa. Nie zapewnił tym samym ochrony socjalnej rodziny na wypadek utraty zdrowia lub życia żywiciela rodziny

Posiadanie gospodarstwa przez małżonków a wpis do ewidencji producentów rolnych. Studium jednego przypadku

Na podstawie art. 12 ustawy o krajowym systemie ewidencji producentów, ewidencji gospodarstw rolnych oraz ewidencji wniosków o przyznanie płatności rolnicy, pozostający w związkach małżeńskich, ale prowadzący dwa odrębne gospodarstwa (np. rozdzielność majątkowa), nie mogli ubiegać się osobno o dopłaty, co ograniczało ich samodzielność ekonomiczną. Problem ten nabierał szczególnego znaczenia w sytuacji pozostawania przez małżonków-rolników w separacji. Mimo sygnalizowanych problemów, ustawodawca nie dokonał nowelizacji ustawy o systemie ewidencji producentów rolnych. Dopiero wyrok Trybunału Konstytucyjnego z 3 grudnia 2013 r. (sygn. akt P 40/12) otworzył drogę rolnikom-małżonkom do odrębnego umieszczenia ich w ewidencji producentów rolnych i samodzielnego ubiegania się o dopłaty

(Im)permanence of Polish Constitutionalism: in Search of an Optimal Vision of the State

Poland is a state where the elites’ strong attachment to the idea of a written constitution prevails, as evidenced by the special place held by the Government Act of 3 May 1791 in political and academic discourse. The constitutional awareness of the citizens is also growing year after year as they are increasingly reliant on the provisions of the current Constitution of 2 April 1997, seeking the protec- tion of their rights and freedoms before the courts. However, the period between 1791 and 1997 is not a constitutional vacuum. At that time, although as many as eight Basic Laws1 were applicable on Polish lands, some of them were imposed on Poles against their will. In total, the ‘mathematical’ balance of constitutional experience, simplified to some extent, is as follows: 10 constitutional acts are attributable to a period of 206 years (counting from the adoption of the oldest until the adoption of the youngest Constitution); thus, the average lifespan of each of them is 20 years and 7 months. If we change the frame of reference and consider the period between 1791 and 2021, the average validity of the constitution on Polish lands increases to 23 years. If only the validity of individual Basic Laws is taken as a reference, the average decreases to approximately 12 years. In political practice, as discussed below, Polish constitutions were created slowly but quickly collapsed

Fall prevention intervention technologies: A conceptual framework and survey of the state of the art

In recent years, an ever increasing range of technology-based applications have been developed with the goal of assisting in the delivery of more effective and efficient fall prevention interventions. Whilst there have been a number of studies that have surveyed technologies for a particular sub-domain of fall prevention, there is no existing research which surveys the full spectrum of falls prevention interventions and characterises the range of technologies that have augmented this landscape. This study presents a conceptual framework and survey of the state of the art of technology-based fall prevention systems which is derived from a systematic template analysis of studies presented in contemporary research literature. The framework proposes four broad categories of fall prevention intervention system: Pre-fall prevention; Post-fall prevention; Fall injury prevention; Cross-fall prevention. Other categories include, Application type, Technology deployment platform, Information sources, Deployment environment, User interface type, and Collaborative function. After presenting the conceptual framework, a detailed survey of the state of the art is presented as a function of the proposed framework. A number of research challenges emerge as a result of surveying the research literature, which include a need for: new systems that focus on overcoming extrinsic falls risk factors; systems that support the environmental risk assessment process; systems that enable patients and practitioners to develop more collaborative relationships and engage in shared decision making during falls risk assessment and prevention activities. In response to these challenges, recommendations and future research directions are proposed to overcome each respective challenge.The Royal Society, grant Ref: RG13082

Assessment of conformity to the Constitution of provisions of the Civil Code (issues related to the retroactivity of resolutions)

The subject of the assessment contained in the position of the Sejm before the Constitutional Tribunal are provisions of the Civil Code in relation to the doubts of a regional court, whether the application for a court enforcement clause for a bank enforcement title does not interrupt the limitation period for a claim covered by that title against a transferee who is not a bank. In the author’s opinion, the interpretation of the questioned provisions in the process of applying the law, and in particular the limitation of a retroactive effect of interpretation, is vested in courts and it is difficult to conclude that the assessment of the constitutionality of the questioned provisions by the Constitutional Tribunal determined the resolution of the case pending before the court that submitted the question of law. In view of the doubts regarding the admissibility of the question of law, the Sejm should request that the proceedings be discontinued

The draft of the Sejm’s position in the proceedings before the Constitutional Tribunal initiated by a group of Deputies and concerning the Act of 9 June 2011 on the Support for Family and Foster Care System (ref. no. K 12/12)

The author of the draft claims that the challenged Article 80 paragraph 1 of the Act is in compliance with Article 31, in conjunction with Article 18, of the Constitution. Furthermore, the author requests that the case be discontinued pursuant to Article 39 paragraph 1(3) of the Constitutional Tribunal Act owing to the fact that the challenged provisions had ceased to have effect (Article 244 paragraph 1 and Article 245 paragraph 1 of the above mentioned Act) before the Constitutional Tribunal passed its judgment

Sejm draft position on the case Ref. No. SK 30/14

In the proposed draft position the author points to the incompatibility with Article 45 para. 1 of the Constitution of Article 75 § 4 of the Act – Law on Common Courts System, in so far as it denies the right of appeal to the court against the decision of the Minister of Justice rejecting the request from a judge to be moved to a different place of office. The decision of the Minister, based on his/her own discretion, should be subject to judicial review, as it is taken neither within the scope of administrative supervision over the courts, nor even by means of official superiority, but rather relates to the systemic position of a judge determined by his/her rights and obligations. In the opinion of the author, Article 75 § 1 of the above Act, in so far as it does not specify the conditions for move to another post, is in conformity with Article 47, Article 52 para. 1, Article 65 para. 1 in conjunction with Article 31 para. 3 of the Constitution. This provision contains a mechanism that properly balances the public interest and private interest. On the one hand, it allows the change of place of adjudication established in the appointment document, providing an exception to the principle of stabilization of the office of judge. On the other hand, it guarantees an efficient and fair administration of justice

The female face of parliamentary elections. From the past to the present

Artykuł ma charakter przeglądowy, ponieważ zawiera zbiorcze zestawienie wyników osiągniętych przez kobiety w wyborach do Sejmu i Senatu w latach 1919–2015. Jego celem jest przypomnienie starań kobiet o przyznanie im praw wyborczych, sylwetek pierwszych polskich parlamentarzystek i drogi do zwiększenia partycypacji obywatelek w sprawowaniu władzy. Artykuł odnosi się także do efektów działania kwot wyborczych, wprowadzonych kodeksem wyborczym. Przedstawia również wyniki wyborów do Sejmu z 2015 roku na tle innych krajów, które wraz z Polską weszły na drogę transformacji ustrojowej.The article has a review character because it contains a summary list of womenʼs results achieved in the Sejm and Senate elections during the period of 1919–2015. Its aim is to recall women’s efforts to grant them electoral rights, the profiles of the first Polish parliamentarians and the way to increase the participation of female citizens in the exercise of power. The article also refers to the effects of the election quotas introduced by the Electoral Code. It also presents the results of the elections to the Sejm in 2015 in comparison to other countries, which together with Poland entered the path of political transformation