Obywatelska inicjatywa uchwałodawcza w Polsce w świetle prawa – wybrane zagadnienia

Abstract

The civic legislative initiative can be defined as the right of the citizens of local communities to submit a draft of a law. This instrument of direct democracy is envisaged neither by the Constitution of Poland, nor by the laws that regulate the operations of municipalities, districts and provinces. The procedure of civic legislative initiative, however, is provided for in the statutes of local government units, which has resulted in negative assessments by some administrative courts. The analysis conducted here indicates that the civic legislative initiative is allowed within the framework of current legislation. This standpoint was expressed in the 2013 decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, among other things. It seems that the best solution would be to provide for the civic legislative initiative in an act of law (as proposed in the presidential draft of a law on cooperation in local governments to facilitate local and regional development). Adopting this solution would eliminate any legal concerns on the one hand, and create an opportunity to make civic legislative initiatives more popular on the other. It should be borne in mind that active civic participation in political life is of the utmost significance for the proper functioning of a democratic state. Therefore, a de lege ferenda postulate can be brought forward to ensure that legal regulations allow citizens to implement civic legislative initiatives to the greatest extent possible.