1935 Polish Constitution

As a result of the May 1926 coup in Poland , a political regime was created that nullified the basic principles underlying the March 1921 constitution . The mechanism of functioning of the state, characteristic of the parliamentary system , was replaced by authoritarian methods of government. The new system, which favors the economic domination of the upper class and landlords in the face of increasing influence of the working people and the growth of their desire to reorganize the social system , required formalization in constitutional norms.

President Ignacy Mositsky signs the April Constitution on April 23, 1935

Work on the revision of the March Constitution of 1921 began the Diet , elected in 1928 . However, this work did not advance beyond the discussion stage within the commissions. The parliament, elected in 1930, took up more intensively in which the Non-Party Partnership Bloc with the government already had most of the mandates. The diet adopted constitutional theses prepared in 1933 by Stanislav Tsar as the basis of his legislative activity. These theses recognized the new foundations of the political system. They were criticized by opposition deputies in the constitutional commission of the Sejm. On January 26, 1934, a report on the work of the constitutional commission and the theses of the new constitution were presented at a meeting of the Seimas. When opposition deputies defiantly left the courtroom, the government majority approved the constitutional theses as a draft constitution in the second and third reading at once. The adoption of the constitution clearly violated the provisions defining the procedure for amending the fundamental law. Based on this, opposition groups refused to recognize the constitutional significance of the current. Nevertheless, upon the adoption of the draft constitution by the Senate on January 16, 1935 and the approval of amendments by the Senate by the Senate, the constitution was signed by the President on April 23, 1935. Therefore, it was called the April Constitution.

Jozef Pilsudski

The basic principles of the political system, which were the reflection of certain ideological doctrines, were set forth in the so-called “Decalogue” - the first ten articles of the April Constitution. They reflected the point of view of the authors of the constitution on the state, its tasks and organizational structure, as well as on the state’s attitude to society and to the individual. At the same time, they were directives that interpreted certain provisions of the constitution. The April Constitution retained the former name of the state - the Commonwealth (Rzecz Pospolita), as well as the principle of the unity of the state with one exception - the autonomy of Silesia. The new concept of the state was concluded in Art. 1 of the constitution, which stated that "the Polish state is the common property of all citizens ." The state was considered by the creators of the constitution as the property of society as a whole. The foggy and ambiguous concept of "common property" in accordance with the ideas of solidarity, the authors of the April Constitution sought to cover up the true goals of the state, which were primarily the goals and interests of the ruling elites.

Establishing the relationship between the individual and the collective, the April Constitution recognized the superiority of collective interests over individual ones. At the same time, the duties of the individual in relation to the state, and not its rights, were emphasized strongly. The right of citizens to participate in public life was made dependent on merit "in the name of the common good." Thus, the constitution rejected the principle of universal equal political rights. The constitution provided the state with a leading role in society, opening up wide opportunities for it to intervene in the field of social, economic and cultural relations.

The April Constitution recognized the president as the source and bearer of state power. She adopted the principle of concentration of state power in the person of the president. This principle was expressed by Art. 2, which read: "The president of the republic is at the head of the state ... A single and indivisible state power is concentrated in his person." The President did not bear either constitutional or political responsibility for his activities. On it lay only "responsibility before God and history for the fate of the state." The wording of the “Decalogue” showed the desire of the creators of the constitution to follow the principles of the corporate state.

The principle of concentration of state power in the hands of the president did not mean that he alone, with the help of the bureaucratic apparatus, should carry out all and all the functions of the state. In Art. 3 such government bodies were listed: government, diet, senate, armed forces , courts , state control. All of them, however, were subordinate to the president of the republic. Each of them had a clearly defined constitutional mandate, and the powers not assigned to other bodies belonged to the government.

President of the Republic

The April 1935 Constitution approved a special, complex system of presidential elections . The president himself participated in the elections, as well as a specially created meeting of electors, and in some circumstances, all citizens of the country. The order of the presidential election was such that the decisive word remained with the outgoing president. A meeting of electors consisting of 80 people, including 50 elected by the Sejm, 25 by the Senate and 5 virilists (i.e., Marshals of the Sejm and Senate, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Inspector General of the Armed Forces, First Chairman of the Supreme Court) elected a presidential candidate. The former president was given the right to indicate his own candidate, and he could also nominate his candidacy. If the president exercised his right, the question of which of the two candidates will become president was decided by universal suffrage. If the outgoing president refused this right, his place was taken by the candidate of the meeting of electors. The term of office of the president was seven years. In the event of war, it was extended until the expiration of three months after the conclusion of peace. The right to replace the president under the April Constitution was granted to the marshal of the Senate, who in this case was transferred all the powers of the president. The powers of the president were divided into legislative, constitutional, executive, control, emergency (in case of war).

Presidential Legislative Powers

The powers of the president in the field of legislation consisted in issuing decrees having the force of law (as the supreme commander in chief of the armed forces and the head of administration between sessions of the Sejm and the Senate and on the basis of the powers granted by law). The president owned a right of suspensive veto on laws adopted by the Sejm and the Senate. The President appointed 1/3 of the senators, convened the Sejm and the Senate, opened and closed the sessions of the legislative chambers, postponed the dates of their meetings, promulgated and published laws.

Presidential Constitutional Powers

In the field of constitutional powers, the president owned the right of preemptive initiative in matters of changing the constitution, as well as the right of veto in relation to the deputy draft constitutional amendment approved by the Sejm and the Senate. The constitutional powers of the president were structured in such a way that, contrary to his will, it was impossible to change the constitution.

Presidential Executive Powers

Among the most important executive powers of the president were: making decisions related to the presidential election, that is, convening a meeting of electors, nominating a presidential candidate, and ordering universal suffrage; appointment of the chairman of the Council of Ministers and Ministers, judges, the first chairman of the Supreme Court, members of the State Tribunal ; exercise of the right of pardon; appointment of the chairman of the supreme control chamber and members of his board; the implementation of supreme leadership of the armed forces; appointment of the inspector general of the armed forces; representation of the state outside. The control powers of the president included the right to dissolve the Sejm and the Senate before the expiration of their term, the right to recall the chairman of the council of ministers, the chairman of the supreme control chamber, the supreme commander in chief, the inspector general of the armed forces and ministers, as well as the right to bring ministers to constitutional responsibility before the court state tribunal.

Presidential Extraordinary Powers

The president’s extraordinary powers during the war concerned: the appointment of a successor? appointing the supreme commander, declaring martial law, issuing decrees in the amount of all state legislation (except for changing the constitution), extending the term of office of legislative chambers, convening a diet and Senate in a reduced composition. Such powers provided the president with almost absolute power.

The April Constitution divided the acts of the president into prerogative and ordinary. The prerogative, as a manifestation of the president’s personal power, did not require counter-allocation by ministers. She guaranteed the president unlimited freedom of decision, emphasizing his independent role in government. No one was legally liable for acts of a prerogative nature. The concept of giving the president the prerogative was characteristic of a totalitarian state.

All other official acts of the president, relating to the number of ordinary ordinary powers, demanded counter-allocation of the chairman of the council of ministers and the corresponding minister.

Council of Ministers of the Republic

All ministers were appointed by the president according to one of his prerogatives at the suggestion of the chairman of the council of ministers. The position of the chairman of the council of ministers in the cabinet was strengthened in comparison with the March constitution. The chairman led the work of the government and chaired the council of ministers. He, and not the Council of Ministers, established general principles of state policy that determined the activities of ministers. The competencies of the Council of Ministers included: the right of legislative initiative, the publication of executive decisions, as well as the resolution of issues referred to its jurisdiction.

The April Constitution of 1935 established different types of responsibility of ministers: a) the political responsibility of ministers to the president, who could recall the minister if he considered it appropriate; b) parliamentary responsibility before the Sejm and the Senate (the president could not agree with a vote of no confidence, but in this case he had to dissolve the legislative chambers); c) constitutional responsibility before a state tribunal.

Diet and Senate

The April constitution assigned legislative chambers a secondary role in the system of higher state bodies. The advantages provided to the Sejm by the March Constitution over the Senate were nullified by expanding the powers of the Senate.

The suffrage established by the April Constitution and election regulations of July 8, 1935, determined the composition of the Sejm and Senate and the voting system. The Sejm consisted of 208 deputies, elected by universal, secret, equal and direct vote. Candidates for deputies were put forward by specially created district assemblies, the composition of which was to ensure that they were not influenced by opposition political parties. Active suffrage was granted to citizens who have reached the age of 24 and have civil rights, with the exception of the military, who are on active duty; passive - for citizens over 30 years old. The Senate consisted of 96 senators, 1/3 of whom were appointed by the president, and 2/3 were elected by indirect voting of a small number of citizens - the so-called elite. The group authorized to elect the senate included citizens over the age of 30 on the basis of merit (defined by state orders), education (senior or secondary special or officer rank) and trust (citizens holding elected posts in local government and certain organizations). Passive suffrage was granted to citizens over the age of 40. The term of office of the Sejm and the Senate was five years.

The Sejm and the Senate carried out constitutional, legislative and control functions in the area limited by the powers of the president. The constitution contained a general reservation that the functions of governing the state do not belong to the Sejm. The constitutional competencies were designed so that the legislative chambers could not amend the constitution against the will of the president. The issues of organizing the government, administration and the armed forces were excluded from the legislative competencies. Other powers were limited to the fact that the president was granted the right to issue decrees and the right to veto; in addition, the Sejm was deprived of legislative initiative on budget issues, draft contingent, ratification of international treaties and on all issues requiring public finance. By way of control competence, the Sejm and Senate could demand the resignation of the government or the minister. Such a demand was satisfied only with the consent of the president, who would otherwise dissolve the parliament before the expiration of his term. The Seimas and the Senate also had the right to bring the prime minister and ministers to constitutional responsibility, submit requests (interpellations) to the government, and annually approve the budget execution report.

The expansion of the competence of the Senate was expressed, in particular, in the new voting procedure when adopting its amendments to draft laws. The diet could reject these amendments by a majority of 3/5 votes. The parliamentary immunity was limited.

Civil Rights

Determining the attitude of the individual towards the state, the April Constitution proceeded from other premises than the March one. She saw the task of the state not in protecting individual rights, but in the performance of organizational functions of a public nature. Rejecting the concept of the subjective rights of the individual, the April constitution demanded that the subject be subordinated to the interests of the "collective" represented by the state. However, she did not completely shy away from determining the attitude of the state toward the individual. Civil rights in the April Constitution were scattered across its various sections. Some of them - such as property rights, rights of national minorities, freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of science and teaching - were borrowed from the March Constitution. The importance of political rights recognized by the April Constitution decreased due to the limited role of the Sejm and the Senate in the system of higher state bodies and the introduction of the antidemocratic principle of elitism in elections to the Senate. The category of social rights has undergone significant quantitative reduction. Provisions concerning freedoms. The April Constitution gave a general character, especially emphasizing the vague and meaningful concept of "universal good" as a certain limit for the functioning of civil liberties, which made it possible to justify their far-reaching limitations.

The 1935 constitution created an authoritarian system of government in Poland. The entry into force of the April Constitution and the creation of the state bodies provided for by it were preceded by the death of Jozef Pilsudski , who since the May Revolution played a leading role in the political life of the country. After his death, the decomposition of the government camp began. Groups and parties emerged that put forward different political concepts and struggled with each other. As a result, at the end of 1935, the non-partisan bloc of cooperation with the government collapsed. He was replaced in 1937 by a new political organization called the National Association Camp.

The functioning of the political system, enshrined in the April Constitution, began with the 1935 parliamentary elections. Since the opposition parties weren’t able to nominate their own candidates according to the regulations on the elections to the Sejm, they called on society to boycott the elections. The boycott slogan brought success to opposition parties. Only 46% of voters participated in the elections to the Sejm. In the elite Senate elections, 62% of voters participated. Legislative chambers, elected by a minority of the population, did not even enjoy authority in fulfilling the modest tasks that the April Constitution posed to them. The number of adopted laws has decreased, the number of introduced interpellations and proposals has sharply decreased. The elections held in 1938 after the early dissolution of the legislative chambers by the president did not change the situation of the Sejm and the Senate.

In the mechanism of state power, the constitution assigned the central place to the president, who still remained I. Mositsky. An obedient executor of the will of Yu. Pilsudsky during his lifetime, he was not able even after his death to independently exercise the power granted to him by the new constitution. A part of the ruling camp was promoted to the leading position in the state by the inspector general of the armed forces of the general, and subsequently Marshal E. Rydz-Smiglogo . The role of the prime minister also decreased, which, contrary to the provisions of the April Constitution, did not establish general principles of state policy and did not direct the work of the government. The prime minister turned mainly into a coordinator of the activities of ministers who were proteges of either the president or the inspector general of the armed forces and carried out their policy. Supporters of E. Rydz-Smiglogo believed that such a transitional state would be brought into conformity with the constitution when, after the second term of President Mositsky’s term in 1940, E. Rydz-Smigliy took over this post.

The civil rights recorded in the April Constitution did not determine the activities of the administrative and judicial authorities and in practice became more and more fictitious. Voting rights became an empty phrase, because during the elections to the Sejm the opposition parties could not nominate their candidates, and the executive bodies of self-government were imposed from above; сводились на нет личные свободы, в том числе запрет лишения кого-либо права предстать именно перед тем судом, которому он подлежит по закону, поскольку власти имели право помещать в концлагерь в Берёзе-Картузской без судебного приговора любое лицо.

Несмотря на авторитарные тенденции, в 1935—1939 годах режим санации всё же не смогла создать тоталитарного государства по итальянскому или немецкому образцу. Этому препятствовали: внутренняя неоднородность правящей группы; отсутствие общепризнанного руководителя; сопротивление пользующихся немалым влиянием в обществе оппозиционных партий, которые в большинстве своём занимали отрицательную позицию по отношению к правящему лагерю. Наконец, надвигающийся военный конфликт, в котором агрессором выступала Германия , укреплял антифашистские настроения широких слоёв общества, препятствуя процессам фашизации страны.

• Ю. Бардах, Б.Леснодорский, М. Пиетрчак, История государства и права Польши, Москва, 1980.
• Ф. Зуев, Польша 1918–1939 годов, Москва, 1950.
• Краткая история Польши, под ред. Ф. Зуева, Москва, 1993.

• Польская конституция 1921 года
• История Польши
• Конституция Польши