Guardians of the Laws

Last updated April 05, 2019

Guardians of the Laws or Guard of Laws (Polish : Straż Praw) was a short-lived supreme executive governing body of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth established by the Constitution of May 3, 1791. It was abolished, together with other reforms of the Constitution, after the Polish defeat in the summer of Polish–Russian War of 1792.

Polish is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In addition to being an official language of Poland, it is also used by Polish minorities in other countries. There are over 50 million Polish language speakers around the world and it is one of the official languages of the European Union.

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth – formally, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, after 1791, the Commonwealth of Poland – was a dual state, a bi-confederation of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch, who was both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th– to 17th-century Europe. At its largest territorial extent, in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth covered almost 400,000 square miles (1,000,000 km²) and sustained a multi-ethnic population of 11 million.

Polish–Russian War of 1792 war between the Commonwealth of Poland and the Russian Empire

The Polish–Russian War of 1792 was fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on one side, and the Targowica Confederation and the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great on the other.

Executive power in the reformed Commonwealth government, according to Article V and Article VIIrested in the hands of "the king in his council", the council being a cabinet of ministers known as the Guardians of the Laws.^[1]^[2]

The ministries could not create or interpret the laws, and all acts of the foreign ministry were provisional, subject to parliament (Sejm)'s approval.^[1] This council was presided over by the king and comprised the Roman Catholic Primate of Poland (who was also president of the Education Commission) and five ministers appointed by the king: a minister of police, minister of the seal (i.e. of internal affairs – the seal was a traditional attribute of the earlier Chancellor), minister of the seal of foreign affairs, minister belli (of war), and minister of treasury.^[3] In addition to the ministers, council members included – without a vote – the Crown Prince, the Marshal of the Sejm, and two secretaries.^[1] This royal council was a descendant of similar councils that had functioned over the previous two centuries since King Henry's Articles (1573) and the recent Permanent Council. Acts of the king required the countersignature of the respective minister.^[4] The ministers, however, were responsible to Sejm, which could dismiss them by a two-third vote of no confidence by the members of both houses.^[3]^[5]^[6] The stipulation that the king, "doing nothing of himself, ... shall be answerable for nothing to the nation", parallels the British constitutional principle that "The King can do no wrong." (In both countries, the respective minister was responsible for the king's acts.)^[4] Ministers could be also held accountable by the Sejm court, and Sejm could demand an impeachement trial of a minister with a simple majority vote.^[4]^[5]

The Sejm of the Republic of Poland is the larger, more powerful lower house of the Polish parliament. It consists of 460 deputies elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the "Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland". In the Kingdom of Poland, "Sejm" referred to the entire three-chamber parliament of Poland, comprising the Chamber of Envoys, the Senate and the King. It was thus a three-estate parliament. Since the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939), "Sejm" has referred only to the larger house of the parliament; the upper house is called the Senat Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej.

Chancellor of Poland was one of the highest officials in the historic Poland. This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom of the 12th century until the end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. A respective office also existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 16th century.

Marshal of the Sejm also known as Sejm Marshal, Chairman of the Sejm or Speaker of the Sejm is the speaker (chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament. The office traces its origins to the 15th century. In modern Poland, the full title is Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland.

The decisions of the royal council were carried out by commissions, including the previously created Commission of National Education, and the new Commissions for Police, the Military and the Treasury, whose members were elected by Sejm.^[4]

The Commission of National Education was the central educational authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created by the Sejm and the King Stanisław II August on October 14, 1773. Because of its vast authority and autonomy, it is considered the first Ministry of Education in European history and an important achievement of the Polish Enlightenment.

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The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, commonly known as the Polish Crown, or, simply, the Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, including Poland proper. The Polish Crown was at the helm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1795.

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 Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Drafted over 32 months beginning on 6 October 1788, and formally adopted as the Government Act, the legislation was designed to redress the Commonwealth's political defects. The system of Golden Freedoms, also known as the "Nobles' Democracy," had conferred disproportionate rights on the nobility (szlachta) and over time had corrupted politics. The adoption of the Constitution was preceded by a period of agitation for—and gradual introduction of—reforms beginning with the Convocation Sejm of 1764 and the election of Stanisław August Poniatowski as the Commonwealth's last king.

A konfederacja was an ad hoc association formed by Polish-Lithuanian szlachta (nobility), clergy, cities, or military forces in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for the attainment of stated aims. A konfederacja often took the form of an armed rebellion aimed at redressing perceived abuses or trespasses of some authority. Such "confederations" acted in lieu of state authority or to force their demands upon that authority. They could be seen as a primary expression of direct democracy and right of revolution in the Commonwealth, and as a way for the nobles to act on their grievances and against the state's central authority.

The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm was a Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in Warsaw between 1788 and 1792. Its principal aim became to restore sovereignty to, and reform, the Commonwealth politically and economically.

Royal elections in Poland was the election of individual kings, rather than of dynasties, to the Polish throne. Based on traditions dating to the very beginning of the Polish statehood, strengthened during the Piast and Jagiellon dynasties, they reached their final form in the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1572 and 1791. The "free election" was abolished by the Constitution of 3 May 1791, which established a constitutional monarchy.

Mikołaj Ostroróg (1593–1651) was a Polish–Lithuanian szlachcic (nobleman), politician and general.

Silent Sejm is the name given to the session of the Sejm (parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of 1 February 1717 held in Warsaw. A civil war in the Commonwealth was used by the Russian Tsar Peter the Great as an opportunity to intervene as a mediator. It marked the end of Augustus II of Poland's attempts to create an absolute monarchy in Poland, and the beginning of the Russian Empire's increasing influence and control over the Commonwealth.

The general sejm was the bicameral parliament of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was established by the Union of Lublin in 1569 from the merger of the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Seimas of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia. It was one of the primary elements of the democratic governance in the Commonwealth. The sejm was a powerful political institution and the king could not pass laws without the approval of that body.

Grodno Sejm was the last Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Grodno Sejm, held in fall of 1793 in Grodno, Grand Duchy of Lithuania is infamous because its deputies, bribed or coerced by the Russian Empire, passed the act of Second Partition of Poland. The Sejm started on 17 June and ended on 23 November 1793. It ratified the division of the country in a futile attempt to prevent its subsequent complete annexation two years later in the 1795 Third Partition of Poland.

The Cardinal Laws were a quasi-constitution enacted in Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, by the Repnin Sejm of 1767–68. Enshrining most of the conservative laws responsible for the inefficient functioning of the Commonwealth, and passed under foreign duress, they have been seen rather negatively by the historians.

General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland was a Polish confederation established by emperor Napoleon Bonaparte on the eve of his campaign in Russia.

Franciszek Ksawery Chomiński was a Polish soldier, politician, translator and poet. Sejm deputy, deputy to the Lithuanian Tribunal and voivode of Mscislaw from 1788 in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and marshal of the Grodno Governorate in the Russian Empire after partitions of Poland.

Stanislaw Krasiński was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman (szlachcic) and politician.

Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw was the parliament of the Duchy of Warsaw. It was created in 1807 by Napoleon, who granted a new constitution to the recently created Duchy. It had limited competences, including having no legislative initiative. It met three times: for regular sessions in 1809 and 1811, and for an extraordinary session in 1812. In the history of Polish parliament, it succeeded the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and was followed by the Sejm of the Congress Poland.

The Sejm of the Grand Duchy of Posen was the parliament in the 19th century Grand Duchy of Posen and the Province of Posen, seated in Poznań/Posen. It existed from 1823 to 1918. In the history of the Polish parliament, it succeeded the general sejm and local sejmik on part of the territories of the Prussian partition. Originally retaining a Polish character, it acquired a more German character in the second half of the 19th century.

The Sejm of the Estates or Estates of Galicia were the parliament in the first half of the 19th century Galicia region in Austrian Empire. The body existed from 1775 to 1845. In the history of the Polish parliament, it succeeded the general sejm and local sejmik on the territories of the Austrian partition. The Estates were disbanded following the Kraków Uprising of 1846. In 1861 they were succeeded by the Sejm of the Land.

The Diet of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and of the Grand Duchy of Cracow was the regional assembly of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, a crown land of the Austrian Empire, and later Austria-Hungary. In the history of the Polish parliaments, it is considered the successor of the former sejm walny, or general sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and also of the sejmik, or local councils, in the territories of the Austrian Partition. It existed from 1861 until the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918.

Legislative Sejm of the Second Polish Republic was the first national parliament (Sejm) of the newly independent Second Polish Republic. It was elected in the Polish legislative election, 1919.

The general sejm was the parliament of Kingdom of Poland. It had evolved from the earlier institution of wiec. It was one of the primary elements of the democratic governance in the Kingdom of Poland. The sejm was a powerful political institution, and from early 16th century, the Polish king could not pass laws without the approval of that body. The Sejm and the Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was merged into the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Union of Lublin in 1569.

References

1 2 3 Jerzy Lukowski (August 3, 2010). Disorderly liberty: the political culture of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-4411-4812-4 . Retrieved September 23, 2011.
↑ Andrzej Jezierski; Cecylia Leszczyńska (1 January 2010). Historia gospodarcza Polski. Key Text Wydawnictwo. p. 69. ISBN 978-83-87251-71-0 . Retrieved 29 June 2013.
1 2 Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. pp. 181–182. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4 . Retrieved 13 August 2011.
1 2 3 4 Jerzy Lukowski (August 3, 2010). Disorderly liberty: the political culture of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-4411-4812-4 . Retrieved September 23, 2011.
1 2 George Sanford (2002). Democratic government in Poland: constitutional politics since 1989. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-333-77475-5 . Retrieved July 5, 2011.
↑ Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4 . Retrieved 13 August 2011.

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[Lukowski2010-229-1] 1 2 3 Jerzy Lukowski (August 3, 2010). Disorderly liberty: the political culture of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-4411-4812-4 . Retrieved September 23, 2011.

[JezierskiLeszczyńska2010-2] Andrzej Jezierski; Cecylia Leszczyńska (1 January 2010). Historia gospodarcza Polski. Key Text Wydawnictwo. p. 69. ISBN 978-83-87251-71-0 . Retrieved 29 June 2013.

[Jędruch1982-181-182-3] 1 2 Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. pp. 181–182. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4 . Retrieved 13 August 2011.

[Lukowski2010-230-4] 1 2 3 4 Jerzy Lukowski (August 3, 2010). Disorderly liberty: the political culture of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-4411-4812-4 . Retrieved September 23, 2011.

[Sanford-5] 1 2 George Sanford (2002). Democratic government in Poland: constitutional politics since 1989. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-333-77475-5 . Retrieved July 5, 2011.

[Jędruch1982-178-6] Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4 . Retrieved 13 August 2011.