Czy Konstytucja 3 maja stanowiła źródło inspiracji dla XIX-wiecznych polskich projektów konstytucyjnych? Problem wykorzystania dziedzictwa prawnego w pracach nad reformami ustrojowymi 1815 i 1831 r.

Abstract

Was the Constitution of May Third of 1791 a Source of Inspiration for 19th Century Polish Constitutional Drafts? The Problem of Using Polish Constitutional Heritage in the Congress Kingdom of Poland in 1815 and 1831 The article focuses on the problem of using the legal heritage based on the example of the May Third Constitution. This issue is considered in relation to two selected moments in the history of the Congress Kingdom of Poland – 1814/1815 and 1831. What connects them, and at the same time makes them unique periods in the political and constitutional history of Polish territories under the partitions, is the relative freedom the Polish elites had in their right to decide on the constitutional foundations of their own statehood. In 1814/1815, Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski was granted the emperor’s consent to prepare a draft which, after corrections, became the basis of the Constitutional Act granted by Alexander I. Similarly in 1831, after the dethronement of Tsar Nicholas I, the insurgent elites were free to embark on an unfettered constitutional debate on the systemic reform of the state. Both in 1814/1815 and in 1831, Polish political and intellectual elites faced a dilemma as to whether the May Third Constitution could serve mainly as a monument and symbol of Polish history, or whether it still had the potential to be directly applied; and if so, then to what extent and under what conditions. The publication is devoted to exploring answers to these questions.