The current Constitution of Poland was founded on 2 April 1997. Formally known as the Constitution of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), it replaced the
Small Constitution of 1992
The Small Constitution of 1992 () was a constitution regulating relations between the legislative and executive branches of the government of Poland, and local self-government. It was voted after the fall of communism, by Poland's first freely-elec ...
, the last amended version of the
Constitution of the Polish People's Republic
The Constitution of the Polish People's Republic (also known as the July Constitution or the Constitution of 1952) was a supreme law passed in communist-ruled Poland on 22 July 1952. It superseded the post-World War II provisional Small Cons ...
, known from December 1989 as the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. It was adopted by the
National Assembly of Poland
The parliament of Poland is the bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the ''Sejm'' complex in Warsaw. The Constitution of Poland does not ref ...
on 2 April 1997, approved by a national
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
on 25 May 1997, promulgated by the President of the Republic on 16 July 1997, and came into effect on 17 October 1997.
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
has had numerous previous constitutional acts. Historically, the most significant is the
Constitution of 3 May 1791
The Constitution of 3 May 1791,; lt, Gegužės trečiosios konstitucija titled the Governance Act, was a constitution adopted by the Great Sejm ("Four-Year Sejm", meeting in 1788–1792) for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a dual mo ...
.
Current constitution (1997)
New character of the nation
The five years after 1992 were spent in dialogue about the new character of Poland. The nation had changed significantly since 1952 when the
Constitution of the Polish People's Republic
The Constitution of the Polish People's Republic (also known as the July Constitution or the Constitution of 1952) was a supreme law passed in communist-ruled Poland on 22 July 1952. It superseded the post-World War II provisional Small Cons ...
was instituted. A new consensus was needed on how to acknowledge the awkward parts of
Polish history
The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political l ...
; the transformation from a
one-party
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...
system into a
multi-party
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in c ...
one and from
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
towards a
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...
economic system
An economic system, or economic order, is a system of Production (economics), production, resource allocation and Distribution (economics), distribution of goods and services within a society or a given geographic area. It includes the combinati ...
; and the rise of
pluralism alongside Poland's historically
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
.
Old and new policies
The attitude toward the past was articulated in the preamble, in which the citizens of Poland established a Republic ''"Recalling the best traditions of the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and the
Second Republic, Obliged to bequeath to future generations all that is valuable from our over one thousand years' heritage ... Mindful of the bitter experiences of the times when fundamental freedoms and human rights were violated in our Homeland, ..."''.
Many articles were written explicitly to rectify the wrongs of previous governments. Article 21 protects the rights of ownership and inheritance, but the post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
PKWN-decreed and implemented
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
was not invalidated. Article 23 thus established the
family farm
A family farm is generally understood to be a farm owned and/or operated by a family; it is sometimes considered to be an Estate (land), estate passed down by inheritance.
Although a recurring conceptual model, conceptual and archetype, archet ...
as the basis of the
agricultural economy
Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products.
Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that speci ...
. Article 74 requires public officials to pursue ecologically sound public policy. Articles 39 and 40 prohibit the practices of forced medical experimentation, forbidding
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...
and
corporal punishment, while Articles 50 and 59 acknowledge the inviolability of the home, the right to form
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
s, and to
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
* Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
.
Tradition versus pluralism
Those involved in drafting the document were not interested in creating a ''de facto'' Catholic Poland. That said, nods were given in the direction of the
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
, to the effect of protecting common morality. For example, in Article 18,
marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
is granted the protection of the state, and in Article 53,
freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
,
religious education, and religious upbringing are protected.
The preamble emphasizes freedom of religion or disbelief: ''"We, the Polish Nation – all citizens of the Republic, Both those who believe in God as the source of truth, justice, good and beauty, As well as those not sharing such faith but respecting those
universal value
A value is a universal value if it has the same value or worth for all, or almost all, people. Spheres of human value encompass morality, aesthetic preference, human traits, human endeavour, and social order. Whether universal values exist is ...
s as arising from other sources..."''. Article 25 provides further protection, that public officials ''"shall be impartial in matters of personal conviction, whether religious or philosophical, or in relation to outlooks on life, and shall ensure their
freedom of expression
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
within public life."''
Other aspects include the affirmation of the political equality of man and woman in Article 33, and the affirmation of freedom of
ethnic minorities
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
to advance and develop their culture, in Article 35.
Preamble
File:2008.06.22. Stefan Wilkanowicz Fot Mariusz Kubik 02.JPG, Stefan Wilkanowicz
developed the preamble
File:Tadeusz Mazowiecki - Europeana 1989 - TV Interview.jpg, Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Tadeusz Mazowiecki (; 18 April 1927 – 28 October 2013) was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime min ...
presented the finally adopted preamble
Historical constitutions
Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The first major privilege was granted in
Košice
Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...
by
Louis Andegavin on September 17, 1374. In order to guarantee the Polish throne for his daughter
Jadwiga
Jadwiga (; diminutives: ''Jadzia'' , ''Iga'') is a Polish feminine given name. It originated from the old German feminine given name ''Hedwig'' (variants of which include ''Hedwiga''), which is compounded from ''hadu'', "battle", and ''wig'', "fig ...
, he agreed to abolish all but one tax the ''szlachta'' was required to pay. The ''
Koszyce Privilege'' also forbade the king to grant official posts and major Polish castles to foreign knights, and obliged him to pay indemnities to nobles injured or taken captive during a war outside Polish borders.
The privileges granted by
Ladislaus II at Brześć Kujawski (April 25, 1425), Jedlnia (March 4, 1430) and
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
(January 9, 1433) introduced or confirmed the rule known as
''Neminem captivabimus nisi iure victum'' which prevented a noble from being arrested unless found guilty. On May 2, 1447, the same king issued the ''
Wilno Privilege'' which gave the
Lithuanian boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
s the same rights as those possessed by the Polish ''szlachta''.
In September and October 1454,
Casimir IV granted the ''
Cerkwica and Nieszawa Privileges
Cerkwica (German ''Zirkwitz'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Karnice, within Gryfice County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Karnice, north-west of Gryfice, and ...
'' which forbade the king to set new taxes, laws or draft nobles for war unless he had the consent of local diets (''sejmiki''). These privileges were demanded by the ''szlachta'' as a compensation for their participation in the
Thirteen Years' War. As a compensation for the unsuccessful incursion on
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...
which had decimated the ''szlachta'',
John Albert granted the ''
Piotrków Privilege'' on April 26, 1496 which prohibited
serfs from leaving their owners' land, and banned city dwellers from buying land.
In the spring of 1505 king
Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
signed a bill adopted by the
Diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
of
Radom
Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...
known as ''
Nihil novi
''Nihil novi nisi commune consensu'' ("Nothing new without the Consent of the governed, common consent") is the original Latin title of a 1505 Statute, act or constitution adopted by the Poland, Polish ''Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland, Sejm'' (parl ...
nisi commune consensu'' ("Nothing new without a common agreement"). The ''Nihil novi'' act transferred legislative power from the king to the Diet (''
Sejm
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...
''), or Polish parliament. This date marked the beginning of the First ''
Rzeczpospolita
() is the official name of Poland and a traditional name for some of its predecessor states. It is a compound of "thing, matter" and "common", a calque of Latin ''rés pública'' ( "thing" + "public, common"), i.e. ''republic'', in Engli ...
'', the period of a ''szlachta''-run "republic".
Until the death of
Sigismund Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...
, the last king of the
Jagiellonian
The Jagiellonian dynasty (, pl, dynastia jagiellońska), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty ( pl, dynastia Jagiellonów), the House of Jagiellon ( pl, Dom Jagiellonów), or simply the Jagiellons ( pl, Jagiellonowie), was the name assumed by a cad ...
dynasty, monarchs could only be elected from within the royal family. However, starting from 1573, practically any Polish noble or foreigner of royal blood could become a
Polish–Lithuanian monarch. Every newly elected king was required sign two documents – the ''
Pacta conventa
''Pacta conventa'' (Latin for "articles of agreement") was a contractual agreement, from 1573 to 1764 entered into between the "Polish nation" (i.e., the szlachta (nobility) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and a newly elected king upon ...
'' ("agreed pacts") – a confirmation of the king's pre-election promises, and ''
Henrican articles
The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles ( Polish: ''Artykuły henrykowskie'', Latin: ''Articuli Henriciani'') were a permanent contract between the "Polish nation" (the szlachta, or nobility, of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and a ...
'' (''artykuły henrykowskie'', named after the first freely elected king,
Henry of Valois). The latter document served as a virtual Polish constitution and contained the basic laws of the Commonwealth:
*free election of kings;
*
religious tolerance
Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...
;
*the Diet to be gathered every two years;
*foreign policy controlled by the Diet;
*a royal advisory council chosen by the Diet;
*official posts restricted to Polish and Lithuanian nobles;
*taxes and monopolies set up by the Diet only;
*nobles' right to disobey the king should he break any of these laws.
;Sejm Constitution of 1590
In the 18th century, the introduction of
Cardinal Laws The Cardinal Laws ( pl, Prawa kardynalne) were a quasi-constitution enacted in Warsaw, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, by the Repnin Sejm of 1767–68. Enshrining most of the conservative laws responsible for the inefficient functioning of the Co ...
in 1768 was an important step towards codifying the existing Polish law.
May Constitution, 1791
![Konstytucja 3 Maja](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Konstytucja_3_Maja.jpg)
The
Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791
The Constitution of 3 May 1791,; lt, Gegužės trečiosios konstitucija titled the Governance Act, was a constitution adopted by the Great Sejm ("Four-Year Sejm", meeting in 1788–1792) for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a dual mo ...
( pl, Konstytucja Trzeciego Maja) is called the first constitution in Europe by historian
Norman Davies
Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor at ...
. It was instituted by the
Government Act
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
(Polish: ''Ustawa rządowa'') adopted on that date by the
Sejm
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...
(
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
) of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
. It was designed to redress long-standing political defects of the
federative Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and its
Golden Liberty
Golden Liberty ( la, Aurea Libertas; pl, Złota Wolność, lt, Auksinė laisvė), sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth ( pl, Rzeczpospolita Szlachecka or ''Złota wolność szlachecka'') was a pol ...
. The Constitution introduced political equality between
townspeople
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. T ...
and
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
(''
szlachta
The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...
'') and placed the
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
s under the protection of the government, thus mitigating the worst abuses of
serfdom
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...
. The Constitution abolished pernicious parliamentary institutions such as the ''
liberum veto'', which at one time had placed the
sejm
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...
at the mercy of any deputy who might choose, or be
bribed
Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corr ...
by an interest or foreign power, to undo all the
legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...
that had been passed by that sejm. The May 3rd Constitution sought to supplant the existing anarchy fostered by some of the country's
reactionary
In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the ''status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abse ...
''
magnat
The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
s'', with a more
egalitarian
Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hum ...
and
democratic constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
.
The adoption of the May 3rd Constitution provoked the active hostility of the Polish Commonwealth's neighbors. In the
War in Defense of the Constitution
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
(1792), Poland was betrayed by its
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n ally
Frederick William II and defeated by the
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
of
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
, allied with the
Targowica Confederation
The Targowica Confederation ( pl, konfederacja targowicka, , lt, Targovicos konfederacija) was a Confederation (Poland), confederation established by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Pe ...
, a cabal of Polish magnates who opposed reforms that might weaken their influence. Despite the defeat, and the subsequent
Second Partition of Poland
The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the Polish–Russian War ...
, the May 3rd Constitution influenced later
democratic movements in the world. Ultimately, Prussia, Austria and Russia partitioned Poland in 1795. It remained, after the demise of the Polish Kingdom in 1795, over the next 123 years of
Polish partitions
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for ...
, a beacon in the struggle to restore Polish sovereignty. In the words of two of its co-authors,
Ignacy Potocki
Count Roman Ignacy Potocki, generally known as Ignacy Potocki (; 1750–1809), was a Polish nobleman, member of the influential magnate Potocki family, owner of Klementowice and Olesin (near Kurów), a politician, writer, and office holder. H ...
and
Hugo Kołłątaj
Hugo Stumberg Kołłątaj, also spelled ''Kołłątay'' (pronounced , 1 April 1750 – 28 February 1812), was a prominent Polish constitutional reformer and educationalist, and one of the most prominent figures of the Polish Enlightenment. He se ...
, it was "the last will and testament of the expiring Fatherland."
19th century
File:Unknown - Portrait of Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (1770–1861) - MNK XII-A-613 - National Museum Kraków.jpg, Adam Jerzy Czartoryski
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (; lt, Аdomas Jurgis Čartoriskis; 14 January 177015 July 1861), in English known as Adam George Czartoryski, was a Polish nobleman, statesman, diplomat and author.
The son of a wealthy prince, he began his political c ...
Co-author
''Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Konstytucja Królestwa Polskiego) was granted to the 'Congress' Kingdom of Poland by King of Poland Alexander I of Russia in 1815, who was obliged to issue a constitution to the newly recreated Pol ...
''
File:Napoleon cropFXD.jpg, Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
Granted constitution to the Duchy of Warsaw
*
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...
, 1806
*
Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Konstytucja Królestwa Polskiego) was granted to the 'Congress' Kingdom of Poland by King of Poland Alexander I of Russia in 1815, who was obliged to issue a constitution to the newly recreated Pol ...
, 1815
*
Constitution of the Free City of Kraków, 1815
Second Polish Republic (1919–1939)
The
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
had three constitutions. They were, in historical order:
*
Small Constitution, 1919
*
March Constitution, 1921
*
April Constitution
The April Constitution of Poland ( pl, Ustawa konstytucyjna 23 IV 1935 or ''Konstytucja kwietniowa'') was the general law passed by the act of the Polish Sejm on 23 April 1935. It introduced in the Second Polish Republic a presidential syste ...
, 1935
Polish People's Republic (1945–1989)
The
Manifesto
A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
of the
Polish Committee of National Liberation
The Polish Committee of National Liberation ( Polish: ''Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego'', ''PKWN''), also known as the Lublin Committee, was an executive governing authority established by the Soviet-backed communists in Poland at the la ...
condemned the April Constitution of 1935 as "unlawful and fascist" and stated that the March Constitution of 1921 would be the Polish constitution until a new one could be written. The new constitution was the
Small Constitution of 1947
The Small Constitution of 1947 ( pl, Mała Konstytucja z 1947) was a temporary constitution issued by the communist-dominated Sejm (Polish parliament) on 19 February 1947. It confirmed the practice of separation of powers and strengthened the Sej ...
, later succeeded by the
Constitution of the Polish People's Republic
The Constitution of the Polish People's Republic (also known as the July Constitution or the Constitution of 1952) was a supreme law passed in communist-ruled Poland on 22 July 1952. It superseded the post-World War II provisional Small Cons ...
in 1952.
Third Polish Republic (1989–1997)
Prior to the current 1997 Constitution, the country was governed by the
Small Constitution of 1992
The Small Constitution of 1992 () was a constitution regulating relations between the legislative and executive branches of the government of Poland, and local self-government. It was voted after the fall of communism, by Poland's first freely-elec ...
, which amended the main articles of the Constitution of the
Polish People's Republic
The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...
and formed the legal basis of the Polish State between 1992 and 1997.
See also
*
List of national constitutions
The following is a list of national constitutions by country, semi-recognized countries, and by codification (law), codification.
Codified constitutions (most recent, in use today)
A codified constitution is a constitution that is contained in a ...
*
Polish constitutional crisis, 2015
References
Further reading
Chair of History of Polish Law, Jagiellonian University (in Polish)
External links
''Constitutions, bibliography, links''
Overview
{{Authority control
1997 documents
1997 in law
1997 in Poland
History of Poland (1989–present)
Constitutions of Poland
1997 in politics
April 1997 events in Europe