Freedom of movement in the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of Poland during the COVID-19 epidemic

Freedom of movement is a kind of guarantee of the realization of subjective rights to which every human being is entitled on the basis of the norms of the Basic Law, as well as the provisions of acts of international law. Its beginning in the tradition of Polish constitutional law is related to the Government Act of May 3, 1791, which guaranteed “complete freedom”. In the following centuries, this freedom was developed and detailed in normative acts, although there are periods when legislators did not mention it in terms of fundamental rights and freedoms. Its essence and importance for the individual also result in the consequence of “looking at” by the authorities applying the law, as well as representatives of the doctrine, the provisions that limit this freedom. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the legislator repeatedly limited the freedom of movement in acts of a lower rank, as well as the issued regulations were in conflict with constitutional and statutory regulations.