Basic Principles of the System of Government of the Republic of Poland in the context of European Judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal

Judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal in "European cases" reveal its awareness of changes in domestic constitutional law resulting from the operation of EU law in Poland.. The Tribunal strives to mitigate the consequences of conflict between EU law and national law by way of application of a pre-European interpretation of the Constitution or by issuing judgments containing the so-called deferring clause. An Analysis of the "European" judgments allows us to say that the Constitutional Tribunal is reluctant to examine the impact of institutional and competence solutions adopted in TEC on the content of constitutional principles. It limits itself to finding that the principles of "internal system of government of the Republic of Poland" refer to the functioning of the State. They shape the system of exercise of power in the national level and do not have direct application to the relations between the authorities (bodies) of the Community and European Union. The approach limited to assessment of the EU system of government from the angle the system of government of the Republic of Poland is not a proper approach to the problem. In opinion of the authors, an assessment of consequences of the EU accession the for Polish constitutional principles would be more relevant.. They suggest examining whether "the EU institutional and competence solutions" influence the understanding of the principles of Poland's system of government and, if so, whether the changes resulting therefrom are admissible, i.e. give Poland's constitution interpretation friendly to EU law. According to the authors, Poland's membership in the European Union compels a new approach to legal matters and legal institutions established by long (sometimes very long) tradition. The Tribunal held that some concepts and institutions (apparently unchallengeable) need to be redefined. The authors think that these include the principles of democratic state ruled by law, principles of national sovereignty and the principles of separation of power. According to them, the role of representative bodies responsible for European affairs should be defined in Poland's Constitution, so that a new "European" function of parliament could be distinguished. Increased competences of parliament in this area would influence positively such a new definition of the above-mentioned principles.