THE 1921 CONSTITUTION
OF THE
REPUBLIC OF POLAND
THE 1921 CONSTITUTION
OF THE
REPUBLIC OF POLAND
In the name of Almighty God !
We, the Polish Nation, thankful to Providence for freeing us from a servitude of a century and a half; remembering gratefully the courage and steadfastness of the self-sacrificing struggle of generations which have uneasingly devoted their best efforts to the cause of independence; taking up the glorious tradition of the memorable Constitution of the Third of May; having in mind the weal of our whole, united, and independent mother country, and desiring to establish her independent existence, power, safety, and social order on the eternal principles of right and liberty; desirous also of ensuring the development of all her moral and material forces for the good of the whole of renascent humanity, and of securing quality to all citizens of the Republic, and respect, due rights, and the special protection of the state to labor, do enact and establish in the Legislative Sejm of the Republic of Poland this constitutional law.
Section I: THE REPUBLIC
Article 1.
The Polish State is a Republic.
Article 2.
Sovereignty in the Republic of Poland belongs to the nation. The organs of the nation are: in the domain of legislation, the Sejm and the Senate; in the domain of executive power, the President of the Republic, jointly with the responsible ministers; in the domain of the administration of justice, independent courts.
Section II: LEGISLATIVE POWER
Article 3.
The domain of state legislation comprises the establishment of all public and private laws, and the manner of their execution.
There can be no statute without the consent of the Sejm, expressed in a manner conforming to the Standing Orders.
A statute voted by the Sejm comes into force at the time determined in the statute itself.
The Republic of Poland, basing its organization on the principle of broad territorial self-government, will delegate to the bodies representing this self-government the proper domain of legislation, especially in administrative, cultural, and economic fields, to be defined more fully by statutes of the state.
Ordinances by public authorities, from which result rights or duties of citizens, have binding force only if issued by the authority of a statute, and with a specific reference to the same.
Article 4.
A statute of the state will determine annually the budget of the state for the ensuing year.
Article 5.
The establishment of the numerical strength of the army, and permission for the annual draft of recruits, can be determined only by statute.
Article 6.
The contracting of a state loan, the alienation, exchange or pledging of immovable property of the state, the imposition of taxes and public dues, the determination of customs duties and monopolies, the establishment of the monetary system and the tanng over by the state of a financial guarantee, csn ~e place only by the authority of a statute.
Article 7.
The Goverment will present annually for parliamentary confirmation the accounts of the state for the past year.
Article 8.
The manner of exercising parliamentary control over the debts of the state will be defined by a special statute.
Article 9.
The control of the whole state administration as regards finances; the examination of the accounts of the state; the annual submisssion to the Sejm of its motion for the granting or refusing of its absolutorium to the Government, are in the hands of the Supreme Board of Control, which is organized on the basis of collegiality and judicial independence of its members, the latter being removable only by a vote of the Sejm representing a majority of three-fifths of those actually voting. The organization of the Supreme Bard of Control and its method of procedure will be defined in detail by a special statute.
The President of the Supreme Board of Control enjoys a position equal to that of a Minister, but he is not a member of the Council of Ministers and is directly responsible to the Sejm for the exercise of his office and for the officials who are his subordinates.
Article 10 Measures can originate either with the government or with the Sejm. Motions and bills which involve expenditure from the state treasury must state the manner of their raising and eppenditure.
Article 11 The Sejm is composed of deputies elected for a term of five years to be counted from the day of the opening of the Sejm, by secret, direct, equal, and proportional voting.
Article 12 The right to vote belongs to every Polish citizen without distinction of sex, who, on the day of the proclamation of the elections, is twenty-one years of age, is in full possession of civil rights, and is a resident of the electoral district at least from the day preceding the proclamation of the elections in the Journal of Laws. The right to vote can be exercised only in person. Members of the army in active service do not possess the right to vote.
Article 13.
Every citizen having the right to vote is eligible for election to the Sejm, independently of his place of residence, if he is at least twenty-five years of age, not excepting members of the army in active service.
Article 14.
Citizens convicted of offenses which the law of elections may define as involving temporary or permanent loss of the right to vote, of eligibility, or of being a deputy, may not enjoy the electoral right.
Article 15.
Administrative, revenue, and judicial officials of the state may not be elected in the districts in which they are performing their official duties. This rule does not apply to officials employed in the central departments.
Article 16.
State and self-government employees obtain leaves of absence at the moment of being elected deputies. This rule does not apply to ministers, under-secretaries of state, and professors in academic schools. The years spent in the exercise of the duties of a deputy are considered as years of service.
Article 17.
A deputy loses his seat on being appointed to a paid office of the state. This rule does not apply to appointment as minister, under-secretary of state, or professor in an academic school.
Article 18.
The law of elections will define the manner of electing deputies to the Sejm.
Article 19.
The validity of unprotested elections is verified by the Sejm. The validity of protested elections is decided upon by the Supreme Court.
Article 20.
The deputies are representatives of the whole nation and not bound by any instructions given by the voters.
The deputies make to the Marshal the following vow in the presence of the Chamber: "I do solemnly vow, as deputy to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, to work honestly, according to the best of my understanding and in conformity with my conscience, for the sole good of the Polish State as a whole."
Article 2l.
Deputies cannot be made responsible, either during their term of office or after it has expired, for their activities in or out of the Sejm appertaining to the exercise of their office as deputies. For their speeches, utterances, and manifestations in the Sejm, deputies are responsible only to the Sejm. For violation of the rights of a third person, they may be made to answer before a court of law, if the judicial authority obtains the consent of the Sejm thereto.
Criminal, penal-administrative, or disciplinary proceedings instituted against a deputy before his election, may, at the demand of the Sejm, be suspended until the expiration of his term of office.
Prescription in criminal proceedings against a deputy does not run while he retains his office. While he retains his office, a deputy may not, without the permission of the Sejm, be made to aswer before a criminal court, penal-administrative authority, or a disciplinary court, or be deprived of his freedom. If deputy is caught in the act of committing a common felony, and if his arrest is necessary to insure the administration of justice, or to avert the consequences of the offense, the court is bound to notify immediately the Marshal of the Sejm in order to obtain the consent of the Sejm to his arrest and to further criminal proceedings. Upon demand of the Marshal, the arrested deputy must be liberated at once.
Article 22.
A deputy may not, either in his own name or in the name of another, buy, or acquire the lease of, any real property of the state, contract for public supplies or government works, or obtain from the government any concessions or other personal benefits. A deputy is also debarred from receiving from the government any decorations other than military.
Article 23.
A deputy may not be the responsible editor of a periodical publication.
Article 24.
The deputies receive compensation the amount of which is determined by the standing orders, and are entitled to the free use of the state means of communication for travelling over the whole territory of the Republic.
Article 25.
The President of the Republic convokes, opens, adjourns, and closes the Sejm and Senate. The Sejm must be convoked to assemble on the third Tuesday after election day, and every year, at the latest in October, to an ordinary session for the purpose of voting the budget, the numerical strength and recruiting of the army, and other current affairs.
The President of the Republic may, at his own discretion, convoke the Sejm to an extraordinary session at any time and is bound to do this within two weeks upon request of one-third of the total number of deputies.
Other cases in which the Sejm assembles in extraordinary session are determined by this constitution.
An adjournment requires the consent of the Sejm, in previous adjournment has taken place during the same ordinary session, or if the interruption is to last for more than thirty days.
The Sejm, when convoked in October for its ordinary session, may not be closed before the budget has been voted.
Article 26.
The Sejm may be dissolved by its own vote, passed by a majority of two-thirds of those voting. The President of the Republic may dissolve the Sejm with the consent of three-fifths of the statutory number of members of the Senate in the presence of at least one-half of the total membership. In both cases the Senate is atomatically dissolved at the same time.
Elections will take place within forty days from the date of dissolution, the precise date to be determined either in the resolution of the Sejm or in the message of the President, on the dissolution of the Sejm.
Article 27.
The deputies exercise all their rights and duties in person.
Article 28.
The Sejm elects from among its members, the Marshal, his deputies, the secretaries, and committees.
The Marshal and his deputies continue in office after the dissolution of the Sejm until the new Sejm shall have elected its officers.
Article 29.
The standing rules of the Sejm define the mode and order of the proceedings of the Sejm, the type and number of the committees, the number of marshals and secretaries, the rights and duties of the Marshal. The employees of the Sejm are appointed by the Marshal, who is responsible to the Sejm for their actions.
Article 30.
The meetings of the Sejm are public. On the motion of the Marshal, of a Government representative, or of thirty deputies, the Sejm may vote the secrecy of its meetings.
Article 31.
No one may be called to account for a truthful report of an open meeting of the Sejm or a committee of the Sejm.
Article 32.
A vote is valid only when carried by an ordinary majority in the presence of at least one-third of the total statutory number of deputies, in so far as provisions of this constitution do not contain other rules.
Article 33.
The deputies have the right of addressing interpellations to the Government or to individual ministers, in the manner prescribed by the standing rules. A minister is bound to answer, within six weeks, orally or in writing, or submit a statement wherein he justifies his failure to give an answer to the point. At the request of those addressing the interpellation, the answer must be communicated to the Sejm. The Sejm may make the answer the subject of debate and vote.
Article 34.
The Sejm may form and appoint for the investigation of individual cases, extraordinary committees empowered to hear the interested parties, as well as to summon witnesses and experts. The competence and powers of such committees will be determined by the Sejm.
Article 35.
Every bill passed by the Sejm will be submitted to the Senate for consideration. If the Senate, within thirty days from the day on which a passed bill has been delivered to it, does not raise any objections to the bill, the President of the Republic will direct the publication of the statute. Upon the motion of the Senate, the President of the Republic may direct the publication of the statute before the lapse of the thirty days.
If the Senate decides to alter or reject a bill passed by the Sejm, it must announce this to the Sejm within the aforesaid thirty days, and must return the bill to the Sejm with the proposed-changes within the following thirty days.
If the Sejm approves by an ordinary majority, or rejects by a majority of eleven-twentieths of those voting, the changes proposed by the Senate, the President of the Republic will direct the publication of the statute in the wording determined by the second vote of the Sejm.
Article 36.
The Senate is composed of members elected by the individual Voyevodships, by universal, secret, direct, equal, and proportional voting. Every Voyevodship forms one constituency and the number of senators is equal to one-fourth of the number of members of the Sejm, in proportion to the number of inhabitants. The right of electing to the Senate is enjoyed by every elector for the Sejm who, on the day of the proclamation of the elections, is thirty years of age and has on that day been a resident of the electoral district for at least one year; the right of voting is not lost by newly settled colonists who have left their former place of residence, availing themselves of the agrarian reform; neither is that right lost by workmen who have changed their place of residence as a result of changing their place of occupation, or by the state officials transferred by their superior authorities. Eligibility is enjoyed by every citizen who has the right of voting for the Senate, not excluding members of the army in active service, provided that citizen is forty years of age on the day of the proclamation of the elections.
The term of the Senate begins and ends with the term of the Sejm. No one may be at the same time a member of the Sejm and of the Senate.
Article 37.
The provisions contained in Articles 14,15,16,17,19,20,21,22,23,24,27,28, 29,30,31,32, and 33 have analogous application to the Senate and to its members respectively.
Article 38.
No statute may be in opposition to this constitution or violate its provisions.
Section III: EXECUTIVE POWER
Article 39.
The President of the Republic is elected for seven years by the absolute majority of the votes of the Sejm and the Senate united in National Assembly. The National Assembly is convoked by the President of the Republic in the last three months of his seven years' term of office. If the convocation has not taken place thirty days before the end of the seven years' term, the Sejm and the Senate, upon the invitation of the Marshal of the Sejm and under his chairmanship, unite automatically in National Assembly.
Article 40.
Should the President of the Republic be unable to perform the duties of his office, or should the office of the President of the Republic become vacant through death, resignation, or some other reason, the Marshal of the Sejm will act as his deputy.
Article 41.
In case the office of the President of the Republic becomes vacant, the Sejm and the Senate, upon the invitation of the Marshal of the Sejm and under his chairmanship, at once unite automatically in a National Assembly for the purpose of electing a President.
Should the Sejm be dissolved at the moment when the office of President of the Republic becomes vacant, the Marshal of the Sejm will direct without delay new elections to the Sejm and the Senate.
Article 42.
If the President of the Republic does not perform the duties of his office for three months, the Marshal will with out delay convoke the Sejm and submit to its decision the question whether the office of the President of the Republic is to be declared vacant.
The decision to declare the office vacant is taken by a majority of three-fifths of the votes in the presence of at least one-half of the statutory number of deputies; that is, the number prescribed by the law of Election.
Article 43.
The President of the Republic exercises the executive power through ministers responsible to the Sejm and through officials subordinated to the Ministers.
Every official of the Republic must be subordinate to a minister, who is responsible to the Sejm for the former's actions.
The President of the Council of Ministers countersigns the appointment of officials of the civil cabinet of the President of the Republic, and is responsible for their actions to the Sejm.
Article 44.
The President of the Republic signs the statutes jointly with the competent ministers, and directs the publication of the statutes in the Journal of the laws of the Republic.
The President of the Republic has the right to issue, for the purpose of executing the statutes and with reference to the statutory authorization, executive ordinances, directions, orders and prohibitions, and to insure their execution by the use of force.
The ministers and the authorities subordinate to them have the same right in their respective fields of jurisdiction.
Every governmental act of the President of the Republic requires for its validity the signature of the President of the Council of Ministers and of the competent minister, who, by countersigning the act, assume the responsibility therefor.
Article 45.
The President of the Republic appoints and recalls the President of the Council of Ministers; on the latter's motion he appoints and recalls ministers, and on the motion of the Council of Ministers makes appointments to the civil and military offices reserved by statutes.
Article 46.
The President of the Republic is at the same time the supreme head of the armed forces of the state, but he may not exercise the chief command in time of war.
The Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the state, in case of war, is appointed by the President of the Republic, on the motion of the Council of Ministers, presented by the minister of military affairs who is responsible to the Sejm for the acts connected with the command in time of war, as well as for all affairs of military direction.
Article 47.
The right to reprieve and to mitigate punishment, and to destroy the consequences of criminal conviction in individual cases, belongs to the President of the Republic.
The President may not exercise this right in the ease of ministers convicted upon impeachment by the Sejm.
Amnesty may be granted only by statute.
Article 48.
The President of the Republic in foreign relations, receives diplomatic representatives of foreign states, and sends diplomatic representatives of the Polish State to foreign states.
Article 49.
The President of the Republic makes treaties with other states and brings them to the notice of the Sejm.
Commercial and customs treaties, as well as treaties which impose a permanent financial burden on the state, or contain legal rules binding on the citizens, or change the frontiers of the state, also alliances, require the consent of the Sejm.
Article 50.
The President of the Republic may declare war and conclude peace only after obtaining the consent of the Sejm.
Article 51.
The President of the Republic is not responsible either to Parliament or at civil law.
For betraying the country, violating the constitution, or for criminal offenses, the President of the Republic may be made responsible only by the Sejm by a vote of a majority of three-fifths in the presence of at least one-half of the statutory number of deputies. The cause is heard and the sentence given by the Court of State, according to the rules of a special statute.Immediately upon his impeachment before the Court of State, the President of the Republic is suspended from office.
Article 52.
The President of the Republic receives a salary according to the rules of a special statute.
Article 53.
The President of the Republic may not hold any other office or be a member of the Sejm or the Senate.
Article 54.
Before assuming office, the President of the Republic takes his oath in the National Assembly, in the following terms:
"I swear to Almighty God, One in the Holy Trinity, and I vow to Thee, Polish Nation, that while holding the office of President of the Republic I will keep and defend faithfully the laws of the Republic and above all the constitutional law; that I shall serve devotedly, with all my power, the general good of the nation; that I will avert, watchfully, from the state all evil and danger; that I will guard steadfastly the dignity of the name of Poland; that I will hold justice toward all citizens without distinction as the highest virtue; that I will devote myself individually to the duties of office and service. Se help me God and the Holy Martyrdom of His Son. Amen."
Article 55.
The ministers form the Council of Ministers under the chairmanship of the President of the Council of Ministers.
Article 56.
The Council of Ministers bears the joint constitutional and parliamentary responsibility for the general direction of the activities of the government.
Apart from that, each minister is individually responsible, in his domain, for his activities in office; that is, as well for their conformity with the constitution and the other statutes of the state, and for the activities of the subordinate organs, as for the direction of his policies.
Article 57.
Within the same limits, the ministers are jointly and individually responsible for the governmental acts of the President of the Republic.
Article 58.
The parliamentary responsibility of the ministers is enforced by the Sejm by an ordinary majority. The Council of Ministers or any individual minister will resign at the request of the Sejm.
Article 59.
The constitutional responsibility of the ministers and the way of its realization will be determined by a special statute.
The decision to impeach a minister can be made only in the presence of at least one-half the statutory number of deputies and by a majority of three-fifths of the votes cast.
The causes are heard and judgment is passed by the Court of State. A minister cannot evade his constitutional responsibility by resigning his office. Immediately upon his impeachment, the minister is suspended from office.
Article 60.
The ministers and officials delegated by them have the right to take part in the meetings of the Sejm, and to speak out of the turn of those figuring on the list of speakers; they may take part in the vote if they are deputies.
Article 61.
The ministers may not hold any other office or participate in the governing or controlling bodies of societies and institutions which work for profit.
Article 62.
Should the office of a minister be held by a provisory head of the ministry, he will be subject to all the rules concerning the office of a ministry. The President of the Council of sisters will, in case of need, appoint one of the ministers his deputy.
Article 63.
A special statute will determine the number, competence, and mutual relation of the Ministers, as well as the competence of the Council of Ministers.
Article 64.
The Court of State is composed of the First President of the Supreme Court as chairman, and of twelve members, eight of whom are elected by the Sejmand four by the Senate from outside their own membership.
To membership in the Court of State are eligible persons who do not hold any State office, and are in full possession of civil rights.
The election of the members of the Court of State is carried out by the Sejm and the Senate immediately upon the election of their officers for the whole term of the Sejm.
Article 65.
For administrative purposes, the Polish State will be divided by statute into Voyevodships, districts, and urban and rural communes, which will at the same time be the units of territorial self-government.
The units of self-government may combine into unions in order to accomplish tasks which belong to the domain of self-government.
Such unions may obtain the character of bodies of public law only by special statute.
Article 66.
The administration of the state will be organized on the principle of decentralization, organs of state administration in the individual territorial units being, a far a possible, joined in one official body under one superior, and on the principle that within the limits determined by statutes, citizens elected for this purpose shall participate in the discharge of the duties of such official bodies.
Article 67.
The right of determining affairs belonging to the domain of self- government rests with elected councils. The executive functions of Voyevodship and district self-government rests with organs formed by adding to boards elected by representative bodies, representatives of State administrative authorities, under the chairmanship of the latter.
Article 68.
A special statute will create, in addition to territorial self-government, economic self-government for the individual fields of economic life; namely, chambers of agriculture, commerce, industry, arts and crafts, hired labor and others, united into a Supreme Economic Council of the Republic, the collaboration of which with state authorities, in directing economic life and in the field of legislative proposals, will be determined by statutes.
Article 69.
The sources of revenue of the state and of self- government organizations respectively, will be strictly deliminated by statutes.
Article 70.
The state will exercise supervision over self-government activities through superior self-government boards; such supervision may, however, be partially delegated by statute to administrative courts.
Statutes will determine the cases in which decisions of selfgovernment organs may exceptionally require confirmation by superior self-government organs or by ministries.
Article 71.
An appeal from decisions of state and selfgovernment organs will be allowed only to one superior body, unless other provisions are made by statutes.
Article 72.
Statutes will put into effect the principle that from penal decisions of administrative authorities, made in the first instance, the parties concerned will have the right to appeal to the competent court.
Article 73.
For the purpose of passing upon the legality of administrative acts in the field of state, as well as of self-government administrative, a special statute will create administrative courts, basing their organization on the cooperation of (lay) citizens and (professional) judges, and culminating in a Supreme Administrative Court.
Section IV: JUDICIARY
Article 74.
The courts administer justice in the name of the Republic of Poland.
Article 75.
The organization, jurisdiction, and procedure of all courts will be defined by legislation.
Article 76.
The President of the Republic appoints the judges, unless a different provision is made by statute, but justices of the peace are, as a rule, elected by the population.
Judicial office is accessible only to persons who possess the qualifications required by law.
Article 77.
In the exercise of their judicial office, the judges are independent, and subject only to statutes.
Judicial decisions may not be changed either by the legislative power or by the executive power.
Article 78.
A judge may be removed from office, suspended from office, transferred to a different place of office, or pensioned, against his own will, by judicial decision only, and only in cases provided by statute.
This rule does not apply in the case of the transfer of a judge to a different place, or his pensioning owing to a change in the organization of the courts decided upon by statute.
Article 79.
Judges may not be criminally prosecuted or be deprived of their freedom without the previous consent of the court assigned by statute, unless they are caught in the act, but even in this last case the court may demand that the arrested judge be freed without delay.
Article 80.
A special statute will define the peculiar position of the judges, their rights and duties, as well as their compensation.
Article 81.
The courts have not the right to inquire into the validity of duly promulgated statutes.
Article 82.
The hearings before a determining court, as well in civil as in criminal cases, are public, except when statutes provide othewise.
Article 83.
Courts with juries will be called upon to determine cases of felonies entailing more severe punishment, and cases of political offenses. Statutes will define in detail the jurisdiction of courts with juries, the organization of such courts, and their procedure.
Article 84.
A Supreme Court for judicial causes, civil and criminal, is hereby created.
Article 85.
Special statutes will define the organization of military courts, their jurisdiction, procedure, and the rights and duties of the members of such courts.
Article 86.
A special Competence Court will be created by a statute to determine conflicts of jurisdiction between the administrative authorities and the courts.
Section V: GENERAL DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CITIZENS
Article 87.
A Polish citizen may not be at the same time a citizen of another state.
Article 88.
Polish citizenship is acquired:
Special statutes define other rules as to Polish citizenship, its acquisition and loss.
Article 89.
Fidelity to the Republic of Poland is the first duty of a citizen.
Article 90.
Every citizen has the duty of respecting and obeying the constitution of the state and other valid laws and ordinances of the state and self-government authorities.
Article 91.
All citizens are subject to military service; the character and manner, order and term of service, exemption from such duty, and any duties, contributions or services for military purposes, will be defined by legislation.
Article 92.
It is the duty of all citizens to submit to any public burdens, services, and duties imposed by virtue of statute.
Article 93.
All citizens are bound to respect legitimate authority and to facilitate the performance of its duties, as well as to perform conscientiously public duties to which they may be appointed by the nation or the proper authority.
Article 94.
It is the duty of citizens to bring up their children as righteous citizens of the mother country, and to secure to them at least elementary education. This duty will be defined more in detail by a special statute.
Article 95.
The Republic of Poland guarantees on its territory, to all, without distinction of extraction, nationality, language, race, or religion, full protection of life, liberty, and property.
Foreigners enjoy, on condition of reciprocity, rights equal to those of citizens of the Polish State, and have duties equal to those of such citizens, unless statutes expressly require Polish citizenship.
Article 96.
All citizens are equal before the law. Public offices are accessible in equal measure to all, on conditions prescribed by the law.
The Republic of Poland does not recognize privileges of birth or of estate, or any coats of arms, family or other titles, with the exception of those of learning, office, or profession. A Polish citizen may not accept foreign titles or orders without the permission of the President of the Republic.
Article 97.
Limitations of personal liberty, especially search of person and arrest, are admissible only in cases prescribed by law, and in the manner defined by statutes, by virtue of an order from judicial authorities.
In case a judicial order cannot be issued immediately, it should he served, at the latest, within forty-eight hours, with a statement of the reasons of the search or arrest.
Arrested persons who have not been served within forty-eight hours with a written statement of the cause of arrest, signed by a judicial authority, regain their freedom at once.
The means of compulsory service by which the administrative authorities may enforce their orders are determined in statutes.
Article 98.
No one may be deprived of the court to which he is subject by law. Exceptional courts are admissible only in cases determined by statutes, which statutes must have been issued before the offense was committed. A citizen may be prosecuted and punishment inflicted only by virtue of a statute actually in force. Punishments involving physical suffering are not permitted, and no one may be subjected to such punishment.
No statute may deprive a citizen of access to the courts for the purpose of demanding reparation for injury or damage.
Article 99.
The Republic of Poland recognizes all property, whether belonging personally to individual citizens or collectively to associations of citizens, institutions, self-government organizations, or the state itself, as one of the most important bases of social organization and legal order, and guarantees to all citizens, institutions, and associations, protection of their property, permitting only in cases provided by a statute the abolition or limitation of property, whether personal or collective, for reasons of higher utility, against compensation. Only a statute may determine to what extent property, for reasons of public utility, shall form the exclusive property of the state, and in how far rights of citizens and of their legally recognized associations to use freely land, waters, minerals, and other treasures of nature, may be subject to limitations for public reasons.
The land, as one of the most important factors of the existence of the nation and the state, may not be the subject of stricted transfer (commerce). Statutes will define the right of the state to buy up land against the will of the owners, and to regulate the transfer of land, applying the principle that the agrarian organization of the Republic of Poland should be based on agricultural units capable of regular production and forming private property.
Article 100.
The home and hearth of the citizen are inviolable. Infringements of this right by entering the home, searching it and taking papers or movables may, apart from the necessity of executing administrative orders based on a specific statutory authorization, take place only by order of judicial authorities, in the manner and in the cases prescribed by the protection statute.
Article 101.
Every citizen has the liberty of selecting on the territory of the state his place of residence and abode, to move about and to emigrate, as well as to choose his occupation and profession, and to transport his property.
These rights may be restricted only by.statute.
Article 102.
Labor is the main basis of the wealth of the Republic, and should remain under the special protection of the state.
Every citizen has the right to state protection for his labor, and in case of lack of work, illness, accident, or debility, to the benefits of social insurance which will be determined by a special statute.
The state has the duty of making accessible also moral guidance and religious consolation to citizens under its immediate care m public institutions, such as educational institutions, barracks, hospitals, prisons, and charitable homes.
Article 103.
Children without sufficient parental care, neglected with respect to education, have the right to state care and aid within the limits to be determined by statute.
Parents may not be deprived of authority over their children except by judicial decision.
Special statutes determine the protection of motherhood.
Children under fifteen years of age may not be wage-earners; neither may when be employed at night, or young laborers be employed in industries detrimental to their health.
Permanent employment of children and young people of school age for wage-earning purposes is forbidden.
Article 104 Every citizen has the right to express freely his ideas and convictions in so far as he does not thereby violate legal provisions.
Article 105.
Freedom of the press is guaranteed. Censorship, or the system of licensing printed matter, may not be introduced. Daily papers and other matter printed in the country may not be debarred from the mails, nor may their dissemmation on the territory of the Republic be restricted.
A special statute will define the responsibility for the abuse of this freedom.
Article 106.
The secrecy of letters and other correspondence may be infringed upon only in cases provided by law.
Article 107.
Citizens have the right of presenting individual or collective petitions to all state and self-government representative bodies and public authorities.
Article 108.
Citizens have the right of combining, meeting, and forming associations and unions.
The exercise of these rights is defined by statutes.
Article 109.
Every citizen has the right of preserving his nationality and developing his mother-tongue and national characteristics.
Special statutes of the state will guarantee to minorities in the Polish State the full and free development of their national characteristics, with the assistance of autonomous minority unions, endowed with the character of public law organizations, within the limits of unions of general self-government.
The state will have, in regard to their activity, the right of control and of supplementing their financial means in case of need.
Article 110.
Polish citizens belonging to national, religious, or linguistic minorities have the same right as other citizens of founding, supervising, and administering at their own expense, charitable, religious, and social institutions, ,schools and other educational institutions, and of using freely therein their language, and observing the rules of their religion.
Article 111.
Freedom of conscience and of religion is guaranteed to all citizens. No citizen may suffer a limitation of the rights enjoyed by other citizens, by reaason of his religion and religious convictions.
All inhabitants of the Polish State have the right of freely professing their religion in public as well as in private, and of performing the commands of their religion or rite, in so far as this is not contrary to public order or public morality.
Article 112.
Religious freedom may not be used in a way contrary to statutes. No one may evade the performance of public duties by reason of his religious beliefs. No one may be compelled to take part in religious activities or rites unless he is subject to parental or guardians' authority.
Article 113.
Every religious community recognized by the state has the right of organizing collective and public services; it may conduct independently its internal affairs; it may possess and acquire movable and immovable property, administer and dispose of it; it remains in possession and enjoyment of its endowments and funds, and of religious, educational, and charitable institutions. No religious community may, however, be in opposition to the statutes of the state.
Article 114.
The Roman Catholic religion, being the religion of the preponderant majority of the nation, occupies in the state the chief position among enfranchised religions. The Roman Catholic Church governs itself under its own laws. The relation of the state to the church will be determined on the basis of a agreement with the Apostolic See, which is subject to ratification by the Sejm.
Article 115.
The churches of the religious minorities and other legally organized religious communities govern themselves by their own laws, which the state may not refuse to recognize unless they contain rules contrary to law.
The relation of the state to such churches and religions will be determined from time to time by legislation after an understanding with their legal representatives.
Article 116.
The recognition of a new, or hitherto not legally recognized religion, may not be refused to religious communities whose institutions' teachings and organization are not contrary to public order or public morality.
Article 117.
Learned investigations and the publication of their results are free. Every citizen has the right to teach, to found a school or educational institution, and to direct it if he complies with the requirements hid down by statutes concerning the qualifications of teachers, the safety of the child entrusted to him, and a loyal attitude toward the state. All schools and educational institutions, public as well as private, are subject to supervision by state authorities within the limits prescribed by statutes.
Article 118.
Within the limits of the elementary school, instruction is compulsory for all citizens of the state. A statute will define the period, limits, and manner of acquiring such education.
Article 118.
Teaching in state and self-government Schools is gratuitous.
The state will insure to pupils who are exceptionally able, but not well-to-do, scholarships for their maintenance in secondary and academic schools.
Article 120.
Instruction in religion is compulsory for all pupils in every educational institution, the curriculum of which includes instruction of youth under eighteen years of age, if the institution is maintained wholly or in part by the state, or by self-government bodies. The direction and supervision of religious instruction in schools belongs to the respective religious communities, reserving to the state educational authorities the right of supreme supervision.
Article 121.
Every citizen has the right to compensation for damage inflicted upon him by civil or military organs of state authorities, by an official act not in accordance with the right or duties of the service. The state is responsible for the damage, jointly with the guilty organs; action may be brought against the state and against officials, independently of any permission by a public authority. Communes and other self-government bodies, as well as their organs, are responsible in the same manner.
Special statutes will define the application of this principle.
Article 122.
The rules as to citizens' rights apply also to persons belonging to the armed force. Special military statutes define exceptions to this principle.
Article 123.
Armed force may be used only by request of a civil authority under strict obedience to statutes, for the purpose of putting down disturbances; or of enforcing the execution of legal rules. Exceptions to this principle are admissible only by virtue of statutes on the state of siegeand of war.
Article 124.
A temporary suspension of citizen's rights; of personal liberty (Article 97), of inviolability of home and hearth (Article 100), of freedom of the press (Article 105), of secrecy of correspondence (Article 108), of the right of combining, meeting, and forming associations (Article 108), may take place for the whole territory of the state or for localities in which it may prove necessary for reasons of public safety.
Such suspension may be directed only by the Council of Ministers, by permission of the President of the Republic, during a war or when an outbreak of war threatens, as well as in case of internal disturbances or of widespread conspiracies which bear the character of high treason and threaten the constitution of the state or the safety of the citizens.
Such a decision of the Council of Ministers, if made while the Sejm is in session, must be immediately submitted to the Sejm for confirmation. If such a decision, to apply on a territory which comprises more than one Voyevodship be issued during a interval between meetings of the Sejm, the Sejm meets automatically within eight days from the publication of the decision in order to take the proper step.
Should the Sejm refuse confirmation, the state of siege immediately loses its binding force. If the Council of Misters directs a state of siege after the expiration of the term of the Sejm, or after dissolution of the Sejm, the decision of the Government must be submitted to the newly elected Sejm without delay, at its first meeting.
These principles will be defined more in detail by a statute on the state of siege.
A statute on the state of war will define the principles of a temporary suspension of the above enumerated rights of citizens in time of war on the territory affected by war operations.
Article 125.
A change in the constitution may be voted only in the presence at least of one-half the statutory number of Deputies or Senators respectively, by a majority of two-thirds of the votes.
The motion to change the constitution must be signed by at least one-fourth of the total statutory number of Deputies and notice of such a motion must be given at least fifteen days in advace.
The second Sejm, which will meet on the basis of this constitution, may revise this constitutional law by its own vote, taken by a majority of three-fifths, in the presence of at least one-half the statutory number of Deputies.
Every twenty-five years after the adoption of the present constitution, revision shall take place following the decision of the Sejmand the Senate, united in a National Assembly and voting by a majority.
Article 126.
This constitution has binding force from the day of its publication, or in so far as the realization of its individual provisions is dependent on the issuing of special statutes on the day of their going into force.
All legal rules and institutions now in force, which do not agree with the rules of this constitution, will, within a year from the voting of this constitution, be submitted to the legislative body in order to be brought into harmony with the constitution by legislation.
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