Commentary to the Judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of 16 May 2018, Ref. No. SK 18/17 Cover Image

Glosa do Wyroku Trybunału Konstytucyjnego z dnia 16 maja 2018 r., sygn. akt SK 18/17
Commentary to the Judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of 16 May 2018, Ref. No. SK 18/17

Author(s): Agnieszka Kawałko
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law
Published by: Kancelaria Sejmu
Keywords: presumption of paternity; child’s origin; right to know one’s own identity; action for denial of paternity; marital status

Summary/Abstract: The commented ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal concerns the constitutionality of the provision of Article 70(1) of the Family and Guardianship Code, which provided that the time limit for a child to bring an action to deny the paternity of his or her mother’s husband is three years and runs from the moment the child reaches the age of majority, regardless of the child’s know-ledge of his or her biological origin, i.e. regardless of whether the child within that time limit acquired knowledge that he or she did not come from his or her mother’s husband and whether the child could decide to bring an action. The expiry of the three-year period resulted in the expiry of the child’s right to claim the denial of paternity of the mother’s husband and, consequently, precluded the possibility of a positive determination of the paternity of a man other than the mother’s husband. The Constitutional Tribunal found this provision to be inconsistent with Article 30 in conjunction with Article 47 in conjunction with Article 31(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The author agrees with the position expressed by the Constitutional Tribunal in the judgment in question, which in this case provides a basis for consideration of the relationship between the right to know one’s biological origin and the value of stabilising the civil status of a child and persons remaining in an established family relationship with him or her.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 147-158
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: English, Polish