Legislative Function of the Second Chamber of Parliament of Poland Against the Background of the Solutions of Czech Republic and Romania: de lege lata v. de lege ferenda

Abstract

The power of a particular parliamentary chamber is determined by its competences, with law-making being most important. In Poland, the adoption of a bicameral solution was not without controversy. There are many theses in the doctrine that puts into question the adopted order, proposing an attempt to remodel the system. The present study represents an attempt to compare the legislative function of the Senate of Poland, Czech Republic and Romania. The research hypothesis is that the Polish second chamber’s competences are most limited in this respect. The choice of these countries is led by their geographical proximity – they
are located in Central and Eastern Europe and share a common history. Besides, they also have similar cultural links often. These countries also have bicameral parliaments being uncommon in the region. It is worth noting that these countries had the second chambers of the parliament in their current form since 1990s.