Pierwsza nowela ustawy konstytucyjnej z dnia 15 lipca 1920 roku, zawierającej statut organiczny województwa śląskiego

Abstract

The Legislative Sejm enacted a constitutional act concerning the completion of the constitutional act of July 15, 1920 including an organic statute of the Silesian voivodship (Dz.U.R.P. Nr 73, poz. 497) on its 216th sitting. The first amendment was announced in Dz.U.R.P. Nr 26, poz. 146 published on March 22, 1921. The chronologically second constitutional act of the Reborn Poland, being propaganda and political in nature, and preceding the date of the plebiscite in Upper Silesia (on March 20, 1921) by just 12 days, completed the statut by adding the article 8a, as well as the article 33 of the statute, through enacting the paragraph 3. The article 8a of the statute equipped the Silesian Sejm with passive legislative competences meaning that the Sejm of the Republic of Poland can change acts concerning four areas of economy (mining, industry, trade and handicraft) and biding in Upper Silesia on the day of its overtaking by Poland only when agreed on by the Silesian Sejm. The amendment completed the article 33 by the paragraph 3, partially modeled on the article 16 of the Weimar’s constitution (11.08.1919 r.). This new regulation included resolutions beneficial for the Silesian population, namely: — that state officials, working in the Silesian voivodship should generally come from the Silesian voivodship; — that when appointing the offices of the state administration, it is the officials from the Silesian voivodship that are given priority holding the same qualifications; — that officials and workers or labourers from the Silesian voivodship working in state administration or in state companies in the Silesian voivodship may be transferred to other voivodships of the Republic of Poland against their own will if their education or the prevailing state service’s business require it. In the article, the author presented the origin of the constitutional act of 8 March, 1921, an interpretation of its regulations and realization of the regulations of the act in practice.