TY - JOUR
TI - O konstytucji w ujęciu konstytucyjnie wrażliwego prawnika
AU - Safjan, Marek
TI - O konstytucji w ujęciu konstytucyjnie wrażliwego prawnika
AB - 
	On the Constitution as interpreted and applied by the “constitutionally sensitive” lawyer 

	The article attempts to answer the question of what the necessary qualities and the requirements are that a constitutional judge must fulfill to perform his judicial duties. The point of reference for these considerations is the figure of Professor Andrzej Mączyński, a retired judge and former vice-president of the Constitutional Tribunal. The author proceeds from the assumption that the methodology of constitutional interpretation has unique features that distinguish it from other forms of judiciary interpretation and application of law. The corner stone of that methodology concerns the concept of the so-called autonomous legal notions which are construed with respect to basic constitutional values and principles. Constitutional interpretation requires a comprehensive legal background covering all areas of law, a good understanding of the nature of a multi-faceted contemporary legal system, as well as a large historical knowledge on the evolution of law and the impact exerted by the legal tradition. A modern constitutional judge must not only have precise and wide knowledge, but also an imagination and an appropriate “constitutional sensitivity” especially in the field of the application of fundamental rights and constitutional values. His first imperative is to be obliged to look for what is called by the famous Polish lawyer Fryderyk Zell (junior) as the “righteous law”. In the second part of the article, the author analyzes the threats to the independence of the constitutional court, resulting from violations by the legislative and executive authorities, of the principles of a democratic state of law. The author refers to examples related to the activities of the legislative and executive powers undertaken against the Polish Constitutional Tribunal from autumn 2015.
VL - 2018
IS - Numer 4 (2018)
PY - 2018
SN - 2544-2031
C1 - 2956-3623
SP - 107
EP - 123
UR - https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/przeglad-konstytucyjny/artykul/on-the-constitution-as-interpreted-and-applied-by-the-constitutionally-sensitive-lawyer
KW - fundamental rights and constitutional values
KW - interpretation of the Constitution
KW - autonomous legal notions
KW - a multi-segment legal system
KW - legal tradition
KW - independence of the judicial power