TRANSFER TO THE STATE TREASURY OF THE PROPERTY OF WAR SUPPORTERS IN THE LIGHT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND. LEGAL ASPECTS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY BILL ON THE AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND

Abstract

Abstract. This paper contains an analysis of the issue of the scope and manner of restriction of the right to property on the grounds of the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997 (Journal of Laws of 1997, No. 78, item 483, as amended), hereinafter referred to as the Constitution, in the context of the Parliamentary bill on the amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 7 April 2022 (print no. 2263). This draft postulates the introduction of Chapter XIa, entitled Threat to State Security, into the Constitution and containing a single provision, Article 234a, stipulating the premises for the State Treasury’s seizure of the assets of entities supporting armed aggression located on the territory of Poland. The rationale for the need to introduce the described editorial unit into the Basic Law is, in the opinion of the drafters, the need for the Polish state to respond to the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine that began on 24 February 2022. At the same time, it should be emphasized, that the assets seized in the above-described manner would be used in full to support the victims of Russian aggression. This amendment, which is indispensable in the opinion of the drafters – in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine – will be assessed by the author of the study in the light of the provisions of the Constitution regulating the general prerequisites of property restriction (preservation of the statutory basis, noninfringement of the essence of the right to property, justification of the restriction by one of the values..indicated in Article 31(3) Constitution and preservation of the principle of proportionality), the prerequisites of expropriation and forfeiture. At the same time, in this summary, the author would like to point out that entities financially supporting the actions of the Russian Federation vis-à-vis Ukraine can and should be subject to sanctions in the form of seizure of their assets located on the territory of Poland, because Russian aggression war is a manifestation of an action that finds no justification.