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This article is devoted to the question of the precedence of the 1815 Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland. The paper has been divided into three major parts.

In the first, introductory part the origins of the 1815 Constitution are discussed. This part of the article presents the current state of the art of the polish legal history concerning the genesis of this highest normative act of the 1815–1830 Polish Kingdom. Following the explanations provided by of S. Askenazy, H. Izdebski, D. Nawrot and S. Smolka, it has been expounded that the idea of a Constitution for a semi-independent Polish Kingdom was conceptualised as a propaganda instrument in the intellectual tug of war between France and Russia over the Polish society during the Napoleonic Wars. The Constitution itself had been being elaborated since 1811 with the participation of various polish politicians of the pro-Russian party, including F. K. Drucki-Lubecki, M. K. Ogiński, L. Plater and prince A. Czartoryski. After the ground-breaking victory of the sixth coalition spearheaded by Alexander I Romanov over the French forces, it became a founding stone of the newly re-established Polish Kingdom.

In the next part of the this short study, the main regulations of the Polish 1815 Constitution have been outlined, with the special focus on those regulations which pertain to the precedence of Constitution and to the criminal law.

The third main part of the article discusses the issue of the supremacy of the 1815 Constitution with reference to its relationship with the ordinary legislation adopted in the Polish Kingdom. It has been illustrated with an analysis of legislative process of the only (apart from the Civil Code of the Kingdom of Poland 1825, which was a very slight modification of the Napoleonic Civil Code) fully-fledged codification of the entire branch of law which succeeded in being adopted by the Parliament (“Sejm”) of the Kingdom of Poland: the Criminal Code of 1818. Those parliamentary debates have so far not been analysed more extensively (the valuable, yet short reference made by J. Śliwowski—to whom I am very indebted for his great and inspiring study on this piece of legislation—in his monograph almost 60 years ago can hardly be considered to be exhausting in this respect) in the literature of the subject. The speeches held by the polish deputies to Sejm of the year 1818 explicitly corroborate that a rhetorical argument of a possible unconstitutionality or conversely, congruence with the 1815 Constitution, was widely invoked by both the supporters and opponents of the project. This striving for coherence of the to-be-legislated normative act with the Constitution was also reflected in the adopted legal text of the Code itself, which was to a great extent compatible with the stipulations of the 1815 Constitution. Thus, this short investigation leads to the conclusion that at this point of the development of the Polish constitutional discourse it can be stated that ground-breaking idea of the supremacy of the Constitution was already clearly recognised.

Deltas are distinct in terms of the concentration of freshwater, nutrients and especially sediment inputs to a small concentrated area of the coastal zone, creating conditions ideal for fertile ecosystems, dense population and high economic activity. Ecosystem services within these areas can provide services significant in the maintenance of well-being for both rural and urban populations. There are significant feedbacks between environmental processes and social dynamics that drive the economic and well-being outcomes for current and future populations. This chapter reviews ecosystem services in deltas and summarises the state of knowledge in this field on how to manage delta ecosystems for the benefit of resident populations and wider society.

Deltas are dynamic and the relationships between ecosystem services, livelihoods and well-being within them are multi-scalar and often non-linear. Social mechanisms of access and management vary between different bundles of ecosystem services: a social-ecological system approach therefore identifies the trade-offs and interactions which occur across diverse temporal and spatial scales and communities. Although Bangladesh is moving towards a more urbanised future, access to ecosystem services continues to be critical to the well-being of populations in rural areas. However, rights to those services are available to a diminishing few. Current winners and losers from development processes are persistent, and ecosystem services are unlikely to lift the rural poor out of poverty without a complete restructuring of social and economic relations in rural areas.

Bangladesh is identified as an impact hotspot for sea-level rise in multiple studies. However, a range of other factors must be considered including catchment management, socio-economic development and governance quality, as well as delta plain biophysical processes. Taking an integrated assessment approach highlights that to 2050 future changes are more sensitive to human choice/policy intervention than climate change, ecosystem services diminish as a proportion of the economy with time, continuing historic trends and significant poverty persists for some households. Hence under favourable policy decisions, development could transform Bangladesh by 2050 making it less vulnerable to longer-term climate change and subsidence. Beyond 2050, the threats of climate change are much larger, requiring strategic adaptation responses and policy changes that must be initiated now.

The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta in Bangladesh is one of the world’s most dynamic deltas and supports high population densities based on large provisioning ecosystem services. Analysing the future of these ecosystem services and associated human livelihoods represents a complex multi-scale, multi-disciplinary problem. A conceptual framework aims to identify mechanisms that link physical processes (including climate change) with ecosystem services and social outcomes providing a shared basis for other analysis, including the design of an integrated model. This also allows the characteristics of co-production of ecosystem services at the landscape scale and significant trade-offs between types of ecosystem services to be incorporated. Adopting a systems-based approach of this scale is challenging but essential to support the effective management of coastal Bangladesh.

Coastal Bangladesh has experienced social and economic progress over the last 30 years. Rising average income, literacy levels and health outcomes have occurred, often by developing local ecosystem services such as agriculture and fisheries. At the same time, other ecosystem services such as water availability and quality and land stability have deteriorated. Environment-income analysis suggests that the point at which economic wealth feeds into effective environmental protection has not yet been reached for water resources. The study area is characterised by widespread non-stationary dynamics and slowly changing variables, declining resilience, and a growing probability of major system changes in the near future. This suggests that national policies need to address such potential changes to enable sustainable pathways for delta development and management.

Ecosystem services are governed and affected by different legal, institutional and policy frameworks. Hence, formal documented policies, regulations and statutes of Bangladesh are examined where relevant. This facilitates greater understanding of the influence that governance has on the accessibility to the benefits derived and how this might then affect livelihoods and well-being. A range of factors are found to determine effectiveness in terms of general adaptive governance principles, with coordination, enforcement and rigidity being important issues. In addition, policy development in crucial areas may not be supported by associated legal frameworks, undermining implementation. However, workable (and dynamic) combinations of primary and secondary legislation are both possible and desirable to achieve flexible policy instruments.

Health, livelihoods and well-being are interdependent, and recognising the link with ecosystem services is essential. Food shortages, limited sources for drinking water affected by salinity levels, reduction in the protective systems of the delta and change in the frequency or intensity of extreme events can all have impacts on the health and well-being of the local population. Effects on health can be caused by extreme weather events such as cyclones or slow onset changes in ecosystems related to climate and land-use change. For example, evidence shows that skin diseases, acute respiratory infection, cardio-vascular diseases, strokes and diarrhoeal diseases are related to rising salinity levels. Recognising and understanding the link between health and ecosystem services is essential for government and health planners.

Bangladesh is a highly flood prone country, reflecting the strongly seasonal regional climate and monsoon river flows of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers, its low-lying nature and its position at the north of the Bay of Bengal. Flooding can be classified as either fluvial, tidal, fluvial-tidal or storm surge, each of which create different flood extents and associated damages. Cyclones and associated storm surges can breach embankments threatening life and livelihoods on the coast, while extreme fluvial events can cause extensive flooding of up to a quarter of the national land area. Existing management interventions, including flood warnings, cyclone shelters, and coastal embankments, mitigate flood inundation and its consequences. However, they can affect the hydro- and morphodynamics in the area influencing future flood events.

Scenario development for integrated analysis focuses on adopting an interdisciplinary approach covering key elements of the biophysical environment as well as changes in livelihoods, education, economics and governance both locally and internationally. Most importantly, the development of these scenarios generates a dialogue across institutions, stakeholders and sectors, with the use of common data and agreement on shared qualitative and quantitative futures. The scenarios adopted combine three alternative future climates and three socio-economic development pathways. Quantification of these issues included estimation based on published data, expert knowledge and stakeholder engagement, particularly where data are most uncertain or unknown. This chapter demonstrates this approach for coastal Bangladesh.