Constitutional Position of the Head of State in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Poland in the Period between 1918 and 1990 - Acta Universitatis Sapientiae

Acta Univ. Sapientiae, Legal Studies, 12, 1 (2023) 61–81

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47745/AUSLEG.2023.12.1.05

Abstract. The constitutional development in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Poland was turbulent from their birth in 1918 until the fall of the communist regime. It can be said that during this period of time a significant number of acts of constitutional nature have been adopted in the mentioned countries and that Yugoslavia certainly had the most dynamic constitutional development adopting one constitutional act in each decade. All these acts of constitutional character inevitably regulated the position of the head of state introducing certain particular legal solutions such as the election of the head of state with the participation of the Council of Electors and the outgoing President in Poland or the existence of the collective and individual head of state at the same time with certain overlapping prerogatives in Yugoslavia. The aim of this article is to examine the position of the head of state, taking into consideration every act of constitutional nature adopted in the above mentioned countries and particularly dealing with issues such as the election, term of office, termination of office, prerogatives, and accountability of the head of state with the intent to determine the specificities, similarities, and, above all, differences in this regard.

Keywords: prerogatives of the head of state, term of office, termination of office, accountability, Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia