The Polish constitutional imaginary is an eclectic set of ideas, often contradicting or potentially conflicting with each other. This feature is partly the result of the complexity of Polish history, the leitmotif of which has revolved around regaining and maintaining independence for several centuries. This chapter analyses the relationship between…

Since 2015 the Law and Justice government has significantly altered the composition of the Polish Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the National Council of Judiciary. It has also expanded the power of the executive branch in relation to the courts. This process – which the majority of scholars and…

Contrary to the widespread narrative in both Polish and European constitutional law discourse, this chapter argues that Polish constitutional law theory, as it evolved in the years 1944-1989, was an active subject rather than a passive object in the process of the transition from the authoritarian socialism to constitutional democracy.

Jan Komárek presented paper entitled “From legitimacy to ideology: towards ideology critique of European constitutionalism” at the webinar organised jointly by Marco Dani, Marco Goldoni, Agustín J. Menéndez in the course of the preparation of their edited volume, which will discuss Bruce Ackermann’s Revolutionary constitutions: charismatic leadership and the rule…

Legal theorists and sociologists have recently used the term ‘constitutional imaginary’ as a set of ideas and beliefs that help to motivate and justify the practice of authority. They provide this authority with an overarching sense and purpose recognised by those governed as legitimate. Constitutional orders may be based on…

Team IMAGINE took part in the Annual Danish European Association- European Community Studies Association Conference 2021, organised by our iCourts colleagues Shai Dothan & Juan A. Mayoral. We presented a panel entitled “Exploring European constitutional imaginary’s OTHER” – details here (pdf). Our panel was kindly chaired by Jakob…

Exploring European constitutional imaginary‘s OTHER This panel brings together the team of people working on the ERC-funded project IMAGINE – European Constitutional Imaginaries: Utopias, Ideologies and the Other. We will discuss the key assumptions of the project and specific case studies focused on how the constitutional imaginaries of Europe have…

Marina Bán and Michał Krajewski discussed the book Constitutionalism under Stress: Essays in Honour of Wojciech Sadurski.

Today we met Michał Paździora and Michał Stambulski, who are about to start a fascinating project on Legal Epistemic Authority in Poland. Development and Dynamics 1982-2020 funded by the Polish National Science Centre.

Michal Krajewski presented to us The End of the Liberal Mind: Poland’s New Politics and Petr Agha The Light that Failed A Reckoning. …

Wojciech Sadurski has set for his latest book three goals: first, to provide a comprehensive account of the anti-constitutional populist backsliding in Poland; second, to explain its causes in a country ‘widely, and justifiably, applauded for its achievements in democratic consolidation, human rights, and judicial independence’ (p. vi); and third,…