Some remarks on the prerogative of the President of the Republic of Poland to award the orders and decorations

Abstract

Background: The issue of the awarding of orders and decorations by the President of the Republic of Poland has so far not received little from the Polish public. In recent days, however, this state of affairs has changed. The current President awarded the Order of the White Eagle to a Member of Parliament. This fact has sparked a broader debate on how the presidential prerogative of award orders and decorations is exercised.

Research purpose: The main aim of the article was to answer the question whether, when awarding orders and decorations, the President is bound by the provisions of the Act on Orders and Decorations or whether he can award them completely independently of the criteria specified in the la. In this regard, the author of the article paid special attention to Article 3 of the Act on Orders and Decorations, according to which the awarding of the aforementioned distinctions cannot be requested to be bestowed upon currently serving MPs and senators. In the following part of the paper, the author addressed the question of whether the President can award the abovementioned honours to politicians when acting ex officio. The second main objective of the paper was to clarify whether a breach by the President of the provisions of the Act could result in the honoured person being deprived of the order or decorations bestowed upon them.

Methods: The dogmatic-legal method was used in the article. The author is based on the analysis of the legal text, research works and jurisprudence.

Conclusions: As a result of the conducted research, it was found that the President has discretionary powers when awarding orders and decorations. In this prerogative, the President is not bound by the will of any other authority. However, the President must comply with the provisions of the Act on Orders and Decorations. Nor may he award any order or decoration on any incumbent MP or Senator. The awarding of an order or decoration by the President in contravention of the provisions of the Act does not, however, give rise to the withdrawal of that award from the person awarded it.contravention of the provisions of the Act does not, however, give rise to the withdrawal of that award from the person awarded it.