The Iurisprudence of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal Concerning the Mode of Passing Tax Laws

Abstract

The paper is dealing with the problems which in the domain of the levy law are most often the object of the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Tribunal. Deciding in this sphere, the Constitutional tribunal would refer to the classical tax rules formulated already by A. Smith. In particular, he would stress the nonretroactive principle, the necessity to use an appropriate vacatio legis, and to impose a ban on making any changes in the tax rules during the tax year. In the context of some selected cases within the levy law, entertained by the Constitutional Tribunal, the author raises the problem of the protection of citizens' confidence in the state and the functioning of all organs of the state on the basis of the law. Poland has accepted a legal solution which gives the Constitutional Tribunal no right to issue awards, yet despite that one may notice certain positive influence of its jurisprudence on the way in which tax laws are passed.