Senate of Poland
The Senate is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe and existed without hiatus until the final partition of the Polish state in 1795. The contemporary Senate is composed of 100 senators elected by a universal ballot and is headed by the Marshal of the Senate. The incumbent Marshal of the Senate is Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska.
Following a brief period of existence under the Second Polish Republic, the Senate was again abolished by the authorities of the Polish People's Republic. It was not re-established until the collapse of the communist government and reinstatement of democracy in Poland in 1989. The Senate is based in Warsaw and is located in a building which forms part of the Sejm Complex on Wiejska Street, in close proximity to the Three Crosses Square and Ujazdów Castle.
Like most parliaments in the European Union, Poland's parliament is asymmetric, where the lower chamber is dominant over the upper chamber. Unlike the Sejm, the Senate cannot unilaterally veto legislation nor can it bring down the government in a vote of no confidence, and the chamber and its members generally receive far less attention compared to the Sejm.
Role
In line with Article 10, Paragraph 2, and Article 95 of the Polish Constitution of 2 April 1997, the Senate and the Sejm exercise legislative power. The Senate is composed of 100 senators who are elected for a term of four years in general election in a direct vote by secret ballot. Alongside the Sejm, the President of the Polish Republic, the Council of Ministers and all citizens of Poland, the Senate has the right to take legislative initiatives.If it is necessary for the Sejm and Senate to convene jointly as a general session of the National Assembly, this joint session will be chaired by the Marshal of the Sejm or by the Marshal of the Senate. The Senate is allowed 30 days to examine any piece of draft legislation passed by the Sejm, 14 days if a bill is considered to be urgent. Any bill submitted by the Sejm to the Senate may be adopted by the latter without any amendments or amended or rejected. Any resolution of the Senate, as a result of which a bill is repealed or amended, is considered to be passed provided it has not been rejected by the Sejm.
However, for the state budget, the Senate has 20 days to examine it. For amending the constitution, the Senate has 60 days for analysis. If the constitution is amended, identical wording of the amendment must be approved by both the Sejm and the Senate.
The president cannot decide to stage a nationwide referendum on matters of national importance except with explicit permission from the Senate. The Senate is also empowered to examine any reports submitted by the Commissioner for the Protection of Citizens' Rights and the National Broadcasting Council. Other than its significant involvement in the legislative process, the Senate is required to grant its consent in the case of appointment or removal of the President of the Supreme Chamber of Control, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, the Commissioner for Protection of Citizens' Rights and the Ombudsman for Children and the General Inspector for Personal Data Protection.
However, unlike the Sejm, the Senate has no role in providing for oversight of the executive. The Senate currently appoints one member of the National Broadcasting Council, two members of the Council of the Institute of National Remembrance, two of its own senators to sit on the National Judiciary Board and three members of the Monetary Policy Council of the National Bank. The Marshal of the Senate and any 30 senators may also request the Constitutional Tribunal to examine any act of domestic legislation or international agreement to check that it complies with the constitution, ratified international agreements, and other legislation.
Since the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon, the Senate also has the right to report issues about option and implementation of European legislation in Poland to the central authorities of the European Union.
History
Kingdom and Commonwealth
The Senate can be traced back approximately five hundred years to a council of royal advisors. In the Nobles' Democracy, the Senate was a privy council rather than an upper chamber of the Sejm, and consisted of members of the royal cabinet and the royal court, together with burgraves, voivodes, prefects and castellans, and Catholic bishops. It was not until 1453 that the first mention was made of a two chamber legislative body in which the 'lords' of the kingdom were represented in a 'council of lords', however, by 1493 the Sejm, made up of the king, Senate and Chamber of Deputies was finally established as a permanent legislative body for the Polish kingdom.In 1501 at Mielnik, senators attempted to force the soon to be crowned king Alexander I Jagiellon to devolve all royal powers relating to the governing of the state to them. However, whilst Alexander first agreed, after his coronation he refused to affirm this privilege. Later the Nihil Novi act of 1505 affirmed the right of both the Chamber of Deputies and Senate to propagate common law for the kingdom. In 1529 the Senate finally reached a decision on its own composition; after the accession of Mazovia to the Kingdom of Poland, the Senate became composed of Roman Catholic diocesan bishops, voivodes, lesser and greater castellans, ministers, all of whom were appointed for life by the king. At this time the competences of the Senate were also laid down as pertaining to participation in legislation, foreign policy and the Sejm Court.
In 1537 the Senate followed a course of action which would have seen it become the most important institution in protecting landowners’ rights and freedoms. However, this view was at odds with those of Sigismund I the Old who believed that the Senate was becoming far too powerful. Resultantly, over the period of 1562–69, the Senate lost many of its powers and influence, eventually becoming subordinate to its formerly-equal companion body, the Chamber of Deputies. In 1569 a very important milestone was achieved when the Union of Lublin was signed and senators of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were incorporated into the Royal Senate of Poland in order to form the Senate of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In addition to this, senators from the autonomous Duchy of Prussia, a fiefdom of the Polish king, were incorporated after having been absent since gaining autonomy in 1466. After these developments the Senate was composed of 142 senators: 15 bishops, 35 provincial governors, 31 greater castellans, 47 lesser castellans and 14 ministers.
File:Kazimierz Wojniakowski, Uchwalenie Konstytucji 3 Maja.jpg|thumb|left|In 1791 the Great Sejm adopts the May 3 Constitution at the Royal Castle in Warsaw
This old senate did not include the separate post of the Senate Marshal. The Senate's sessions were presided over by the king, who was represented in person by the 'grand royal marshal', a figure who could ultimately be described as prime minister of the kingdom. It was this marshal who, on behalf of the king, presided over joint sessions of the Sejm. Should the grand royal marshal by absent, sessions were presided over by the court's crown marshal. Both of these two marshals sat in the Senate and, like other senators, enjoyed a lifelong appointment by the king.
The most important senator or 'president of the senate' was, at the time, the archbishop of Gniezno, who was the honorific 'First Prince of the Kingdom', regarded as a vicegerent second only to the king. The archbishop presided over sessions of the Senate during periods of the king's absence. The primate even had the right to convene 'secret' councils with the Senate without the king's permission and, should the need arise, even against his will. During periods of interregnum the primate immediately became the interrex, and thus could convene the Sejm at will.
In 1573 the Senate received new rights under the Henrician Articles; these allowed the Senate to reprimand the king and instructed that the monarch must always be accompanied by an advisory body of at least four senators. The Senate also ruled that the king must not arbitrarily propagate new laws and that he must first consult with the Senate before entering into marriage or agreeing to inter-state alliances. Under King Sigismund III of Poland and later his son, King Władysław IV, the Senate grew in importance and kings began to rule with the help of an advisory body in which they placed most of their trust. This body was colloquially known as the 'Little Senate' and was made up of a number of highly trusted senators loyal to the king.
In 1631 and 1632 the Senate first used its right to veto constitutional acts adopted by the Chamber of Deputies. This marks the first phase of the Senate's demise as powerful nobles begin to exercise their power in the legislature. By 1669 the situation had become so bad that landowners took to the streets and, angered by the magnates machinations during the earlier royal election of Michael I, shot at passing senators. By 1717 the king was obliged to implement recommendations given by the senators-resident and by 1773 the cardinal laws pertaining to the 'power of legislating for the Republic in three estates' had been passed and the Senate had begun to hold joint debates with the Chamber of Deputies as a single 'united' Sejm. As a result, in 1775, the senators-resident or 'Little Senate' were abolished and were replaced with a 'Permanent Council' of senators and deputies headed by the king.
In 1791 a particularly important development took place when the May 3rd Constitution removed the king from the three estate Sejm and transformed the previously equal Chamber of Deputies and Senate into a modern parliament comprising a lower house and upper house. The Senate, however, lost much of its right to legislate and, whilst still appointed by the king, senators were now to be chosen and put forward by provincial legislative bodies known as Sejmiks.
The Senate continued to exist until 1794, right up until the Kościuszko Uprising. In 1795 the third partition of Poland took place, thus ending the first chapter of the Senate's history.