Introduction

• Author: Bojarski, Lukasz
• Pages: 13-13

13

INTRODUCTION

The national legal system

Legislative power in Poland is centralised. The basic law is the 1997 Constitution. Other

sources of universally binding law include acts/statutes of Parliament (ustawy); ratified

international agreements that become part of domestic law after ratification;22 and

ordinances/regulations (rozporzdzenia) issued bya Minister or by the Council of

Ministers. Legislative power is exercised jointly by the House of Deputies, known as the

Sejm, and the Senate, which are the two houses of Parliament. In order for a piece of

legislation to be adopted, both houses must consent and the President – who is

empowered to employ the right of veto (which may be rejected in Parliament) – must

sign it. The act must then be promulgated in the Journal of Laws.

List of main legislation transposing and implementing the directives

Act on the Implementation of Certain Provisions of the European Union in the Field of

Equal Treatment23

Date of adoption: 3 December 2010

Protected grounds: gender, race, ethnic origin, nationality, citizenship,24religion, belief,

political opinion, disability, age and sexual orientation

Material scope: full scope as covered by Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC:

employment (all grounds), selected grounds protected in access to goods and services

(including housing), social protection, social advantages, education

Act on the Labour Code25 (implementation amendment)

Date of adoption: 14 November 2003

Protected grounds: gender, age, disability, race, religion, nationality, political opinion,

membership of a trade union, ethnic origin, belief, sexual orientation, employment for a

definite or indefinite period of time, employment part-time or full-time; the list remains

open

Material scope: Employment

Act on the Commissioner for Human Rights26 (implementation amendment)

Date of adoption: 3 December 2010

Protected grounds: no grounds mentioned

Material scope: full scope (but between natural persons and the state/public institutions,

not between private parties)

22 For instance, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), after ratification

(September 2012) and publication in the Journal of Laws (October 2012), became part of binding domestic

law.

23 Equal Treatment Act, 3 December 2010.

24 Protection is limited to certain categories of persons, and discrimination on the grounds of citizenship as

such is not prohibited in the ETA; see more in Section 2.1.

25 Labour Code, 26 June 1974.

26 Act on the Commissioner for Human Rights, 15 July 1987.