Poland 1997 Constitution (reviewed 2009)

Chapter X. PUBLIC FINANCES

Article 216

1. Financial resources devoted to public purposes shall be collected and disposed of in the manner specified by statute.
2. The acquisition, disposal and encumbrance of property, stocks or shares, issue of securities by the State Treasury, the National Bank of Poland or other State legal persons shall be done in accordance with principles and by procedures specified by statute.
3. Any monopoly shall be established by means of statute.
4. The contracting of loans as well as granting guarantees and financial sureties by the State shall be done in accordance with principles and by procedures specified by statute.
5. It shall be neither permissible to contract loans nor provide guarantees and financial sureties which would engender a national public debt exceeding three-fifths of the value of the annual gross domestic product. The method for calculating the value of the annual gross domestic product and national public debt shall be specified by statute.

Article 217

The imposition of taxes, as well as other public imposts, the specification of those subject to the tax and the rates of taxation, as well as the principles for granting tax reliefs and remissions, along with categories of taxpayers exempt from taxation, shall be by means of statute.

Article 218

The organization of the State Treasury and the manner of management of the assets of the State Treasury shall be specified by statute.

Article 219

1. The Sejm shall adopt the State budget for a fiscal year by means of a Budget [ustawa budzetowa – budgetary statute].
2. The principles of and procedure for preparation of a draft State Budget, the level of its detail and the requirements for a draft State Budget, as well as the principles of and procedure for implementation of the Budget, shall be specified by statute.
3. In exceptional cases, the revenues and expenditures of the State for a period shorter than one year may be specified in an interim budget. The provisions relating to a draft State Budget shall apply, as appropriate, to a draft interim budget.
4. If a State Budget or an interim budget have not come into force on the day of commencement of a fiscal year, the Council of Ministers shall manage State finances pursuant to the draft Budget.

Article 220

1. The increase in spending or the reduction in revenues from those planned by the Council of Ministers may not lead to the adoption by the Sejm of a budget deficit exceeding the level provided in the draft Budget.
2. The Budget shall not provide for covering a budget deficit by way of contracting credit obligations to the State’s central bank.

Article 221

The right to introduce legislation concerning a Budget, an interim budget, amendments to the Budget, a statute on the contracting of public debt, as well as a statute granting financial guarantees by the State, shall belong exclusively to the Council of Ministers.

Article 222

The Council of Ministers shall submit to the Sejm a draft Budget for the next year no later than 3 months before the commencement of the fiscal year. In exceptional instances, the draft may be submitted later.

Article 223

The Senate may, within the 20 days following receipt of the Budget, adopt amendments thereto.

Article 224

1. The President of the Republic shall sign the Budget or interim Budget submitted to him by the Marshal of the Sejm within 7 days of receipt thereof, and order its promulgation in the Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland (Dziennik Ustaw). The provisions of Article 122, para. 5 shall not apply to the Budget or any interim budget.
2. If the President of the Republic has made reference to the Constitutional Tribunal for an adjudication upon the conformity to the Constitution of the Budget or interim budget before signing it, the Tribunal shall adjudicate such matter no later than within a period of 2 months from the day of submission of such reference to the Tribunal.

Article 225

If, after 4 months from the day of submission of a draft Budget to the Sejm, it has not been adopted or presented to the President of the Republic for signature, the President of the Republic may, within the following of 14 days, order the shortening of the Sejm’s term of office.

Article 226

1. The Council of Ministers, within the 5-month period following the end of the fiscal year, shall present to the Sejm a report on the implementation of the Budget together with information on the condition of the State debt.
2. Within 90 days following receipt of the report, the Sejm shall consider the report presented to it, and, after seeking the opinion of the Supreme Chamber of Control, shall pass a resolution on whether to grant or refuse to grant approval of the financial accounts submitted by the Council of Ministers.

Article 227

1. The central bank of the State shall be the National Bank of Poland. It shall have the exclusive right to issue money as well as to formulate and implement monetary policy. The National Bank of Poland shall be responsible for the value of Polish currency.
2. The organs of the National Bank of Poland shall be: the President of the National Bank of Poland, the Council for Monetary Policy as well as the Board of the National Bank of Poland.
3. The Sejm, on request of the President of the Republic, shall appoint the President of the National Bank of Poland for a period of 6 years.
4. The President of the National Bank of Poland shall not belong to a political party, a trade union or perform public activities incompatible with the dignity of his office.
5. The Council for Monetary Policy shall be composed of the President of the National Bank of Poland, who shall preside over it, as well as persons distinguished by their knowledge of financial matters – appointed, in equal numbers, by the President of the Republic, the Sejm and the Senate for a period of 6 years.
6. The Council for Monetary Policy shall annually formulate the aims of monetary policy and present them to the Sejm at the same time as the submission of the Council of Ministers’ draft Budget. Within 5 months following the end of the fiscal year, the Council for Monetary Policy shall submit to the Sejm a report on the achievement of the purposes of monetary policy.
7. The organization and principles of activity of the National Bank of Poland, as well as detailed principles for the appointment and dismissal of its organs, shall be specified by statute.