Bureau of Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland Information

The Constitutional Tribunal is an independent constitutional organ of the State. The primary function of the Constitutional Tribunal is the control of hierarchical conformity of legal norms, i.e. adjudicating on the conformity of the legal norms of lower rank to those considered superior (especially the Constitution) and eliminating the norms inconsistent with the system of law in force. The exclusive point of reference for such adjudication is the law (Constitution). The Tribunal's decisions settle a dispute on the hierarchical conformity of the questioned provisions and they are passed under a judicial procedure. Due to the activity which the constitutional courts - including Polish Constitutional Tribunal - undertake, they are sometimes referred to as the "negative legislators", as they eliminate the provisions of unconstitutional statutes from the system of law.