100 years ago, the Parliament passed the Constitution of the Republic of Poland

On 17 March 1921, before 17:00 hrs, the Parliament passed the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The constitution was an expression of a compromise. Before its enactment, various visions of the Polish legal system had clashed, but as for the separation of powers, and - above all - the constitutionally independent judiciary, everyone had been in agreement.

The Constitution provided that judges are independent in the exercise of their judicial office and are subjected only to acts and statutes. The basic guarantee of their independence, originally developed in the English system and quite commonly accepted in the 19th and 20th centuries, is the principle of the irremovability of judges. This is confirmed by modern constitutions and standards.

When observing the reality, however, one may sometimes get the impression that in disputes, even if they become initiated with right intentions, we forget that we can breach the very foundation of the system, and when this happens, no building, even of the most perfect shape and equipment, will survive.