Slajd 1

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Polish Systemof Public Administration
dr. hab. Jerzy SupernatInstitute of
administrative StudiesUniversity of Wroclaw
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Polish System of Public Administration
central administration
territorial administration territorial self-government territorial governmental administration
dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration

• Polish territorial administration is dualist in
  the sense of co-existence of
• territorial self-government
• territorial governmental administration
  (administration controlled by the central
  government)
• Territorial governmental administration is
  divided into
• general, belonging to voivods (appointed by the
  Prime Minister)
• unified, composed of authorities and entities
  subordinate to the voivod (e.g. voivodship
  headquarters of police, the board of educa-tion,
  and voivodship inspectorate of building
  supervision)
• non-unified, involving authorities and entities
  that are not subordi-nate to the voivod, being
  subject to ministers and/or heads of central
  offices (e.g. military authorities, tax
  authorities, and road transport inspectorates)
• In Poland dualism in the strict sense of
  co-existence of territorial self-govern-ment and
  territorial governmental administration is
  represented only at the level of voivodship.

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration

• Essentially made for the purpose of territorial
  self-government, the basic administrative
  division of Poland is made into
• municipalities, being basic units of local
  self-government
• districts as supra-municipality level of local
  self-government
• voivodships as units of regional self-government
• In each unit of territorial (local and regional)
  self-government there is
• a council elected directly by the members of a
  given self-govern-ment community
• an executive authority
• single executive authority elected directly in
  municipalities the municipality administrative
  officer (wójt) in rural municipalities, a mayor
  of the town (burmistrz) in smaller towns, and a
  town pre-sident (prezydent) in bigger towns
• a board (zarzad) in districts and voivodships,
  elected by the council, chaired by a district
  head (starosta) and a marshall (mar-szalek
  województwa) respectively

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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State administration
Polish System of Public Administration

• Governmental
• state administration
• the Council of Ministers
• the Prime Minister
• ministers
• central offices
• territorial governmental administration

• Non-governmental
• state administration
• the President of the Re-public of Poland
• the National Council of Radio Broadcasting and
  Television
• the Supreme Chamber of Control

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration
dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration

• The Council of Ministers
• In common parlance it is often referred to as the
  government. How-ever the Constitution does not
  equate the Council of Ministers with the
  government. Consequently, one can speak about
• the government in a narrow sense the Council
  of Ministers
• the government in a broad sense an
  organizationally complex mechanism, a working
  system established to
• govern the country in a political sense
• determine the policy of the state
• prepare principles for the implementation of
  this policy
• create overall conditions for the execution of
  tasks delineated within this policy
• direct the implementation processes in various
  areas of the administration and economy

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration

• The Prime Minister / The President of the Council
  of Ministers / Premier
• presides over the Council of Ministers
• is a monocratic and independent organ of state
  admini-stration, equipped with unique duties and
  powers

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration

• Art. 148 of the Constitution
• The Prime Minister shall
• represent the Council of Ministers,
• manage the work of the Council of Ministers,
• issue regulations,
• ensure the implementation of the policies adopted
  by the Council of Ministers and specify the
  manner of their im-plementation,
• coordinate and control the work of members of the
  Council of Ministers,
• exercise, within the limits and by the means
  specified in the Constitution and statute,
  supervision of territorial self-government,
• be the official superior of employees of
  government admini-stration.

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration

• Ministers
• The constitution (art. 149) distinguishes two
  categories of ministers
• departmental ministers
• ministers without portfolio
• Departmental ministers manage specific
  departments. The departments for which they are
  responsible are listed in the Governmental
  Administration Act 1997 that divides the entire
  field of administration into 32 departments and
  outlines the principal subject matters covered by
  each of them.
• The Prime Minister, when determining the tasks of
  the governmental admini-stration and planning the
  composition of the Council, must decide which
  de-partment or departments should be within the
  scope of responsibility of parti-cular ministers.
  The duties and prerogatives of departmental
  ministers are prescribed in parliamentary
  statutes and subordinate legislation. These are
  their own duties and prerogatives, which means
  that ministers, in addition to being members of
  the Council, simultaneously act as autonomous
  high administrative authorities.

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration
Art. 151 of the Constitution The Prime Minister,
Deputy Prime Ministers and ministers shall take
the following oath in the presence of the
President of the Republic Assuming this office
of Prime Minister (Deputy Prime Minister,
minister) I do solemnly swear to be faithful to
the provisions of the Constitution and other laws
of the Republic of Poland, and that the good of
the Homeland and the prosperity of its citizens
shall forever remain my supreme obligation. The
oath may also be taken with the additional
sentence So help me, God.
dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration

• Central offices
• Central offices form a level just below the
  governmental main organs and are subordinated
  either to one of the ministers or directly to the
  Prime Minister. They include
• the Main Statistical Office
• the Public Procurement Office
• the Central Office of Measures
• the Office of Competition and Consumer
  Protection
• the Polish Committee for Normalisation
• the Office of Electronic Communications
• the Internal Security Agency
• the Foreign Intelligence Agency
• The principle object of the activity of the
  central offices is the everyday execution of the
  law and the administrative tasks assigned to
  them. As a consequence, such offices remain
  fairly independent and are fairly immune to
  fluctuations at the higher governmental level
  that is naturally very susceptible to the
  political environment.

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration

• The President of the Republic of Poland
• Art. 10 of the Constitution
• The system of government of the Republic of
  Poland shall be based on the separation of and
  balance be-tween the legislative, executive and
  judicial powers.
• () executive power shall be vested in the
  President of the Republic of Poland and the
  Council of Ministers ().

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration

• The President of the Republic of Poland is the
  main organ of administra-tion, nonetheless his
  status is special and different from the position
  of any other administrative organ. The Presidency
  is unique because it has extensive and important
  prerogatives that transcend the sphere of
  executive power and reach into the sphere of
  competence of other state authorities. The
  Presi-dent
• is the supreme representative of the Republic of
  Poland and the guarantor of the continuity of
  state authority
• may in certain circumstances dissolve the Sejm
• participates in the legislative process by
  exercising the power to veto parlia-mentary
  statutes or sign them into law
• appoints judges
• grants citizenship
• awards orders
• may grant clemency
• All of these prerogatives determine a unique
  presidential rank in comparison to the other main
  organs. For that reasons presidential functions
  may not be characterized simply as the execution
  of administrative duties.

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Polish System of Public Administration

• The National Council of Radio Broadcasting and
  Television
• Art. 213 of the Constitution
• The National Council of Radio Broadcasting and
  Television shall safeguard the freedom of speech,
  the right to information as well as safeguard the
  public interest regarding radio broadcasting and
  television.
• The National Council of Radio Broadcasting and
  Television shall issue regulations and, in
  individual cases, adopt resolutions.
• Art. 214 of the Constitution
• The members of the National Council of Radio
  Broadcasting and Television shall be appointed by
  the Sejm, the Senate and the President of the
  Republic.
• A member of the National Council of Radio
  Broadcasting and Television shall not belong to a
  political party, a trade union or perform public
  activities incompatible with the dignity of his
  func-tion.

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Concluding Remark
The similarity between Africa and Poland is that
we were also a colonized country. We were a
colony for 130 years. Ryszard Kapuscinski
dr hab. Jerzy Supernat