The Senate is based in Warsaw and is located in a building which forms part of the Sejm Complex on Wiejska Street, in close proximity to the Three Crosses Square and Ujazdów Castle.

Alongside the Sejm, the President of the Polish Republic, the Council of Ministers and all citizens of Poland, the Senate has the right to take legislative initiatives.

[5] The Senate is also empowered to examine any reports submitted by the Commissioner for the Protection of Citizens' Rights and the National Broadcasting Council.

Other than its significant involvement in the legislative process, the Senate is required to grant its consent in the case of appointment or removal of the President of the Supreme Chamber of Control, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, the Commissioner for Protection of Citizens' Rights and the Ombudsman for Children and the General Inspector for Personal Data Protection.

[7] In 1501 at Mielnik, senators attempted to force the soon to be crowned king Alexander I Jagiellon to devolve all royal powers relating to the governing of the state to them.

Later the Nihil Novi act of 1505 affirmed the right of both the Chamber of Deputies and Senate to propagate common law for the kingdom.

In 1529 the Senate finally reached a decision on its own composition; after the accession of Mazovia to the Kingdom of Poland, the Senate became composed of Roman Catholic diocesan bishops, voivodes, lesser and greater castellans, ministers (grand chamberlain, chancellor, deputy chancellors, grand treasurer and court Marshal), all of whom were appointed for life by the king.

Resultantly, over the period of 1562–69, the Senate lost many of its powers and influence, eventually becoming subordinate to its formerly-equal companion body, the Chamber of Deputies.

In addition to this, senators from the autonomous Duchy of Prussia, a fiefdom of the Polish king, were incorporated after having been absent since gaining autonomy in 1466.

The Senate's sessions were presided over by the king, who was represented in person by the 'grand royal marshal', a figure who could ultimately be described as prime minister of the kingdom.

By 1669 the situation had become so bad that landowners took to the streets and, angered by the magnates machinations during the earlier royal election of Michael I, shot at passing senators.

By 1717 the king was obliged to implement recommendations given by the senators-resident and by 1773 the cardinal laws pertaining to the 'power of legislating for the Republic in three estates' had been passed and the Senate had begun to hold joint debates with the Chamber of Deputies as a single 'united' Sejm.

Additionally, in the Congress Kingdom the Senate was on an equal footing with the Chamber of Deputies, it was then composed of bishops, provincial governors, castellans and princes of the imperial blood.

After a referendum organised in 1946 by the Communist regime, the Senate was abolished in the post-Second World War People's Republic of Poland.

It is estimated, based on actual results obtained after the fall of Communism in 1989, that should the referendum have been fairly organised, the real outcome would have shown that 73% of respondents were in favour of retaining the Senate in the legislative system and the institution would not have been abolished.

Indeed, in Kraków, where the opposition managed to ensure a fair vote, the 'no' result relating to the question as to whether people favoured the abolition of the Senate was recorded as being 84%.

This enormous size of this defeat greatly embarrassed the ruling Polish United Workers' Party and hastened their exit from power, thus paving the way for the establishment of a democratic Poland and the foundation of the third republic, in which the Senate was to become a permanent upper house of the new bicameral legislature.

Initially, this system was employed in a two-round variant, but it was switched to a one-round version as early as the 1991 Polish parliamentary election.

Decorated in a scheme close to that of Pniewski's, which utilises a great number of soft shades of white and grey, the Senate chamber blends well with the rest of its architectural surroundings.

Whilst the Senate chamber does have one elevation incorporating large windows, which look out into the Sejm gardens, the specially-designed curtain, which was designed to cover them must always be drawn during debates and it is, in fact, rare to ever see it open.

The necessity to close the curtains during debates exists to stop the sun's glare from distracting or disturbing senators during plenary sessions.