Environmental Rule of Law and Article 2 of the 1997 Polish Constitution

Abstract

The ongoing sustainable development transformation of socio-economic life in a contemporary state inevitably impacts its legal system. The concept of ‘environmental rule of law’ proposes a model regulatory approach based on the assumption that the rule of law is a prerequisite for effective enforcement of environmental protection in a democratic country. Presently, one of the main challenges in that regard is the problem of public authorities lacking efficiency in enforcing environmental law. For this reason, a critical assessment of Art. 2 of the Polish Constitution is required in order to establish the extent to which the recognition of the concept has already taken place in the Polish legal system and to form recommendations on the necessary research into the rule of law conducted from the joint perspective of constitutional and environmental law in the context of international obligations of the Polish State.