Introduction to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland by Bogumił Szmulik and Jarosław Szymanek is a cohesive and no-nonsense overview serving as an unassuming and reader-friendly compendium of the current Polish Constitution. With each chapter, the authors gradually introduce readers to the world of legal and political constitutional complexities. Without overloading readers with information, they conduct a comprehensible if accessible narration as well as providing intelligible but nuanced and critical accounts of difficult and controversial matters.
Despite its modest title, their work is much more than a simple introduction to the Polish Constitution. Readers will find here not only an approachable analysis of the contents of the 1997 Constitution but will also become familiar with the practice of its implementation as well as with the trajectories of related debates and proposals for future changes. Such a comprehensive approach on the part of the authors makes the book suitable not only for constitutional lawyers, i.e., professionals, but for a much wider group of general readers, both at home and abroad. After all, each of us – regardless of our type of education or scope of interests – ought to be conversant with the constitution of our country. As regards international readers, the English translation of the book may well be the only wide-ranging publication available presenting the Polish fundamental statute.
Prof. dr hab. Genowefa Grabowska
Authored by Bogumił Szmulik and Jarosław Szymanek, the monograph is an invaluable and fascinating example of a scholarly publication. The book specifies and explains the solutions – often very general and challenging in terms of interpretation – adopted by the legislators in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
The mode of disquisition is informed by didacticism and systematism, making the publication exceptionally valuable, given the wide range of readers currently interested in constitutional matters. Concise and simultaneously packed with information, Introduction to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland is also likely to constitute an important point of reference while solving theoretical and practical dilemmas connected with the Polish fundamental statute.
dr hab. Paweł Sobczyk, prof. UO
