Cisza legislacyjna — zasada prawa wyborczego w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej
The Principle of Stability of Electoral Law in the Republic of Poland

Summary/Abstract: According to the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, adopted by the Venice Commission, the fundamental elements of electoral law should be closed to amendment less than one year before an election or be written in the constitution or at a level higher than ordinary law. Unfortunately the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and Electoral Code do not protect the stability of the law to a sufficient extent. Lack of restrictions caused in recent years the state of the affairs, where the electoral law have been frequently modified just before the elections, mainly because of the particular interests of ruling party. However, in 2006 the Constitutional Tribunal referred positively to the suggestions of the Venice Commission and introduce to the legal system the principle of stability of electoral law, related to democratic rule of law. From this moment the essential elements of the electoral law must be adopted at least six months before the next election, understood not only as the act of voting, but as a whole the activities covered by the electoral calendar. This article tries to answer the question: how we should understood the term “fundamental elements of the electoral law” and how to calculate the six months period, during which any change of electoral law are prohibit. It will be taken into consideration also critical comments and questions that have emerged during the adjudicate the conformity of statutes by the judges of the Constitutional Tribunal.

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