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202 WtottlMkn Nykiel. A*mowu Kukulski

that a statulc is not in conformity with thc Constitution, thcn thc President cannot sign such a statutc. A statutc which was found by thc Constitutional Tribunal not to be in conformity with thc Constitution cannot becorae cffcctivc.

The a posteriori control of conformity of laws with the Constitution can bc performed at scveral lcvcłs. The First leve! conccrns the control of conformity of norms with thc supremę law among thc sources of law in Poland i.e. Constitution. Furthcr lcvel conccrns the conformity of norms with ratified international ugreements, thc following one - conformity of rcgulations issucd by organs of thc State with statutes.

The right of initiating procccdings after a statutc enters into foroe is vcstcd in a fuirly widc group of entitics. Ncarly all constitutionally recognizcd State organs havc this right: thc Prcsidcnl, thc Marshall of thc Parliament and thc Sennie, the Prane Minister, thc First President of thc Supremę Court, the President of thc Supreme Administrative Court, thc Prosccutor (jenerał (this function is performed by the Minister of Justice), thc President of thc Supreme Chamber of Conuol and the Ombudsman. The right of irutialive is also vested in a group of 50 deputies in the Parliament or 30 senator*, which givcs Parlia-mentary opposition access to thc Tribunal (Art. 191 sec. 1 sub-scc. 1 of the Constitution). In tax matters thc organ which very often initiates thc procedurę of reviewing thc conformity of tax rcgulations with the Constitution is Ombudsman. All organs mentioncd abovc can challenge thc conformity with the Constitution of all the normalivc acts, irre-spcctivc of whether such acts conccrn thc scopc of thc applicant'* ac-tivity or not.

Another form of protection of fundamental rights and freedoms i* providcd through thc so-called “qucstions of law” addrcssed to tbc Cons-titutional Tnbual by thc courts. Any court may refer a ąuestion of law to the Constitutional Tribunal as to thc conformity of a normative act with the Constitution, ratified international agrcement or statute, if thc answer to this qucstion determines an issuc currently pending before such court (Art. 193 of the Constitution). The right to submit a qucstion of law ń yested in all courts: courts of first instancc, courts of appeal. univcrsai courts, mili tary courts. administrativc courts, and the Supreme Court.

Common constitutional compiaml to the Constitutional Tribunal u another form of protection of fundamenta! rights and freedoms. This complaint can bc based only on unconstitutionality of an act of law on the basis of which a jud gemem has becn issucd which infringes constitutional freedoms or rights of the plaintiff and against which thcrc is no appeal (Art. 79 of thc Constitution). For morc about constitutional complaint - sec scction 3 of the present paper.

Another important muc is the question of the efTects of the Tribunal'* judgments. According to Art. 190 sec. 1 of thc Constitution judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal are of univer*ally binding Application and arc finał. Ihe judgments of all dccisions conccrning thc revicw of norms arc tubjcct to immediatc publicalion in thc olTicial joumal in which thc said »cts werc published. The decision comes into force on thc datc of pub-Ucation, i.e. thc normalivc act forfeits its binding forcc thcrcupon. The decision on non-oonformity thcrcforc has an erga omnes cflcct by abolishing the normative act; this also mcans that thc normativc act - albeit defective - is nevertheless in foroc until publication.

II

The catalogue of sourccs of univcrsally binding law in Poland is cxhaustive. According to Art. 87 sec. I of thc Constitution, the sources consi&t of: thc Constitution. statutc*. ratified international agreements and rcgulations. Acts of Jocal ław issued by local organs and binding within the territory of thdr compctcncc arc also a sourue of law. The right of legislativc initiativc bcłongs to a group of dcputics, to the Senatc, to thc President of thc Rcpublic, to the Council of Minister* and a group of al lcast 100.000 ćtizens having the right to votc in clcctions to thc Parliament. The Council of Ministcrs (the govern-‘ ment) is the body which uses thc most its lcgis!ative initiative in tax matters.

According to the Constitution nobody besides lcgislative power is cntitlod to imposc taxes.

Organs of exccutivc power (thc Govcmmcnt, the Prime Minister, mini-iters) are entitled to issue rcgulations on the basis of spccific authorization contamed in, and for thc purposc of implementation of, statutc*. For such

I rcgulations to bc in conformity with thc Constitution, a tax statutc must spccify the organ compctcnt to issue a rcgulation, the scopc of matters to bc reguluted as well as thc guidclmcs conccrning thc provisions of such an act. An organ authori7ed to issue a rcgulation cannot delegate its competence to another organ. Rcgulations issued in tax matters cannot modify the uatutes, in particular. they cannot extend tax obligation on objeets or lubjects, which or who are not taxed according to thc statutc.

The Constitution regulatcs also the question of taaing power of seif-govcmmcnt unit* of local community. According to thc Constitution, Poland is a unitary statc. The tcrritorial system of thc Rcpublic of Poland is bascd on thc dcccntralization of public power and cxistcncc of self-govcrning communilics. The taxing power granted to sclf-govcrning communities is vcry rcstrictcd. According to Art. 168 of thc Constitution. sdf-govcraing