The concept of good faith transferred to the field of constitutional law and considered from the perspective of various constitutional orders, expresses the obligation of state organs to undertake such actions that realise the fundamental constitutional principles. This approach relates directly to the essence of the constitution, whose normative layer, constituting the source of binding rules of conduct, rests on a foundation of values to be protected and realised in the process of its interpretation and application. Among the catalogue of values corresponding to the idea of a democratic state is respect for the rights of the individual. This entails ensuring that individuals have the conditions for a peaceful existence and, at the same time, granting legal guarantees through which they can develop as free subjects endowed with dignity. As a result, determining the status of the individual and their relationship to the state becomes one of the main axes of the constitutional system. It is therefore of particular research interest also in this aspect, which makes the principle of good faith one of the elements of modern constitutionalism. The specificity of the state’s action in relation to the individual is expressed in the obligation to shape the legal system and to direct governmental decisions in such a way as to ensure protection of the individual. The implementation of these basic principles requires acting in good faith, which is manifested, inter alia, by numerous principles relating to the rules of lawmaking. Acting in good faith by the state is also a basic assumption when public authorities introduce restrictions in the sphere of individual freedoms and rights. In this dimension, action aimed at constitutional goals is the initial condition for the admissibility of interference in the sphere of individual autonomy, as well as the criterion for assessing the legal effects of such interference.  Identifying the areas in which good faith relates to the relationship between the state and the individual ultimately leads to the conclusion that it is bilateral in nature. It imposes a specific obligation on the two parties to this relationship. This is confirmed, in relation to the individual, by the obligation to obey the law, which is an expression of trust in the state, but also by the horizontally shaped obligation to respect the rights and freedoms of other subjects. This allows us to conclude that acting in good faith in fact permeates various spaces of constitutional regulation. To an equal extent, although in differentiated ways, it concerns the area of the state’s authoritative actions, as well as the sphere of free, in principle, action of an individual. It thus indicates the universal character of the concept under discussion and its location at the very centre of constitutional solutions defining the relationship between the state and the individual.

Good Faith in the State – Individual Relationships

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发表日期：

2025年

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Marcin Stębelski

摘要

The concept of good faith transferred to the field of constitutional law and considered from the perspective of various constitutional orders, expresses the obligation of state organs to undertake such actions that realise the fundamental constitutional principles. This approach relates directly to the essence of the constitution, whose normative layer, constituting the source of binding rules of conduct, rests on a foundation of values to be protected and realised in the process of its interpretation and application. Among the catalogue of values corresponding to the idea of a democratic state is respect for the rights of the individual. This entails ensuring that individuals have the conditions for a peaceful existence and, at the same time, granting legal guarantees through which they can develop as free subjects endowed with dignity. As a result, determining the status of the individual and their relationship to the state becomes one of the main axes of the constitutional system. It is therefore of particular research interest also in this aspect, which makes the principle of good faith one of the elements of modern constitutionalism. The specificity of the state’s action in relation to the individual is expressed in the obligation to shape the legal system and to direct governmental decisions in such a way as to ensure protection of the individual. The implementation of these basic principles requires acting in good faith, which is manifested, inter alia, by numerous principles relating to the rules of lawmaking. Acting in good faith by the state is also a basic assumption when public authorities introduce restrictions in the sphere of individual freedoms and rights. In this dimension, action aimed at constitutional goals is the initial condition for the admissibility of interference in the sphere of individual autonomy, as well as the criterion for assessing the legal effects of such interference. Identifying the areas in which good faith relates to the relationship between the state and the individual ultimately leads to the conclusion that it is bilateral in nature. It imposes a specific obligation on the two parties to this relationship. This is confirmed, in relation to the individual, by the obligation to obey the law, which is an expression of trust in the state, but also by the horizontally shaped obligation to respect the rights and freedoms of other subjects. This allows us to conclude that acting in good faith in fact permeates various spaces of constitutional regulation. To an equal extent, although in differentiated ways, it concerns the area of the state’s authoritative actions, as well as the sphere of free, in principle, action of an individual. It thus indicates the universal character of the concept under discussion and its location at the very centre of constitutional solutions defining the relationship between the state and the individual.