The Senate and the Council of Ministers – a Systemic Framework and Parliamentary Practice

Abstract

The presented scientific research article covers the legal scope and legal basis for the Polish Senate to carry out activities whose characteristics may indicate that they are identical to activities that, in a typical situation, serve to perform a controlling function. In the Polish political system, it is the Sejm which exercises the controlling function over the activities of the Council of Ministers. However, both the statutory provisions and the Rules of Procedure of the Senate form the legal basis for the Senate, its bodies and senators to perform a whole range of activities showing significant similarity, and in some cases essentially identical with the activities carried out by the Sejm, its bodies and members (deputies) as part of their controlling activity. So far, research on this issue has been conducted primarily in order to look for answers to the question about the legal classification of the provisions on which the various activities of the upper house of the Parliament are based. Presenting the most important views to date allows the author to deepen the analysis seeking the source of the Senate’s competences in its representative character. It is particularly important to consider this aspect in the current situation where the political groupings that make up the minority in the Sejm constitute the majority in the Senate. In addition, the specific form of political decision-making centres (outside the Parliament) significantly restricts the controlling function by the Sejm or even makes the performance of this function illusory. This circumstance, crucial in the context of the functioning of the entire political system of the state, makes it particularly important to verify the admissibility and legal nature of para-controlling activities undertaken by the Senate. In the adopted research perspective, the Parliament, which is an emanation of the Nation, should not be deprived of the insight and the possibility to address, through its members, the activities within the responsibility of the Council of Ministers. The adoption of such a perspective, in view of the adopted hypothesis of at least limited effectiveness in the performance of the controlling function by the Sejm, in turn requires verification of the effectiveness of the tools used by the Senate, its bodies and senators. The conclusions to be formulated should be valid not only for the state of scientific reflection, but also for parliamentary practice, which in this regard continues to develop appropriate tools falling within the constitutional framework.