Can legislative standards be subject to ‘quarantine’? The functioning of the Tablet Sejm in Poland in the COVID-19 era

Abstract

ABSTRACT Extraordinary circumstances, and the COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly meets this criterion, require extraordinary solutions to be adopted, extending to the state decision-making process to prevent such crises from escalating. For this reason, the introduction of the possibility of holding a remote session of the Sejm seemed a reasonable move from an epidemiological point of view, but in practice, it proved to be a great challenge, not only from an organisational and technological point of view, but also in terms of ensuring respect for fundamental legislative principles. The aim of this article is to show how the current parliamentary majority has instrumentally played on the Parliament and the legislative process under the guise of fighting against the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to gain makeshift political benefits, without any regard for the standards of law-making in a democratic rule of law state.