Liberum Veto

This rule evolved from a Unanimity principle, and the latter from the federative character of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was essentially a Federation of countries. Each deputy to a Sejm was elected at a local ''regional'' ''sejm'' ( Sejmik ) and represented the entire region. He thus assumed responsibility to his Sejmik for all decisions taken at the Sejm. A decision taken by a majority against the will of a minority (even if only a single Sejmik ) was considered a violation of the principle of political equality.

It is commonly, and erroneously, believed that a Sejm was first disrupted by means of ''liberum veto'' by a Trakai deputy, Władysław Siciński , in 1652. In reality, however, he only vetoed the continuation of the Sejm's deliberations beyond the statutory time limit. It was only in 1669, in Kraków , that a Sejm was prematurely disrupted on the strength of the ''liberum veto'', by the Kiev deputy, Adam Olizar .

In the first half of the 18th Century , it became increasingly common for Sejm sessions to be broken up by ''liberum veto'', as the Commonwealth's neighbors — chiefly Russia and Prussia — found this a useful tool to frustrate attempts at reforming and strengthening the Commonwealth. The latter deteriorated from a European power into a state of Anarchy .

After 1764 the ''liberum veto'' practically went out of use: the principle of unanimity did not bind ") at the beginning of a session in order to prevent its disruption by ''liberum veto''.

The ''liberum veto'' was abolished by the May 3rd, 1791, Constitution (adopted by a Confederated Sejm ), which permanently established the principle of majority rule.

The achievements of that Constitution , however — claimed to be Europe's first modern codified constitution — were undone by another Confederated Sejm , meeting at Grodno in 1793. That Sejm, under duress from Russia and Prussia, ratified the penultimate, Second Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

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Liberum Veto