The Republic of Poland (Rzeczpospolita Polska) is a parliamentary democracy under the 1997 Constitution. The parliament is bicameral and composed of an upper house, the Senate (Senat), and a lower house, the Sejm. Neither of the chambers directly represents local or regional authorities. The head of state is the President of the Republic of Poland (Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), and the government is led by the President of the Council of Ministers (Prezes Rady Ministrów), or Prime Minister (Premier) in short.
Poland is a unitary state with local government (samorząd terytorialny) organised at three tiers: 16 voivodships, or regions (województwo), 314 counties (powiat), and 2478 municipalities (gmina). Municipalities are of three types: urban municipality (gmina miejska), which comprises a town, rural municipality (gmina wiejska), which comprises countryside, and urban‑rural municipality (gmina miejsko‑wiejska), which comprises a town with the surrounding countryside. The Constitution stipulates that the municipality is the basic unit of local self‑government. The executive bodies of the voivodship, the county, and the region are, respectively: the voivodship executive board (zarząd województwa) led by the voivodship marshal (marszałek województwa); the county executive board (zarząd powiatu), led by the starosta; and the wójt (in case of rural municipalities), the mayor (burmistrz; in case of urban and urban‑rural municipalities), or the president (prezydent; in case of urban municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants or urban municipalities that had the office of the president before 1990). The legislative bodies of the voivodship, the county, and the region are, respectively: the regional assembly (sejmik województwa); the county council (rada powiatu); and the municipal council (rada gminy). The executive and legislative bodies of local government are supported by specialised offices: the marshal office (urząd marszałkowski) in a voivodship, the starostwo powiatowe in a powiat, the municipal office (urząd gminy) in a rural municipality, and the city hall (urząd miasta) in a rural‑urban and urban municipality.
In addition, 66 counties out of the 314 are 'cities with powiat rights' (miasto na prawach powiatu), which have both municipal and county competences. Their executive body is the president, who also exercises the responsibilities of the starosta, and their legislative body is the city council (rada miasta), which pools the competences of the country council and the municipal council. Warsaw has a special status regulated in a dedicated parliamentary act (Ustawa z dnia 15 marca 2002 r. o ustroju miasta stołecznego Warszawy); it is a city with powiat rights divided into 18 districts (dzielnica).
The devolution process started in 1990 and took place in the course of a number of reforms. In 1990, municipalities were introduced. The other two levels of self-government – the counties and the regions – were introduced by a reform of 1998 (implemented as of January 1st, 1999).
In addition, there is the central government's territorial administration (administracja terenowa), which is divided into non‑combined administration (administracja niezespolona) and combined administration (administracja zespolona). The latter follows the division based on the regions and is chaired by the voivode (wojewoda). The voivode is a representative of the government and is appointed by the Prime Minister from among the candidatures by the minister in charge of public administration. The voivode's duties include the supervision of the government administration in regions and counties (the police, social care, inspections of environment protection and guards) and the supervision of local self-government units with regard to legality. The voivode also appoints or approves Commanders-in-Chief and Heads of Inspection.
The principle of decentralisation is enshrined in the Constitution (art. 15). Moreover, the Constitution describes the principles underlying local government (Chapter VII): local self‑government units possess legal personality and have property rights. They have the right to associate in order to fulfil tasks of common interest. Local government units have legislative powers for areas of local interest (art. 94). The residual competences lie in the municipalities – in other words, they perform all the tasks of local government not reserved for other units of local government. The Prime Minister exercises supervision over local government units (art. 148).
Apart from the Constitution of 1997, various other acts set out the territorial organisation and division of powers (in chronological order):
Pursuant to the Act on the Revenues of Local Government Units, sub-national governments benefit from three sources of revenue: own revenue (dochody własne), general subsidies from the state budget (subwencja ogólna), and targeted subsidies (dotacje celowe) from the state budget.
1.1. Central level
State authorities are responsible for:
- Foreign policy;
- Defence and security;
- Management of the national budget;
- Money;
- Justice;
- National public transport;
- National roads;
- Some cultural institutions;
- Enforcement of EU law;
- Education; and
- The Statistical office.
1.2. Regional level
Regional authorities (the voivodship level) are responsible for own assignments (zadania własne) in the following areas at the regional level:[1]
- Economic development;
- Employment and labour market policy (tackling unemployment);
- Protection of employee claims in case of employer insolvency;
- Public transport and public roads;
- Telecommunications;
- Health care and health promotion, specialised health services, medical emergency and ambulance services;
- Culture and heritage, including protection of monuments;
- Planning (spatial development, water management, land amelioration, maintenance of hydro-installations);
- Modernisation of rural areas;
- Education, including higher education (running post-secondary schools, some secondary schools and vocational schools, teacher training colleges, voivodeship libraries; initiating the establishment and financing of higher education);
- Social welfare;
- Sport and tourism;
- Consumer rights protection;
- Defence;
- Maintenance of public order;
- Environmental protection; and
- Family support and the foster care system.
Furthermore, regional authorities are responsible for certain assignments delegated by the central government (zadania zlecone), for example:
- Selected tasks of national defence (of regional importance);
- Selected social issues (incl. Support for associations of veterans);
- Tasks of geodetic and cartographic issues (incl. Monitor changes in land use and grading);
- Permits for wholesale trade in alcoholic beverages
- Selected tasks of transport issues (control of medical examinations, issuance of license for driving examiners and supervision of state examinations);
- Records of agricultural producer groups and the controls of these groups;
- Selected tasks within the water law (including the exercise of ownership rights in relation to public waters owned by the state treasury, keeping records of water, water management facilities and reclaimed land);
- Tasks in the field of environmental protection (including for the generation and storage of hazardous substances etc.)
- Selected tasks related to tourism (such as keeping a register of tour operators and travel agents and controlling the entrepreneurs operating in this field; conducting cases related to the hotel quality certification system, keeping their records and control
Intermediate level
County authorities (the powiat level) are responsible for own assignments (zadania własne) in the following areas at the supramunicipal level:[2]
- Sport and tourism;
- Cadastre, cartography, and geodesy;
- Real estate management, architecture and construction administration;
- Water resources management;
- Agriculture, forestry, and inland fisheries;
- Cooperation with NGOs;
- Education (secondary education, i.e. post-elementary schools, vocational and special schools);
- Protection of the environment and nature;
- Health care and health promotion (general responsibility for the operation of public health service institutions; health promotion);
- Consumer rights protection;
- Social welfare (services that extend beyond municipal boundaries; maintenance of powiat facilities and public utilities);
- Family support and the foster care system;
- Support to the disabled;
- Child protection (running tutelary and educational facilities, including orphanages);
- Employment (powiat labour offices; tackling unemployment);
- Public transport and public roads (road building and maintenance at the powiat level);
- Telecommunications;
- Defence;
- Maintenance of the public order and civil security;
- Flood protection, Fire protection;
- Culture, including protection of monuments.
Furthermore, country authorities are responsible for certain assignments delegated by the central government (zadania zlecone), for example:
- State Treasury property management, compensation for property taken for public roads and railways;
- Regulation of the legal status of real estates;
- Collection, handling, updating and sharing of district and district's geodetic and cartographic repertories;
- Environmental protection and agriculture (including the conduct of the land merging procedures and land exchange, reclamation and protection of agricultural land, issuing a decision declaring the forest to be protective or depriving it of this character, issuing a decision on conversion of forest to agricultural land, approval of projects of geological operation, decisions within water law);
- Tasks of national and civil defence;
- Tasks assigned to the field of economy and transport (including keeping a register of enterprises conducting drivers training centres, keeping a register of entrepreneurs engaged in vehicle inspection station and the implementation of supervision of vehicle inspection stations, issuing licenses for road transport operations, etc.);
1.3. Local level
Municipal authorities (the gmina level) are responsible for own assignments (zadania własne) in the areas of:[3]
- Spatial planning;
- Real estate management;
- Municipal green areas, municipal cemeteries, marketplaces;
- Local public transport;
- Municipal roads, streets, bridges, and public squares;
- Traffic organization;
- Telecommunications;
- Protection of the environment and nature, zoning;
- Supply of electricity, gas, heating, and water;
- Water and sewage works, landfills and waste management
- Health care (primary healthcare services);
- Social welfare, including care units;
- Family support and the foster care system;
- Maintenance of gmina facilities, public utility facilities, and administrative facilities;
- Housing;
- Culture, including management of municipal libraries and other cultural institutions protection of monuments;
- Sport and tourism, including recreational areas and sport facilities
- Education (kindergartens; elementary education);
Public order and civil security
- Flood protection, fire protection.
Furthermore, municipal authorities are responsible for certain assignments delegated by the central government (zadania zlecone), for example:
- Civil status (such as civil registration status, issuing a decision on the first and last names);
- Civil registration (including registration events);
- National defence (including keeping a register of pre-recruits, conduct defence exercises and trainings, planning and preparation of medical cover for defence needs, keeping control of subordinate units in this area, etc.);
- Civil defence (including the preparation and updating of civil defense plans, the plan for protection of monuments, evacuation plans, the creation of civil defense formations and supply them with equipment, technical means, uniforms, conducting exercises, training of civil defence formations and population of common self-defense, etc.);
- Receiving applications and distribution of identity cards;
- Assistance for veterans and other entitled persons who are in the difficult material conditions;
- Selection of lay judges for district courts;
- Keeping records of economic activities;
- Issuing licences for the sale of alcoholic beverages;
- Services for people with mental disorders;
- Proceedings in matters of public assemblies;
- Organisation and conduct of agricultural censuses;
- Licensing of road transport by taxi, the issuance of permits to transport people within the municipality;
- Voter registers, administration and execution of tasks related to the organisation and conduct of elections or referendums;
- And others
[1] Act on Regional Self‑Government (Dz.U. 1998 nr 91 poz. 576), art. 14.1.
[2] Act on County Self-Government (Dz.U. 1998 br 91 poz. 578), art. 4.1.
[3] Act on Municipal Self‑Government from (Dz.U. 1990 nr 16 poz. 95), art. 7.1.
