The Senate under the Constitution of 23 April 1935

The article deals with the place of the Senate of the Republic of Poland in the system of government under the April Constitution. This place has been discussed in three aspects. The first treats the Senate as an expression of the concept of elite state.. That concept was in fact implemented, logically and consistently, by the Constitution establishing the manner of election of senators. The second aspect relates to the place of the Senate within the bicameral system of government established by the Constitution. In the view of the author, the competences of the Senate, and particularly the distribution of powers between the Sejm and Senate in the performance of their legislative and supervising functions, indicate that the founders of the Constitution expressly favoured a balanced bicameral system. Such a thesis is confirmed by an analysis of the scope of competences of the Senate in the legislative process and the supervision of the government (in this respect, we must take into account the Senate's participation in the implementation of the principle of parliamentary accountability of the government). The problem is presented in close association with the principles governing the creation of the Senate. And, finally, the third aspect relates to the role that the Senate would play as an instrument applied by the President of the Republic in the performance of his functions of an arbiter in harmonizing cooperation of all agencies of the State in order to fully accomplish the universal goal, that is prosperity and strength of the State.