Within the Second Polish Republic, the Silesian Voivodeship held a special position. It was the only autonomous voivodeship in the polish state. The constitutional act of 15th July 1920 (Dziennik Ustaw Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej No. 73, poz. 497) granted autonomy to the Silesian Voivodeship, it provided for the establishment of a separate legislative body (Silesian Sejm) for the Silesian Voivodeship. Consequently, depending on the subject matter, the legislative competences belonged either to the regular polish Parliament or to the Silesian Sejm. Moreover, the act of 15th July 1920 determined the adoption of the previous legal system into the body of law of the Silesian Voivodeship.
Unlike the other voivodships, which were formed from the former territories of a single partitioning power, the Silesian Voivodeship unit consisted of former Prussian and Austrian territories. This circumstance could have presented the voivodeship of Silesia with particular difficulties of legal fragmentation. For in addition to the new Polish legal acts, Prussian law applied in some parts of the Silesian Voivodeship, and Austrian law in other parts. The organisation of the authorities was also inconsistent due to this particularism. During the inter-war period, a gradual unification of the law began.
At this conference we would like to explore the origins and development of the Silesian Voivodeship from a legal-historical perspective in the broadest sense.