Najstarsze konstytucje a idea podziału władzy
The World’s Oldest Constitutions and the Idea of Separation of Powers

Summary/Abstract: We do not always realize that separation of powers as we understand it today has little in common with its original concept developed with the adoption of the first written constitutions. We also fail to notice that the concept of absolute separation of powers was for the promoters of these constitutions as interesting as the doctrine that combined separation of powers and the idea of checks and balances, as Montesquieu would put it. This ignorance may be attributed to a fairly popular belief that the U.S. Constitution is the oldest in the world keeping the previous constitutions developed during the American Revolution and the French constitutions of 1791 and 1795 in complete disregard. The false stereotypes about the modern nature of the Polish Constitution of May 3rd may actually stem from the largely misunderstood concept of separation of powers among Polish scholars. Although the Constitution did refer to separation of powers, this idea was never implemented in reality. This becomes all too clear when American and French experience of the period is brought up.

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