State and Law in the Thinking of Sylwester Zawadzki (1921–1999). A Few Reflections in Connection with the Establishment of the Supreme Administrative Court in 1980

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion of selected issues related to the state and law in the thinking of Sylwester Zawadzki (1921–1999) a lawyer and state activist of the People’s Republic of Poland. The text includes reflections on the sources of his worldview and the course of his academic and professional career, and, most importantly, on the content of selected research and observations, of which this co-founder of the Supreme Administrative Court was the main contributor. The purposes of this paper include showing the sources of S. Zawadzki’s intellectual, scientific, and political inspirations that may have influenced and determined his commitment to the establishment of the administrative court system in the People’s Republic of Poland at the end of 1979 and beginning of 1980. There is no doubt that S. Zawadzki then played one of the key roles in the process of establishing this judicial institution in the political system of the People’s Republic of Poland. By virtue of his position and connections in the Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP), he played perhaps the decisive role that helped break the resistance of some groups in the government, led by Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz. In this regard, the paper also aims to recall the achievements of this lawyer and provide materials for further research on the biography of S. Zawadzki, as well as his teachers and colleagues. The paper is based on S. Zawadzki’s memoirs, his scholarly and journalistic publications, the publications of his teachers and colleagues, as well as selected archival materials (including those from the Archives of New Records and the Archives of the University of Warsaw).