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Judicial power in Poland

Source: licencja: CC 0.

Link to the lesson

Before you start you should know
  • You know what the position of judicial power in the Polish political system is.

  • You are able to explain how judges are appointed.

  • You are able to present the most important tasks of the National Council of the Judiciary.

You will learn
  • You will be able to explain the constitutional principles of the functioning of Polish courts.

  • You will be able to analyze the guarantees of judicial independence.

  • You will be able to present the competences, organisation and functioning of Polish courts.

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nagranie abstraktu

The Constitution of the Republic of Poland contains many provisions defining the basic principles of the operation of the third power. These concern the rules of organizing the judiciary and the fair trialfair trialfair trial, as well as the rights of an individual related to court proceedings.

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Ilustracja interaktywna, w której centrum znajduje się napis "Constitutional principles of judiciary functioning in Poland". Wokół niego umieszczono następujące informacje: 1. Instances. Article 176. 1. Court proceedings shall have at least two stages. 2. Citizens' participation. Article 182. A statute shall specify the scope of participation by the citizenry in the administration of justice. 3. Fair trial, transparency. Article 45. 1. Everyone shall have the right to a fair and public hearing of his case, without undue delay, before a competent, impartial and independent court. 2. Exceptions to the public nature of hearings may be made for reasons of morality, State security, public order or protection of the private life of a party, or other important private interest. Judgments shall be announced publicly. 4. Uniformity. Article 174. The courts and tribunals shall pronounce judgments in the name of the Republic of Poland. 5. Judicial independence. Article 178. Judges, within the exercise of their office, shall be independent and subject only to the Constitution and statutes.
Constitutional principles of judiciary functioning in Poland

The principle of judicial independence was explicitly expressed in art. 178 para. 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which provides: judges, within the exercise of their office, shall be independent and subjectsubjectedsubject only to the Constitution and statutes. This is the material guarantee of independence.

Leszek Garlicki Polish constitutional law. Lecture outline (Polskie prawo konstytucyjne. Zarys wykładu)

Judicial independence means creating such a position for a judge that he is able to exercise office (adjudication) in a manner consistent withconsistent withconsistent with his conscienceconscienceconscience, in a manner free from any direct and indirect external pressureexternal pressureexternal pressure. Independence means, among other things, that the judge can not be held responsible for the content of rulings issued by him. Independence is at the same time limited by subordinating the judge to the provisions of the Constitution and laws, within and on the basis of which he must perform all activities.

gar Source: Leszek Garlicki, Polish constitutional law. Lecture outline (Polskie prawo konstytucyjne. Zarys wykładu), Warszawa 2013, s. 349.

In practice, in order to ensure real independence for judges, the manner of their appointment, as well as formal and material guarantees, which stabilize their position and legal situation, are of significant importance. According to art. 179 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the judges are appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland at the request of the National Council of the Judiciary. The appointment of a judge by the President of the Republic of Poland is the culmination of a long procedure, in which the qualification of the candidate for this office is assessedto assessassessed.

Guarantees of judicial independence

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Stability of employment Judges are appointed for an indefinite period., Irremovability A judge may only be recalled by virtue of a court judgment and only in the instances prescribed in statute., Non-transferability A judge may not be transferred to another bench or position against his will., Immunity A judge shall not, without prior consent granted by a court specified by statute, be held criminally responsible nor deprived of liberty. A judge shall be neither detained nor arrested, except for cases when he has been apprehended in the commission of an offence and in which his detention is necessary for securing the proper course of proceedings., Liability to disciplinary action A judge is only responsible for the breach of his duties and for offenses before a disciplinary court, composed of judges., Incompatibility A judge must not perform such functions and take offices that would undermine his dignity or obstruct his duties., Apoliticism A judge must not belong to a political party, a trade union or perform public activities incompatible with the principles of independence of the courts and judges., Appropriate remuneration Judges are provided with appropriate conditions for work and granted remuneration consistent with the dignity of their office and the scope of their duties.

Common courts implement the administration of justice concerning all matters save forsave forsave for those statutorily reserved to other courts. They include district courts, regional courts, and courts of appeal.

A district court is established for one or more than one commune, or for part of a commune. It is a court of the first instance. In each district court penal (criminal) and civil divisions are established. If required, family and juvenile, commercial, labour and social insurance, and land and mortgage register divisionsland and mortgage register divisionland and mortgage register divisions are also created. There are more than 300 district courts operating in Poland nowadays.

A regional court is established for a local competence area of at least two district courts, referred to as the „court circuit”. These are courts of the second instance in cases first examined by district courts, and courts of the first instance in other cases (e.g. more serious offences). Usually, in the regional courts there are: penal, civil, labour and social insurance, commercial, penitentiarypenitentiarypenitentiary and telecommunications divisions. In addition, the Regional Court in Warsaw keeps a register of political parties. There are 46 regional courts in Poland.

Courts of appeal are courts of the second instance in cases in which the regional court was the first instance. Currently, 11 courts of appeal operate in Poland.

The Supreme Administrative Court and other administrative courts exercise, to the extent specified by statute, control over the performance of public administration. Their competences encompass among others:

  • judging in cases of complaints on administrative decisions,

  • judging on the conformityconformityconformity to the statute of resolutions of organs of local government and normative acts of territorial organs of government administration,

  • resolving disputes over competences between bodies of local government units, as well as between bodies of local government units and government administration bodies.

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Ilustracja, która przedstawia wagę oraz książki. Na ilustracji znajdują się następujące informacje: 1. judging in cases of complaints on administrative decisions. 2. judging on the conformity to statute of resolutions of organs of local government and normative acts of territorial organs of government administration. 3. resolving disputes over competences between bodies of local government units, as well as between bodies of local government units and government administration bodies.
Examples of competencies of administrative courts
Source: licencja: CC 0.

Administrative courts are voivodeship administrative courts (there are 16 in Poland) and the Supreme Administrative Court, which also supervises the activities of voivodeship administrative courts. It deals, among others, with cassation complaintscassation complaintcassation complaints against judgments of voivodeship administrative courts and complaints against their decisions. The Supreme Administrative Court is divided into three chamberschamberchambers: financial, economic and general administrative.

Military courts are criminal courts. Criminal responsibility is borne before these courts by:

  • soldiers in active military service,

  • civilian employees of the army in matters related to work for the armed forces,

  • soldiers of armed forces of foreign countries staying in Poland, if the agreement specifying the rules of their stay provides for such responsibility.

Military courts of the first instance are military garrison courts. Appeals against judgments made by the garrison courts are examined by military regional courts, which may also be courts of the first instance in the most serious cases. In such a situation, the court of the second instance is the Military Chamber of the Supreme Court.

In modern democratic systems, it is assumed that the judiciary should not be subject to current political influence. It has certain specific features that distinguish it from legislative and executive power. First of all, its activity is based solely on the law, not on the political requirements of purposefulnesspurposefulnesspurposefulness and efficiency. Secondly, the main task of the judiciary is to resolve disputes that arise in the process of applying the law or establishing it. The condition of the proper functioning of the judiciary is the observance of the principle of independence of courts and the independence of judges.

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Exercise 1
Indicate which statements about the judge are true.

A judge… Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. can be a member of a political party, 2. is independent and subject only to the Constitution and statutes, 3. is appointed for a definite period by the President of the Republic, 4. is removable, 5. cannot be held criminally responsible nor deprived of liberty
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Exercise 2
Ćwiczenie alternatywne: Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Explain the meaning of following words: cassation complaint; detained person; warrant of temporary arrest; apprehended; breach (of duties); to undermine; to obstruct; land and mortgage register division. If it's too difficult, use lesson's glossary.

Keywords

judicial power, National Council of the Judiciary, guarantees of judicial independence, common courts, district courts, regional courts, courts of appeal, Supreme Administrative Court, voivodeship administrative courts, military garrison courts, military regional courts

Glossary

citizenry
citizenry
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Nagranie słówka: citizenry

obywatele

fair trial
fair trial
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Nagranie słówka: fair trial

sprawiedliwy proces

transparency
transparency
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Nagranie słówka: transparency

jawność

undue delay
undue delay
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Nagranie słówka: undue delay

nieuzasadniona zwłoka

impartial
impartial
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Nagranie słówka: impartial

bezstronny

charge
charge
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Nagranie słówka: charge

zarzut

subjected
subjected
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Nagranie słówka: subjected

poddany

degrading
degrading
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Nagranie słówka: degrading

poniżający

corporal punishment
corporal punishment
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Nagranie słówka: corporal punishment

kara cielesna

personal inviolability
personal inviolability
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Nagranie słówka: personal inviolability

nietykalność osobista

deprivation
deprivation
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Nagranie słówka: deprivation

pozbawienie

detained person
detained person
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Nagranie słówka: detained person

osoba zatrzymana

comprehensible
comprehensible
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Nagranie słówka: comprehensible

zrozumiały

warrant of temporary arrest
warrant of temporary arrest
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Nagranie słówka: warrant of temporary arrest

nakaz tymczasowego aresztowania

disposal
disposal
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Nagranie słówka: disposal

dyspozycja

compensation
compensation
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Nagranie słówka: compensation

odszkodowanie

counsel
counsel
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Nagranie słówka: counsel

obrońca

to avail
to avail
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Nagranie słówka: to avail

uzyskać

conscience
conscience
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Nagranie słówka: conscience

sumienie

external pressure
external pressure
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Nagranie słówka: external pressure

zewnętrzne naciski

to assess
to assess
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Nagranie słówka: to assess

oceniać

indefinite
indefinite
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Nagranie słówka: indefinite

nieoznaczony

irremovability
irremovability
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Nagranie słówka: irremovability

nieusuwalność

non‑transferability
non‑transferability
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Nagranie słówka: non‑transferability

nieprzenaszalność

prior
prior
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Nagranie słówka: prior

uprzedni, wcześniejszy

apprehended
apprehended
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Nagranie słówka: apprehended

zatrzymany, aresztowany

breach (of duties)
breach (of duties)
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Nagranie słówka: breach (of duties)

naruszenie (obowiązków)

to undermine
to undermine
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Nagranie słówka: to undermine

podważać, uchybiać

to obstruct
to obstruct
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Nagranie słówka: to obstruct

przeszkadzać

incompatible with
incompatible with
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Nagranie słówka: incompatible with

niezgodny z

liability
liability
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Nagranie słówka: liability

odpowiedzialność

appropriate
appropriate
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Nagranie słówka: appropriate

odpowiedni

consistent with
consistent with
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Nagranie słówka: consistent with

zgodny z

save for
save for
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Nagranie słówka: save for

oprócz

land and mortgage register division
land and mortgage register division
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Nagranie słówka: land and mortgage register division

wydział ksiąg wieczystych

penitentiary
penitentiary
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Nagranie słówka: penitentiary

penitencjarny

conformity
conformity
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Nagranie słówka: conformity

zgodność

cassation complaint
cassation complaint
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Nagranie słówka: cassation complaint

skarga kasacyjna

chamber
chamber
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Nagranie słówka: chamber

izba

purposefulness
purposefulness
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Nagranie słówka: purposefulness

celowość