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200 Wlodzinóm Nykiel. Ziemowit Kukuhki

Among citizcn'* obligations the one to compty with public duties, including payments of taxes, as specificd by a statuę is of fundamenta! importancc. The Constitution introduocs in Art. 84 the principle of nullum tńhulum sine lege - which mcans that only tcgisiaiive power has the authority to imposc taxcs and other public dutics. This rule i* a safeguard of statutory charactcr of tax and has a great influence on the process of interpretation of tax law. The rule contained in Art. 84 is further elaborated in Art. 217, which is located in the chapter on Public financcs. It stipulatcs two eon-ditions for the imposition of taxcs the condition regarding the form - tu law (statute) and the condition regarding the substancc of a las law, According to the laitcr, the cicmcnts of the construction of a tax such u the spccification of those subjcct to tax, objcct of tax and rates, as woli u principlcs for granung tax relief and exemptions along with categories of cxcmptcd taxpaycrs, must be by spccificd by statuę.

The Constitution contains the whole chapter entitlcd "Courts and Tribu-nals". According to article 10, the system of governmcnt in Poland is based on the separation of and balancc between the legislative, executivc and judidal po wers. Lcgislutive power is vested in the Sejm and tbc Senat e, cxccutivc power is vested in the President of the Republic of Poland and the CounciI of Ministers, and the judidal power is vestcd in courts and tribunals. Courts and tribunals constitute a separatc power and are independent of other branchcs of power. As a rule, courts implcmcnt the admimstration of justicc conocming all individual cases (Art. 175 sec. 1 of the Constitution). The Constitution States that juridical power is implemcntcd by the Supremę Court, the cocnmon courts, administrativc courts and military courts. Separatc segment of jundical power consists of Constitutional Tribunal and Tribunal of State.

Admmistrativc courts perform to the cxtcnt spccificd by a statute, control over the performance of public, induding fiscal, administration. Such control is extended also to judgments on conformity of rcgulations issucd by organs of local goverament and normativc acts issucd by tcrritorial organs of governmcnt administration. with statutes. Moreovcr, administrative courts arbitrate also litigation of competence between umts of self-govcrning local gosernment and *df-govcming revocatory bodics (samorządowe kolegia odwoławcze) and between those organs and organs of local govcrnment administration.

The two stages of administrative court proceduro wcrc introduced in Poland by the Law on the Organization of Administrative Courts of 25th of July 2002 (J. of L. 2002, No. 153. ilcm 1269). According to this statute the system of adminisirativc courts consists of Supremę Administratise Court and voivodship administratise courts (wojewódzkie sądy administracyjne). Voivodship administratise courts as courts of the I" instancc - implcmcnt the administration of justicc conccming all matters rescrvcd statutorily to thcsc courts, cspccially litigations between taxpayers and tax authoritics. The Supranc Administrative Court supervises the activity and judgments of voivodxhip adminislrativc courts and is competent as the court of 2? instance to hear appeals against decisions of thcsc courts, adopU rcsolutions inter-preting legał qucstions and performs other activities spccificd in other statut es

The Constitutional Tribunal is an independent constitulionaliy rccognizcd Sute organ. According to Art. 188 of the Constitution, The Constitutional Tribunal is competent in the following matters:

1.    the compatibility of statutes and international agreements with the Constitution;

2.    the compatibility of a statute with ratificd international agreements whose ratilication rcquircd prior consent grantod in the form of a statute;

3.    the compatibility of legał provisions issucd by central State organs with the Constitution, ratificd International agreements and statutes;

4.    the compatibility with the Constitution of the purposes or activitics of political partics;

5.    complaints conccrning infringements of the Constitution.

The most important arca of the Constitutional TribunaTs activity is the control of conformity of sUtutes, ratificd international agreements and rulings issucd by central State organs with the Constitution. This control is nade in two stages: bcforc a legał act enters into force (preliminary control) and after a legał act enters into force (a posteriori, ex post control).

The preliminary control of norms is performed during the proocss of cnacuncnt (during the proccss of ratification of International agree-ir.cnts). The Constitution givcs the right to approach the Tribunal only to the President of the Rcpublic and restriet this right only to statutes alrcady adopted by the Parliamcnt and submittod to the President for signature, as well as to International agreements submitted to the President for ratification.

Every statute ratificd by the Parliamcnt is presented to the President of the Kepubhc of Poland. who may refer the bill bacie to the Parliamcnt for its reconsideration wilhin 21 days (or within 7 days if the bill is bcing ratificd under the urgent procedurę). Such a presidcntial vcto may be rcjcctcd by the Parliamcnt via a 3/5 majority. The President may also turn to the Constitutional Tribunal allcging that the bill docs not comply with the Constitution. U is possiblc to challenge the constitutionality of the entire statute or individual provisions therdn.

Judgements of the Constitutional Tribunal are finał and of umversa!!y binding appliCalion If the Tribunal holds that a statute is in conformity with the Constitution, the President has to sign it. If the Tribunal holds