The General Sejm (, ) was the bicameral legislature of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was established by the Union of Lublin in 1569 following the merger of the legislatures of the two states, the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Sejm of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was one of the primary elements of the democratic governance in the Commonwealth (see Golden Liberty). The sejm was a powerful political institution. The king could not pass laws without its approval.
The two chambers of a sejm were the Senate (senat) consisting of high ecclesiastical and secular officials, and the lower house, (izba poselska), the sejm proper, of lower ranking officials and the representatives of all szlachta. Together with the king, the three were known as the sejming estates, or estates of the sejm (stany sejmujące, literally, "deliberating estates")."The king as the sejming estate", a Sejm webpage
Duration and frequencies of the sejms changed over time, with the six-week sejm session convened every two years being most common. Sejm locations changed throughout history, eventually with the Commonwealth capital of Warsaw emerging as the primary location. The number of sejm deputies and senators grew over time, from about 70 senators and 50 deputies in the 15th century to about 150 senators and 200 deputies in the 18th century. Early sejms have seen mostly majority voting, but beginning in the 17th century, unanimous voting became more common, and 32 sejms were vetoed with the liberum veto provision, particularly in the first half of the 18th century. This vetoing device has been credited with significantly paralyzing the Commonwealth governance.
In addition to the regular sessions of the general sejm, in the era of electable kings, beginning in 1573, three special types of sejms (convocation, election, and coronation sejms) handled the process of the royal election in the interregnum period. In total, 173 sejms met between 1569 and 1793.
Etymology The Polish word sejm is derived from old Czech sejmovat, which means to bring together or to summon. In English, the terms general, full, or ordinary sejm are used for the sejm walny.
Genesis
The Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was established by the Union of Lublin in 1569 and merged the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Sejm of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Both countries had centuries-long tradition of public participation in policy making, traced to the Slavic assembly known as the wiec. The sejmik "little sejm" was a regional or local assembly, among whose later tasks were sending delegates and instructions to the "general sejm". Another form of public decision making in Poland was that of royal election, which occurred when there was no clear heir to the throne, or the heir's appointment had to be confirmed. With time the power of such assemblies grew, entrenched with milestone privileges obtained by the nobility (szlachta) particularly during periods of transition from one dynasty or royal succession system to another (such as the Privilege of Koszyce of 1374). Tracing the history of the Sejm of Poland, Bardach points to the national assemblies of the early 15th century, Jędruch prefers, as "a convenient time marker", the sejm of 1493, the first recorded bicameral session of the Polish parliament. Sedlar, however, noted that 1493 is simply the first time such a session was clearly recorded in sources, and the first bicameral session might have taken place earlier.
The first traces of large nobility meetings in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania can be found in the Treaty of Salynas of 1398 and the Union of Horodło of 1413. It is considered that the first Sejm of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania met in Hrodna in 1445 during talks between Casimir IV Jagiellon and the Lithuanian Council of Lords. As the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars raged the country almost continuously between 1492 and 1582, the Grand Duke needed more tax revenues to finance the army and had to call the Sejm more frequently. In exchange for cooperation, the nobility demanded various privileges, including strengthening of the Sejm. At first the Sejm did not have the legislative power. It would debate on foreign and domestic affairs, taxes, wars, state budget. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Sejm acquired some legislative powers. The Sejm could petition the Grand Duke to pass certain laws.
Political influence
Sejms, including their senate (the upper chamber), and sejmiks severely limited the king's powers.
Already the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland has a great impact on the king's powers. From 1505 the king could not pass laws himself without the approval of the sejm, this being forbidden by Polish szlachta privilege laws like nihil novi. According to the nihil novi constitution, a law passed by the sejm had to be agreed by the three estates of the sejm. There were only few areas in which the king could pass legislation without consulting the sejm: on royal cities, peasants in royal lands, Jews, fiefs and on mining. The three estates of the sejm had the final decision in legislation on taxation, budget and treasury matters (including military funding), foreign policy (including hearing foreign envoys and sending diplomatic missions) and ennoblement. The sejm received fiscal reports from podskarbis (treasurers; they were ), and debated on most important court cases (the sejm court), with the right of amnesty. The sejm could also legislate in the absence of the king, although such legislation would have to be accepted by the king ex post.
Following the Constitution of 3 May 1791, the senate's competences were altered; in most cases, the senators could only vote together with the sejm, and the senate's veto powers were limited. Legislative power was limited to the deputies of the sejm (not senators voting separately, except on the senate's privilege of veto, a suspension of a given legislation until the sejm votes on it again during the next session). The king, who nominated senators, ministers and other officials, presided over the senate, and could propose new laws together with the executive government, over which he also presided (the newly created Straż Praw or the Guardianship of Laws). The sejm also had the supervisory role, as government ministers and other officials were to be responsible to it.
Voting Until the end of the 16th century, unanimity was not required and majority voting predominated. Later, with the rise of the magnates' power, the unanimity principle was enforced with the szlachta privilege of liberum veto (from the Latin: "I freely forbid"). From the second half of the 17th century, the liberum veto was used to paralyze sejm proceedings and brought the Commonwealth to the brink of collapse. The growing power of sejmiks also contributed to the inefficiency of the sejm, as binding instructions from sejmiks could prevent some deputies from being able to support certain provisions. The pro-majority-voting party almost disappeared in the 17th century, and majority voting was preserved only at confederated sejms (sejm rokoszowy, konny, konfederacyjny). The liberum veto was finally abolished by the Constitution of 3 May 1791.
Reforms of 1764–66 improved the proceedings the sejm. They introduced majority voting for items declared as "non crucial" (most economic and tax matters) and outlawed binding instructions from sejmiks. Reforms of 1767 and 1773–75 transferred some competences of the sejm to the commissions of elected delegates. From 1768, hetmans were included among the senate members, and from 1775 also the Court Deputy Treasurer.
In the senate there was no voting; after all the senators who wished had spoken on a given matter, the king or the chancellor formed a general opinion based on the majority.
The Constitution of 3 May 1791 finally abolished the liberum veto, replacing it by majority voting, in most important matters requiring 75% of the votes.
Composition and electoral ordinance
The sejm comprised two chambers, with varying numbers of deputies. After the 1569 Union of Lublin, the Kingdom of Poland was transformed into the federation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the numbers of sejm participants were significantly increased with the inclusion of the deputies from Lithuanian sejmiks. The deputies had no set term of office, although in practice it was about four months long, from their election at a regional sejmik, to their report on the next sejmik dedicated to hearing and discussing the previous sejm's proceedings (those sejmiks were known as relational or debriefing). Deputies had parliamentary immunity and any crimes against them were classified as lèse-majesté.
The two chambers were: The senate (senat) consisting of high ecclesiastical and secular officials; it was an evolution of the royal council. The senate numbered over 140 bishops and ; it grew from 149 around 1598–1633 to 153 around 1764–1768, and 157 during the era of the Great Sejm (1788–92). The Constitution of May 3 set their number at 132. The lower house, (izba poselska), the sejm proper, of lower ranking officials and general nobility. In the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the number of lower house deputies exceeded that of the senators. In 1569 it was composed of 170 deputies representing and elected by a local sejmiks. The 170 included 48 from Lithuania. Deputies from several cities and towns were allowed a status of observers. The number of deputies grew to around 236 in 1764–68, dropping to 181 during the time of the Great Sejm (1788–92). The Constitution of May 3 set their number at 204, including 24 non-voting representatives from cities and towns.
The Constitution of May 3 specified that the deputies were elected for two years, and did not require reelection in that period if any extraordinary sejms were to be called. Senators, for the most part, were selected by the king from a number of candidates presented by the sejmiks.
Due to population size differences between Lithuania and Poland, the Grand Duchy had three times less representatives than the Crown. Usually larger voivodeships could send 6 deputies, smaller 2; ziemias, depending on their sizes, would send 2 or 1. Numbers of deputies elected to the sejm by sejmiks from particular localities, in the order of precedence, based on a 1569 decree, were as follows:
# Constituency Voivodeship Deputies 1 Kraków Kraków 6 2 Poznań Poznań 6 3 Oświęcim–Zator Kraków 2 4 Vilnius Vilnius 2 5 Ashmyany Vilnius 2 6 Lida Vilnius 2 7 Vilkmergė Vilnius 2 8 Braslaw Vilnius 2 9 Sandomierz Sandomierz 7 10 Kalisz Kalisz 6 11 Trakai Trakai 2 12 Hrodna Trakai 2 13 Kaunas Trakai 2 14 Upytė Trakai 2 15 Sieradz Sieradz 4 16 Wieluń Sieradz 2 17 Leczyca Łęczyca Leczyca Łęczyca 4 18 Samogitia Samogitia 2 19 Brześć Kujawski Brześć Kujawski 2 20 Dobrzyń Brześć Kujawski 2 21 Kiev Kiev 6 22 Inowrocław Inowrocław 2 23 Lviv Ruthenia 2 24 Przemyśl Ruthenia 2 25 Sanok Ruthenia 2 26 Halych Ruthenia 2 27 Chełm Ruthenia 2 28 Volhynia Volhynia 6 29 Podolia Podolia 6 30 Smolensk Smolensk 2 31 Starodub Smolensk 2 32 Lublin Lublin 3 33 Polotsk Polotsk 2 34 Belz Belz 4
# Constituency Voivodeship Deputies 35 Navahrudak Navahrudak 2 36 Slonim Navahrudak 2 37 Vawkavysk Navahrudak 2 38 Płock Płock 2 39 Vitebsk Vitebsk 2 40 Orsha Vitebsk 2 41 Czersk Masovia 2 42 Warsaw Masovia 2 43 Wizna Masovia 2 44 Wyszogród Masovia 2 45 Zakroczym Masovia 2 46 Ciechanów Masovia 2 47 Lomza Łomża Masovia 2 48 Różan Masovia 2 49 Liw Masovia 2 50 Nur Masovia 2 51 Drohiczyn Podlachia 2 52 Bielsk Podlaski Podlachia 2 53 Mielnik Podlachia 2 54 Rawa Mazowiecka Rawa Mazowiecka 2 55 Sochaczew Rawa Mazowiecka 2 56 Gostynin Rawa Mazowiecka 2 57 Brest-Litovsk Brest-Litovsk 2 58 Pinsk Brest-Litovsk 2 59 Chełmno Chełmno 2 60 Mstsislaw Mstsislaw 2 61 Malbork Malbork 2 62 Bratslav Bratslav 6 63 Gdańsk Pomerania 2 64 Minsk Minsk 2 65 Mazyr Minsk 2 66 Rechytsa Minsk 2 67 Livonia Livonia 6 68 Chernihiv Chernihiv 4
Sejm gatherings