Features of constitutional law in the Constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on May 3, 1791

1.

2.

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Analysis of the significance of
the Constitution of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth on
May 3, 1791
The purpose of the research is to
present a comprehensive research
>=!> of the Constitution of the Polish
-Lithuanian Commonwealth on May
3,1791

3.

What is the Constitution?
The Constitution is the basic law of the state, a special normative
legal act having the highest legal force.
Definition from the Cambridge
Dictionary:
The set of political principles bywhich state or organization is governed,
especially in relation to the rights of the people it governs:

4.

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The American Constitution of September 17, 1787 was the
oldest. The second in the world and the first in Europe
was the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791 preceding the
French
September Constitution by several months.

5.

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Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth, formally the crown of the
Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania,
was
a
dualistic
state,
a
two-
confederation of Poland and Lithuania, ruled by a
common monarch who was both the King of
Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania.

6.

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The Constitution of 3 May 1791 was
adopted by the Great Sejm
(parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth, a dual monarchy
comprising the Crown of the
ngdom of Poland and the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania. Drafted over 32
months beginning on 6 October 1788,
and formally adopted as the
Government Act (Ustawa rzqdowa),
the legislation was designed to
redress the Commonwealth’s
litical defects.
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7.

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The first time in the 18th century...
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Ottoman Empire
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The first time in the 18th century when a
constitutional act was adopted in the
Commonwealth without the participation
of foreign powers the first time in the
18th century when a constitutional act
was adopted in the Commonwealth
without the participation of foreign
powers

8.

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Soon after, the Friends of the Constitution which included
many participants in the Great Sejm was organised to defend
the reforms already enacted and to promote further ones. It is
now regarded as the first modern-style political party in
Poland's history.

9.

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Article I acknowledged the Roman Catholic
faith as the "dominant religion", and
guaranteed tolerance and freedom to all
religions. It was less progressive than the
16th-century Warsaw Confederation, and
placed Poland clearly within the Catholic
sphere of influence.

10.

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Popular sovereignty
The document's preamble and n individual articles introduced
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the principle of popular sovereignty applied to the nobility and
townspeople, and the separation ofpowers into legislative (a
bicameral Sejm), executive ("the King and the Guardians", the
Guardians of the Laws being the newly established top
governmental entity) and judicial branches. It advanced the
democratization of the polity by limiting the excessive legal
immunities and political prerogatives of landless nobility.
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11.

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The modern national constitution of Europe
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The Constitution of3 May 1791 is generally recognized as Europe'sfirst modern
codified national constitution, as well as the second oldest national constitution in
the world. It was instituted by the Government Act adopted on that date by the
Sejm (parliament) ofthe Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
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