The Constitutional Tribunal as the Guardian of the Constitution: Current State and de lege ferenda Conclusions

The article is devoted to the issue of the importance of the Constitutional Tribunal as a body that guarantees the supremacy of the Constitution in a political system based on the principle of a democratic state ruled by law. While reviewing the compliance of the law with the Constitution, the Tribunal is also a particularly important guarantor of the protection of freedoms and human rights, protecting citizens against arbitrary interference by ruling politicians in the sphere of individual freedom. The basic condition for the effective performance of the Tribunal’s functions is its independence from political authorities. Changes in the functioning of the Constitutional Tribunal, introduced after 2015, deprived the Tribunal of the ability to effectively perform the function of guardian of the Constitution and protector of freedoms and human rights. As a result, the current Tribunal is the anti­thesis of the constitutional court within the meaning of constitutional and international democratic standards. In the last part of the article, the authors present the basic assumptions of the bills prepared by legal experts of the Stefan Batory Foundation, aimed at restoring the proper functioning of the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland.

The article is devoted to the issue of the importance of the Constitutional Tribunal as a body that guarantees the supremacy of the Constitution in a political system based on the principle of a democratic state ruled by law. While reviewing the compliance of the law with the Constitution, the Tribunal is also a particularly important guarantor of the protection of freedoms and human rights, protecting citizens against arbitrary interference by ruling politicians in the sphere of individual freedom. The basic condition for the effective performance of the Tribunal’s functions is its independence from political authorities. Changes in the functioning of the Constitutional Tribunal, introduced after 2015, deprived the Tribunal of the ability to effectively perform the function of guardian of the Constitution and protector of freedoms and human rights. As a result, the current Tribunal is the anti­thesis of the constitutional court within the meaning of constitutional and international democratic standards. In the last part of the article, the authors present the basic assumptions of the bills prepared by legal experts of the Stefan Batory Foundation, aimed at restoring the proper functioning of the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland.