The Polish law or

legal system The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history an ...

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 been developing since the first centuries of Polish history, over 1,000 years ago. The

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

and

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

laws of Poland are codified. The supreme law in Poland is the

Constitution of Poland 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 last amended version of ...

. Poland is a civil law legal jurisdiction and has a

civil code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property, family, and obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core ar ...

, the ''Civil Code'' of Poland. The Polish parliament creates legislation (law) and is made up of the 'Senate' (upper house) and 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 ...

(lower house).

Legal areas

Polish public and private laws are divided into various areas, including, for example: * civil law (''prawo cywilne''), much of which is contained in the '' Polish Civil Code'' *

commercial law Commercial law, also known as mercantile law or trade law, is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and business engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales. It is often considered to be a branc ...

(''prawo handlowe'') notably the '' Polish Code of Commercial Partnerships and Companies'' *

copyright law A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

(''prawo autorskie''), see copyright law in Poland for details *

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of Forms of government, government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are gener ...

(''prawo administracyjne'') *

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

(''prawo konstytucyjne'') *

private international law Conflict of laws (also called private international law) is the set of rules or laws a jurisdiction applies to a case, transaction, or other occurrence that has connections to more than one jurisdiction. This body of law deals with three broad t ...

(''prawo prywatne międzynarodowe'') *

tax law Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...

s (''prawo podatkowe'') *

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

(''prawo karne'') *

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage, ...

(''prawo rodzinne'') *

labour law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

(''prawo pracy'') *

water law Water resources law (in some jurisdictions, shortened to "water law") is the field of law dealing with the ownership, control, and use of water as a resource. It is most closely related to property law, and is distinct from Water quality law, l ...

(''prawo wodne'') *

media law Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

(''prawo prasowe''). New Polish law is published in

Dziennik Ustaw ''Dziennik Ustaw'' or ''Dziennik Ustaw Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej'' ( en, Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland, abbreviated Dz. U.) is the most important Polish publication of legal acts. It is the only official source of law for promulgatio ...

and

Monitor Polski ''Monitor Polski'' ( en, Official Gazette of the Republic of Poland, abbreviated ''M. P.'' or ''MP'') is a publication of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland. The paper was launched in 1918. Between September and December 1939, the govern ...

(''see

promulgation Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law ...

''). Law in Poland is administered by the

judiciary of Poland The judiciary of Poland ( pl, sądownictwo w Polsce) are the authorities exercising the judicial power of the Polish state on the basis of Chapter 8 of the Constitution of Poland. As in almost all countries of continental Europe, the Polish ju ...

and enforced by the

law enforcement in Poland Law enforcement in Poland consists of the Police (''Policja''), City Guards (named in urban areas Straż Miejska or in rural areas Straż Gminna, which is a type of municipal police), and several smaller specialised agencies. The ''Prokuratur ...

External links

- Principles of Polish company law- Principles of Polish contract law- Principles of Polish insurance law- Principles of Polish public procurement law- Corporate law in Poland
{{Law of Europe

Legal areas

See also

External links