Strasbourg, 8 November 2007 ACFC/SR/II(2007)006 SECOND REPORT SUBMITTED BY POLAND PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 25, PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES Received on 8 November 2007 2 Table of contents PART I: GENERAL PART 7 1. Characteristics of the political system, administrative division, geographical location of national and ethnic minorities 7 1.1 Characteristics of the political system, administrative division 7 1.2 Geographical distribution of national and ethnic minorities 7 2. Status of the international law in the national legislation. 8 3. Population of national and ethnic minorities. 9 4. Characteristics of national and ethnic minorities as well as the community using the regional language in Poland 10 4.1 General characteristics 10 4.2 Characteristics of particular national and ethnic minorities in Poland. 14 4.3 Characteristics of the community using the regional language. 34 5. Description of the situation on the territories inhabited by particular minorities 35 6. Basic data 37 PART II: REALISATION OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES 38 Article 1 38 Article 2 38 Article 3 39 Article 4 41 Article 5 47 Article 6 52 Article 7 56 Article 8 56 Article 9 57 Article 10 66 Article 11 68 Article 12 71 Article 13 80 Article 14 81 Article 15 88 Article 16 90 Article 17 90 Article 18 91 Article 19 94 3 PART III: AUTHORITIES AND INSTITUTIONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY TOWARDS MINORITIES AND ACTIONS UNDERTAKEN BY THEM 95 PART IV: DATA CONCERNING CRIMINALITY 110 4 INTRODUCTION This document, prepared by the Republic of Poland for the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, is the second Report on implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The previous Report was submitted on 10 July 2002, whereas this document covers the years 2002-2006. The information presented herein only in some cases includes data from before 1 January 2002 or concern the circumstances after 31 December 2006. The intention was not to repeat the information already submitted to the Secretary General in July 2002. However, in particular parts and chapters attention was paid to see if this information was valid and to what extent. The 2nd Report focuses on new elements and solutions. Its authors have strived to make the changes that had taken place in Poland during the reporting period its fundamental subject. The sixth part, in which the legal state is described, is an exception. Because of the frequent amendments made in respect of the earlier regulations it was considered purposeful to provide the Secretary General with an updated list of all binding Polish regulations on the rights of national and ethnic minorities. During the work on the 2nd Report particular attention was paid to the recommendations contained in the Resolution ResCMN(2004)10 on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Poland, adopted on 30 September 2004 at the 898th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies. Efforts were made to formulate the document so as to clearly present what actions had been taken in relation to these recommendations. Also the comments contained in the Opinion on Poland of Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, adopted on 27 November 2003, were taken into account in the 2nd Report. As compared with the situation described in the previous Report, the Act on National and Ethnic Minorities and Regional Language (Journal of Laws No 17, item 141, as amended) adopted on 6 January 2005 is a significant novelty. The present Report will refer several times to this Act, mentioned here in order to explain some terminological issues. According to the provisions of the abovementioned Act, in relation to Poland the term “national minorities” used in the Convention should be understood as “national and ethnic minorities”. After the Act came into effect, the terminology used in other regulations was adjusted accordingly. 5 During work on the Report consultations were carried out, in particular with organizations of national and ethnic minorities, as well as the community which uses regional language. It was not possible to take into account all the comments, since some of them were too detailed or did not fall within the scope of the Report, or were a commentary rather than information. The comments, which could not be included in the body text, are compiled in the Annex. 6 PART I: GENERAL PART 1. Characteristics of the political system, administrative division, geographical location of national and ethnic minorities 1.1 Characteristics of the political system, administrative division The Republic of Poland covers the area of 312 683 km² and its population amounts to 38 157 055 (data published by the Central Statistical Office as of 2006). It borders with the Federal Republic of Germany, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus, the Lithuanian Republic and the Russian Federation. The Republic of Poland is a unitary state with parliamentary and cabinet government system. The Parliament consists of two houses: the lower house – the Sejm (consisting of 460 deputies) and the upper house – the Senate (consisting of 100 senators). The Parliament is elected for 4 years’ term of office in universal, direct election in secret ballot, and in the case of the Sejm also in equal and proportional election. The deputies and senators elected for the present term of office include, inter alia, representatives of national minorities and representatives of the community using the regional language. The present term of office of the Parliament expires in 2009. The President of the Republic of Poland is elected in universal election for 5 years’ term of office. The term of office of the present President expires in 2010. Poland is divided into 16 voivodeships (regions), divided into 314 poviats and 2478 gminas (communes), out of which 65 enjoy the status of a town with the rights of a poviat. The new administrative division of 1 January 1999 took account of, among other things, the national structure. 1.2 Geographical distribution of national and ethnic minorities As already mentioned, the term “national and ethnic minorities” in the Polish law is equivalent to the term “national minorities” as used in the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Therefore, the provisions of the Framework Convention concern both national and ethnic minorities to the same extent. Differences between definitions 7 of national and ethnic minorities were described in the Act of 6 January 2005 on Act on National and Ethnic Minorities and Regional Language (Journal of Laws No 17, item 141, as amended). According to the Act, the following minorities are recognized as national minorities: Belarusians, Czechs, Lithuanians, Germans, Armenians, Russians, Slovaks, Ukrainians and Jews, and the following as ethnic minorities: the Karaim, the Lemko, the Roma and the Tartars. The largest populations of national and ethnic minorities live in the following voivodeships: Opolskie - 105 5091 Polish citizens (9.91% of the voivodeship’s inhabitants), Podlaskie – 53 807 (4.45% of the voivodeship’s inhabitants), Śląskie – 32 679 (0.69% of the voivodeship’s inhabitants), Warmińsko-Mazurskie - 17 096 (1.20% of the voivodeship’s inhabitants), Dolnośląskie – 8 429 (0.29% of the voivodeship’s inhabitants), Zachodnio-Pomorskie – 5 956 (0.35% of the voivodeship’s inhabitants), Małopolskie – 5 734 (0.18% of the voivodeship’s inhabitants) and Pomorskie – 5 560 (0.26% of the voivodeship’s inhabitants). Furthermore, in Pomorskie Voivodeship there is a community using a regional language (Kashubian). During the 2002 National Population and Housing Census, 52 665 persons declared to use the Kashubian language at home. In Pomorskie Voivodeship there are 52 588 such persons, constituting 2.41% of its population. With respect to this group the Convention provisions are implemented regarding language rights . 2. Status of the international law in the national legislation. Pursuant to Article 87 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland dated 2 April 1997 (Journal of Laws No 78, item 483, as amended), the sources of generally binding law of the Republic of Poland are as follows: the Constitution, statutes, ratified international agreements, regulations, and enactments of local laws issued by the local administrative bodies. Poland respects basic principles of international law, in the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and Final Act of the Conference for Safety and Co-operation in Europe, and at the same time, is a party to international agreements, e.g. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1963. The provision of Article 91 of the Constitution stipulates that a ratified international agreement, after its promulgation in the Official Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland 1 Unless otherwise stated, all data come from the 2002 National Population and Housing Census. 8 (Dziennik Ustaw), constitutes a part of the domestic legal order and applies directly, unless its application depends on the enactment of a statute. An international agreement ratified upon prior consent granted by statute, takes precedence over statutes, if such an agreement cannot be reconciled with the provisions of such statutes. If, however, an agreement establishing an international organization, ratified by the Republic of Poland, so provides, the