Justification of Public Authorities Decisions as a Constitutional Value

The subject of this article is the question whether the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 provides a norm that requires bodies of public authority to justify their decisions, and therefore whether the authority should prepare such justification only when required by an express provision of the statute. The first part of the article presents the arguments on the constitutional, not statutory, nature of the justification requirement. The second part of the article discusses the standard of justifications, based on the examples of resolutions of the National Council of the Judiciary, decisions of the President of the Republic of Poland, and decisions of state commissions in electoral matters.

The subject of this article is the question whether the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 provides a norm that requires bodies of public authority to justify their decisions, and therefore whether the authority should prepare such justification only when required by an express provision of the statute. The first part of the article presents the arguments on the constitutional, not statutory, nature of the justification requirement. The second part of the article discusses the standard of justifications, based on the examples of resolutions of the National Council of the Judiciary, decisions of the President of the Republic of Poland, and decisions of state commissions in electoral matters.