Constitutional Challenges in Emergency Governance: An Analysis of Poland’s Reluctance and Regulatory Ambiguities in States of Emergency
Journal Article: Constitutional Challenges in Emergency Governance: An Analysis of Poland’s Reluctance and Regulatory Ambiguities in States of Emergency
Journal: European Journal of Risk Regulation - Special Issue on Constitutional Risk Management in the V4 Countries, Edited by Zoltán Szente & Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz
Date of Publication: February 3, 2025
Author: Monika Florczak-Wątor, Professor at the Department of Constitutional Law, Jagiellonian University, Constitutional Law Department, Krakow, Poland
How to Cite: Florczak-Wątor, M. Constitutional Challenges in Emergency Governance: An Analysis of Poland’s Reluctance and Regulatory Ambiguities in States of Emergency. European Journal of Risk Regulation. 2025;16(2): 433-445. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/err.2024.104
Abstract: This article analyses the constitutional framework regulating states of emergency in Poland and addresses key issues related to their interpretation and implementation. The first part discusses the conditions for declaring martial law, a state of an extraordinary situation, and a state of natural disaster, as well as the specific rules for the operation of public authorities in such emergencies. The next part analyses the practice, revealing the consistent reluctance of Polish authorities to invoke states of emergency, even in circumstances that seem to justify such measures. Consequently, a state of emergency under the 1997 Constitution was declared in Poland only once – in 2021, in response to a migration crisis on the border with Belarus. No constitutional emergency was declared during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the introduction of far-reaching restrictions on individual rights and freedoms. The article argues that state authorities can abuse emergency regulations, either through their unjustified application or by deliberately circumventing them.
The article can be found here, and in PDF form here.
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