1.1. In the Model Voivodeship, each citizen is, by law, a member of a commune, county and voivodeship community where they reside. Residents of City name, City name, City name, City name and City name form a community of the city with the rights of a county, which combines the rights of a commune and a county. Commune, county, city and voivodeship communities together form the Subnational Government of our Voivodeship.

1.2. The Constitution of the Republic of Poland gives the commune the status of a basic subnational governance unit. This means that all public tasks which the Constitution or laws have not been reserved for national authorities, and which the Basic Voivodeship Resolutions have not delegated to county and voivodeship authorities, are performed at the commune level.

2.3 The system of democratically elected subnational authorities in our Voivodeship is based on the principle of separation of powers: legislative, executive, judicial and independent control institutions. The system of these authorities is presented in the table below:

	Legislative Power		Executive Power		Judicial Power		Independent Control Institutions
National Level	Sejm of the Republic of Poland Senate of the Republic of Poland		Council of Ministers		Supreme Court  Constitutional Tribunal Supreme Administrative Court  National Council The judiciary		President the Republic of Poland National Election Commission Other national independent institutions (within the scope of their competence) The College of the Voivodeships
Voivodeship Level	Diet [Sejmik] Voivodeship Senate		Voivode The Voivodeship Council of Ministers  Voivodeship Executive Agencies		The Supreme Voivodeship Court County courts			Voivodeship Audit Chamber  Voivodeship Ombudsman
County Level	Council	City Council	Mayor	Board of Executives
Commune Level	Council			Mayor
		City with County Rights Level

3.2. The subnational government institutions of our Voivodeship perform their functions on the basis of the following principles:

3.2.a. The principles of subsidiarity and proportionality;

3.2.b. The principles of honesty and transparency;

[ Here are other principles which will be followed by subnational government authorities in the Voivodeship ].

4.1.  All institutions of government of our Voivodeship shall respect and ensure respect for the rights and freedoms of every human being guaranteed in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and in international law binding on the Republic of Poland. Additionally, our Voivodeship protects and acts for the fullest realization of: [ Here each voivodeship can present a list of rights and freedoms that are particularly important for a given voivodeship and correspond to regional values. These rights and freedoms can be divided into three groups:

• Group one: Rights concerning the functioning of subnational authorities in the voivodeship, e.g. the right to understandable, responsive, friendly and free from bureaucratic jargon communication on the part of our subnational government administration;
• Second group: rights related to social, moral, political or civilizational challenges, e.g. the right of a citizen to receive additional medical services co-financed by the subnational authorities of the Voivodeship;
• Third group: economic rights, e.g. the right to free nursery care for children aged 3 months / 6 months / 1 year - 3 years and kindergartens for children aged 3 - 7 [3 - 6] years. ]

4.2. Respecting the constitutional principle of equality before the law, the subnational institutions in our Voivodeship provide special protection and care: [ Here are examples of groups which, according to local values, are given special care, e.g. elderly people, families with many children, people socially discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation, etc. ]

8.6 The provisions of Section 5.4.-5.5. concerning the use of demokracja.gov.pl portal in resolutions and votes of Commune or City Councils shall apply accordingly to the manner of organization of resolutions and votes in the Diet. 

13.3 The Supreme Voivodeship Court of our Voivodeship administers the justice system:

13.3.a. in the Administrative Chamber - as an administrative court of first instance in cases concerning the judicial review of activities of subnational administration of our Voivodeship, including in cases of complaints against individual decisions, of compliance of local lower-order acts of law issued by communes, counties, cities and the Voivodeship with national laws and subnational laws of the higher order, of complaints against acts of supervision over the activities of communes, cities and counties issued by voivodeship authorities, as well as of competence disputes between communes, cities, counties and voivodeship authorities in our Voivodeship;

13.3.b. in the Civil, Criminal and Labor and Social Security Chambers - as a common court of second instance in cases of appeals against the judgments of county courts in our Voivodeship.

13.5 The National Council of the Judiciary shall consist, in addition to other persons mentioned in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, of eight judges elected for individual four-year terms by the General Assemblies of the Supreme Voivodeship Courts. The General Assembly of each Supreme Voivodeship Court, including the Supreme Court of our Voivodeship, elects a member of the National Council of the Judiciary every second term. Every year, these members of the National Judicial Council shall be elected in two voivodeships.

14.1 Independent control institutions ensure, on behalf of the citizens, respect for the rule of law and observance of civil rights in our Voivodeship.

14.3 The Voivodeship Ombudsman, in cooperation with the [national] Ombudsman, guards the freedoms and rights citizens as defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, in this Charter, Basic Resolutions and other normative acts.

14.4 The Voivodeship Ombudsman shall be appointed by the [national] Ombudsman for a five-year term of office from among three candidates proposed by the Voivodeship Senate. Candidates are selected by the Voivodeship Senate by a majority of 60% of weighted votes of the full composition of the Voivodeship Senate.

14.5 Members of the Board of the Voivodeship Chamber of Auditors and the Voivodeship Ombudsman shall be independent from other Voivodeship authorities in their activities, and may not hold any other positions or perform any other professional activities except for the position of professor at a higher education institution.

15.1 The College of Voivodeships is a central public administration body coordinating public policy in the areas falling within the competence of the subnational governments, creating nationwide standards in the provision of public services by subnational governments, and supervising subnational government units.

15.2 The College of Voivodeships meets in the following panels:

15.2.I. The Education Panel;

15.2.II. The Science and Higher Education Panel;

15.2.III. The Entrepreneurship and Technology Panel;

15.2.IV. Family, Labor and Social Policy Panel;

15.2.V. Health Panel;

15.2.VI. Culture, Sport and Tourism Panel;

15.2.VII. Urban Planning and Infrastructure Panel

15.2.VIII. The Agricultural Policy Panel;

15.2.IX. The Justice and Accountability Panel;

15.2.X. The Finance and Voivodeship Property Panel;

15.2.XI. Administration Panel.

15.5. The panel of the College of Voivodeships enacts:

15.5.a. Recommendations for the subnational government authorities of our Voivodeship;

15.5.b. Regulations and technical standards binding on the authorities of the subnational government of our Voivodeship, after consultation with the [national] Minister competent for the matters which the regulations and technical standards relate to;

15.5.c. Draft regulations to be submitted to the [national] Council of Ministers or Ministers for approval;

15.5.d. Draft bills submitted to the Senate of the Republic of Poland.

16.4 The tasks of the National Election Commission related to ensuring the proper functioning of democratic processes in our voivodeship include:

16.4.a. holding general elections, electronic referenda and referenda in subnational government units of our Voivodeship;

16.4.b. running the internet portal demokracja.gov.pl and administering its functionalities enabling the legislative and executive authorities of our Voivodeship to make all decisions and conduct all votes by electronic means, including providing members of the government of our Voivodeship with a safe means of identification for the purpose of participating in voting and other decision-making processes provided for in this Charter and other acts of regional and local law, as well as registering in the system the appropriate weighting of votes of individual members of the authorities, on the basis of law regulations and data provided by the Central Statistical Office;

16.4.c. aadministering the functionalities of the demokracja.gov.pl portal enabling citizens to participate in the exercise of local government in accordance with the provisions of this Charter. 

16.5 The National Election Commission shall consist of the following members:

16.5.a. one judge of the Supreme Voivodeship Court of our Voivodeship elected by the General Assembly of that Court;

16.5.b. one judge each of the Supreme Voivodeship Courts of all other voivodeships elected by the General Assemblies of these Courts;

16.5.c. four judges of the [national] Supreme Court, designated by the First President of that Court, and four judges of the Supreme Administrative Court, designated by the President of that Court.

17.1 Legal acts binding public authorities and citizens in our Voivodeship shall be applied in the following order: 

Acts of national and international law listed in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland	Constitution of the Republic of Poland Acts of international law binding on Poland Statutes  Regulations
Acts of regional law valid throughout our Voivodeship	Voivodeship Charter and Voivodeship Basic Resolutions Inter-Voivodeship Resolutions, adopted in the areas of Close Cooperation Voivodeship Resolutions, passed by our Diet and Voivodeship Senate  Voivodeship Regulations, issued on the basis of a detailed authorization contained in the Voivodeship Basic Resolution, Inter-Voivodeship Resolution or Voivodeship Resolution
Acts of local law valid in a given county	County Charter Resolutions of the County Council	City Charter Resolutions of the City Council Ordinances of the Mayor	Acts of law local in force in a city with county rights
Acts of local law in force in a given commune	Commune Charter Resolutions of the Commune Council Ordinances of the Mayor

 

18.2 The Diet considers bills in the process of Civil Dialogue, unless the bill has been directed to a fast-track legislative path in accordance with the decision of the Presidium of the Diet and the Presidium of the Voivodeship Senate. Civil Dialogue takes place in two phases: consultative and legislative. During the consultation phase, anyone, including Voivodeship Representatives and Voivodeship Senators, may submit public and non-anonymous amendments and comments to the bill. The bill placed on demokracja.gov.pl, as well as its individual provisions, are also subject to public and anonymous evaluation expressed in the form of stars awarded by citizens in two categories: “understandable provision” and “good solution.” During the legislative phase, the applicant or the committee of the Diet takes into account or does not take into account the submitted comments and amendments. If significant changes are made to the design, the process is repeated, organizing the next consultation phase, until the next consultation phase no longer results in significant changes to the design. At this point the project is put to an electronic vote by the Diet.

18.3 Adoption of a draft Voivodeship resolution by the Diet is recorded on demokracja.gov.pl, using distributed, decentralized, shared and replicated blockchain technology. As soon as the draft Voivodeship resolution is passed by the Diet, an electronic vote on the draft resolution begins in the Voivodeship Senate. The Voivodeship Senate may not amend the draft resolution.

18.4 Until the Senate adopts a Voivodeship Resolution, the applicant may withdraw the draft. Adoption of a Voivodeship Resolution by the Voivodeship Senate is recorded on demokracja.gov.pl, using distributed, decentralized, shared and replicated blockchain technology. At the moment of making this entry, the voivodeship resolution is automatically announced in our voivodeship's online official journal, available at modelowe.gov.pl.

18.5. The procedure of creating local law in cities with county rights is regulated, mutatis mutandi, by Sections 18.1.-18.4. The procedure of creating local law in communes and counties is regulated by the charters of these units of the local government of our Voivodeship. These charters must provide for the electronic voting through demokracja.gov.pl portal and for the requirement to announce all passed or issued acts of local law on modelowe.gov.pl.

19.1 Participation of citizens in the process of creating local laws in our Voivodeship takes place primarily through demokracja.gov.pl portal, where an individual profile can be created by any citizen of our Voivodeship who has a trusted profile in a public electronic identification system operated by national authorities. In cooperation with the national authorities, the authorities of our Voivodeship strive to ensure that the largest possible number of adult citizens of the Voivodeship having a profile on demokracja.gov.pl.

19.2. In addition to the participation of in the Civic Dialogue as described in Section 18.2, citizens of our Voivodeship may take part in social consultations organized at an earlier stage of work on the draft Voivodeship resolution by the Voivodeship Council of Ministers, the Voivodeship Minister, as well as the heads of the Voivodeship Executive Agencies, the Voivodeship Ombudsman and the Board of the Voivodeship Chamber of Auditors. Such consultations may be requested by a group of at least 1,000 citizens of our Voivodeship who have the right to vote in the Diet election. The request is submitted electronically via the demokracja.gov.pl. Until the end of the public consultations requested by the aforementioned group of citizens, the Voivodeship Council of Ministers shall not submit to the Diet and the Diet shall not start the deliberations on the draft Voivodeship Resolution in question.

19.3 Everyone has the right to participate in traditional and electronic sessions of our Diet and the Voivodeship Senate. Participation in the traditional session takes place taking into account the available premises, however, the Diet and the Voivodeship Senate shall provide no less than 50 seats for the public, which can be booked (on first-come-first-served basis) through demokracja.gov.pl.

19.4 A group of at least 1,000 citizens of our Voivodeship who have the right to vote in the Diet election may submit a Citizens Legislative Initiative by submitting an electronic motion via demokracja.gov.pl. Such a draft shall become the subject of deliberations of the Diet at the nearest session after submission of the draft, but not later than after 3 months from the date of submission.

19.5 A group of at least 5,000 citizens of our Voivodeship who have the right to vote to the Diet, may request that a session of the Diet be convened in a specific case by submitting an electronic motion via demokracja.gov.pl. The Presidium of the Diet decides whether the citizens' application will be dealt with by a traditional or electronic session or by including a discussion on an issue raised by the citizens in the agenda of the session which also includes other items. The session devoted to the matters raised in the request must be held no later than 3 months after the date of submission. The applicants' representative shall have the right to speak at this session.

19.6 Procedures outlined in Sections 19.2.-19.5. shall also apply accordingly to the participation of citizens in the process of lawmaking in communes, counties and cities with county rights. In the local government units of our Voivodeship with of up to 5,000 inhabitants, a Citizens Legislative Initiative, a request for social consultations or a request to convene a session of the legislative body may be submitted by 100 citizens. In the units of up to 20,000 inhabitants, the corresponding the number is 200 citizens, and in the units above 20,000 inhabitants, it’s 300 citizens.

19.7 To resolve an important matter considered by the subnational government of our Voivodeship as well as in other important matters concerning social, economic or cultural ties of our Voivodeship community, an Voivodeship Electronic Referendum shall be held. The Voivodeship Electronic Referendum is conducted through demokracja.gov.pl portal at the request of the Diet, the Voivodeship Senate, the Voivodeship Council of Ministers or a group of 20,000 citizens of our Voivodeship. Unless other provisions of this Charter state otherwise, the date of the Voivodeship Electronic Referendum and the phrasing of the question or options proposed to the citizens are specified in a Voivodship Resolution. If options are presented for choice, citizens rank the presented options from the most to the least preferred (single transferable vote). All adult citizens of our Voivodeship who have a profile on demokracja.gov.pl portal can take part in Voivodship Electronic Referendum. The identity of a citizen voting in the Voivodeship Electronic Referendum is known only to members and employees of the National Election Commission administering demokracja.gov.pl portal, obliged to maintain secrecy under the threat of criminal liability.

19.8 In the case of a particularly important issue concerning the community of our Voivodeship, and in particular in matters affecting human rights and freedoms, a Voivodeship Referendum shall be held. The Voivodeship Referendum, based on the principles of a general, secret and direct ballot, is convened at the request of the Diet, the Voivodeship Senate or a group of 50,000 citizens of our Voivodeship.

19.9. The result of a Voivodeship Electronic Referendum or a Voivodeship Referendum shall be valid if case of a turnout of at least 20% and binding upon the Voivodeship authorities in case of turnout of at least 40%.

22.2 Voivodeship authorities guarantee adequate funds for communes, counties and cities to exercise their tasks, striving to increase social cohesion in our Voivodeship, reduce differences in the standard of public services provided to citizens and support communes, counties and cities affected by socio-economic problems, through:

22.2.a. Adoption of local taxes and charges constituting own of the commune, county and city budgets;

22.2.b. Ensuring participation in the revenues from voivodeship taxes (including personal and corporate income tax), as own revenues of commune, county and city budgets;

22.2.c. Designation of other revenue as own revenue of the commune, county and cities budgets;

22.2.d. Transfer of subsidies from the voivodeship budget;

22.2.e. Respect of the autonomy of communes, counties and cities in the spending of subsidies directly transferred to them from the national budget.

25.1 Every citizen of our Voivodeship has the right to up-to-date and understandable information on public matters concerning the activities of the subnational government institutions of our Voivodeship. The basic source of this knowledge are two web portals:

25.1.a. The demokracja.gov.pl portal, administered by the National Election Commission, is a place where you can monitor and participate in the process of creating local law in our Voivodeship, including our Diet and the Voivodeship Senate, as well as in commune, county and city councils;

25.1.b. The modelowe.gov.pl portal, administered by our Voivodeship Council of Ministers, is a place where you will find information about all other activities of the subnational government authorities of our Voivodeship, including the voivodeship and local laws already passed (along with the functionality of tracking the history of changes in those laws and automatic notifications of changes coming into force), as well as individual decisions, the composition and structure of our subnational administration bodies and the provision of public services - including those provided electronically.

26.2 The Voivodeship Quality Assessment System for Law and Public Services is a functionality of the modelowe.gov.pl portal, which allows every citizen who has a profile on this portal to:

26.2.a. Evaluate of each provision of a voivodship or local law act published on modelowe.gov.pl, through anonymous evaluation expressed in the form of stars, in two categories: The "understandable provision" and "good solution" as well as in the form of a non-anonymous descriptive evaluation of a given provision.

26.2.b Assessments of public services and interactions with subnational administration in our Voivodship. The assessment expressed in the form of stars is anonymous and public, while a descriptive review is shared with the management of a given agency.

29.3 During the state of a natural disaster on the territory of our Voivodeship, the actions aimed at preventing or removing the effects of the natural disaster are directed by:

29.3.a Mayor - if the state of natural disaster was introduced only in the area of one commune or a city;

29.3.b. President of the County Board of Executives - if the state of natural disaster was introduced in the area of more than one commune being a part of one county;

29.3.c. Minister of the Voivodeship appointed by the Voivode - if the state of natural disaster was introduced in the area of more than one county within our Voivodeship;

29.3.d. National Minister appointed by the Prime Minister - if the state of natural disaster was introduced by the Council of Ministers in an area larger than the area of our Voivodeship.

31.1 In order for this Charter to remain concise and understandable, many fundamental laws of our Voivodeship are set out in separate Voivodeship Basic Resolutions. The provisions of these Basic Resolutions have the same force as the provisions of this Charter. These resolutions are:

31.1.a Voivodeship Basic Resolution on Borders and Territorial Division of the Model Voivodeship and on the Seats of Commune, County, City and Voivodeship Authorities; 

31.1.b. Voivodeship Basic Resolution on the division of tasks between Commune, County, City and Voivodeship Authorities;

31.1.c. Voivodeship Basic Resolution on the Detailed Principles of Functioning of the Authorities of the Model Voivodeship;

31.1.d. Voivodeship Basic Resolution on Transparency and Integrity in the Functioning of Model Voivodeship Authorities;  

31.1.e. Voivodeship Basic Resolution: Introductory and Transitional Provisions.