THE APPLICABILITY OF THE CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN POLAND

Abstract

The EU system for the protection of fundamental rights had been developing since 1969 until the date of entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, which established three areas for the protection of human rights. The first is based on the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the second refers to the general principle, as emphasized by the Court of Justice in its case law in the 1970s. The last area is the future one and it assumes strengthening the protection of fundamental rights within the Council of Europe system by obliging the EU to join the ECHR.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights initially had the status of an inter-institutional agreement, which acquired binding force only under the Treaty of Lisbon. Currently, it is a document with normative power equal to primary law. Each of the Member States is bound by the provisions of the Charter within the scope of EU competences and when implementing the EU law. Poland and the United Kingdom are additionally parties to Protocol No. 30, which is also treated as primary law. In addition, Poland attached two Declarations to the Treaty of Lisbon. The analysis of the Charter’s provisions and views of the doctrine clearly indicates that it is not a classic opt-out clause and the parties cannot release themselves from the obligation to apply the provisions of the Charter. The Declarations, on the other hand, are only political in nature and do not affect the scope of the Charter's application, but they define certain values that are important from the perspective of the Polish legal system.