The Constitution of the Republic of Poland and the process of applying the Convention on Human Rights

Abstract

The Convention on Human Rights was ratified in 1993. A very strict approach to the possibility of involving international agreements in the process of applying law was changing. At first this resulted in a prudent attitude towards the Convention as a possible normative basis of a decision. The situation considerably changed in 1997 when the Polish Constitution came into force. According to the Constitution the Convention is applied directly. Share of the Convention in the process of applying law has been increasing since 1997. The Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal and the Head Administrative Court give priority to the Convention and don't apply rules, which are incompatible with it. The significance of the Convention can be easily noticed in the consecutive stages of process of applying law. The practice shows that it becomes a normative basis as a result of conflicting or non-conflicting way of establishing a normative basis.