Justice in the Polish Constitutional Discourse and Its Social Connotations

Abstract

The analysis of the use of the notion of justice in the Polish Constitution proves that in the course of historical development, the designated value was given various conceptual profiles. It was associated mostly with the law within the subjective (‘justified entitlement’) and objective scope (‘legitimacy’), with the judicial authorities (‘fair hearing’), and with the punishment (‘just decision’). Apart from juridical meaning, the notion of justice shall connote ‘equality’ or ‘equal treatment of all people’, including ‘equal justice under law’ or ‘objectivity of a judicial ruling’. Over time the justice gains social and political value which is reflected in the ideal of social justice meant as ‘the equality of all citizens and equal evaluation thereof’. The latter is highlighted in the Polish Constitution (of 1997) where justice is treated as the guiding moral and constitutional principle in the Republic of Poland. The significant profiles of names designating justice in the texts of the Constitution are confronted with the connotations appearing in the questionnaires filled up by the students of the universities in Białystok. In the eyes of young Poles, justice seems to be a human value which is important in their environment an shall be protected by the state.