Constitution of Poland

Poland's constitution was adopted by the National Assembly on 2 April 1997, approved by national referendum the following month, and came into force on 17 October 1997, replacing the transitional Small Constitution of 1992 and the remaining vestiges of the communist-era 1952 constitution that had governed the interim post-communist period. It established Poland as a democratic parliamentary republic grounded in the rule of law, separation of powers among the legislature, executive and judiciary, and a guaranteed set of fundamental civil, political, economic and social rights. As the first constitution adopted after the end of Poland's communist government to fully replace the transitional post-1989 arrangements, it remains the country's foundational legal charter today.