- Polish Constitution of 1935
The April Constitution of
Poland ( _pl. Ustawa konstytucyjna 23 IV 1935 or "Konstytucja kwietniowa") was the general law passed by the act of the PolishSejm onApril 23 ,1935 . It introduced in Poland apresidential system with certain elements ofauthoritarianism .It was accepted in violation of the earlier
March Constitution of1921 and the Rules of the Parliament [http://www.konstytucje.pl/pub/t019.htm] , and as such it was questioned by most of the opposition to the rule ofSanacja .It is commonly believed that the constitution was tailored after the comments by
Józef Piłsudski , who was thought of as the future president of Poland. However, Piłsudski died soon after the constitution was passed and the office was held byIgnacy Mościcki .The act introduced the idea that the state is a
common good of all the citizens. It also limited the powers of the Sejm and Senat while strengthening the authority of thePresident of Poland . The President was responsible for choosing the members of thegovernment , which in turn was responsible to the parliament. He also had a right to dismiss the parliament before the end of term, to name one third of the Senators, thecommander-in-chief of thePolish Army and the General Inspector of the Armed Forces. He also had a right to issuedecree s andveto the acts passed by the Sejm non-constructively.Among the most notable features of the new constitution was the president's right to name his successor in case of war. This was used as the legal base for the existence of the
Polish Government in Exile during and after theWorld War II . The constitution was officially abolished in1944 by the Soviet-backed communist authorities of Poland, who officially returned to the March Constitution, while introducing many laws based on the stalinist system.References
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External links
* [http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~wroblew/html/konst/pl/Konstytucja%20kwietniowa%201935%20-%20tekst%20wlasny.doc Full text of April Constitution] at the
Adam Mickiewicz University website
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