This paper is an extended version of my address at the conference held to summarise the Constitutional Survey on 16 June 2018 at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. It is devoted to proposals for amendments to the Polish Constitution of 1997 contained in the answers to the open questions from the Constitutional Survey we conducted in 2017 among constitutionalists (full professors, doctors habilitated and doctors).

The broad and rich set of proposals for amendments put forward by constitutionalists may lead to the conclusion that such amendments are needed in the Polish Constitution of 1997. Many respondents held that the numerous deficiencies found in Poland’s recent constitutional practice did not result from the contents of the Constitution, but from a certain way in which it was applied, or rather not applied, or even violated. A constitutional amendment cannot remedy problems caused by insufficient legal or political culture. One of the most important conclusions from our survey, supported by the vast majority of respondents, is that whereas the Polish Constitution of 1997 does require amendments, they should, firstly, be only partial amendments, rather than a new constitution, and, secondly, that they should not be introduced in the current political and systemic situation.

This paper is an extended version of my address at the conference held to summarise the Constitutional Survey on 16 June 2018 at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. It is devoted to proposals for amendments to the Polish Constitution of 1997 contained in the answers to the open questions from the Constitutional Survey we conducted in 2017 among constitutionalists (full professors, doctors habilitated and doctors).

The broad and rich set of proposals for amendments put forward by constitutionalists may lead to the conclusion that such amendments are needed in the Polish Constitution of 1997. Many respondents held that the numerous deficiencies found in Poland’s recent constitutional practice did not result from the contents of the Constitution, but from a certain way in which it was applied, or rather not applied, or even violated. A constitutional amendment cannot remedy problems caused by insufficient legal or political culture. One of the most important conclusions from our survey, supported by the vast majority of respondents, is that whereas the Polish Constitution of 1997 does require amendments, they should, firstly, be only partial amendments, rather than a new constitution, and, secondly, that they should not be introduced in the current political and systemic situation.