The president has escaped accountability and because of an internal dispute, the Constitutional Tribunal will not soon decide on the change of the Supreme Court and no money will come from the KPO, opposition politicians believe. The president, who had constitutional doubts, made the decision he considered the best, said KPRP minister Małgorzata Paprocka.
President Andrzej Duda announced on Friday that he is referring the amendment to the law on the Supreme Court to the Constitutional Tribunal under the preventive review procedure, meaning that the law will not come into force until the Tribunal has ruled on its constitutionality. At the same time, the president appealed to the judges of the Constitutional Tribunal to deal with the amendment immediately. Of the changes in the disciplinary system of judges, the European Commission has made the payment of funds from the National Reconstruction Plan to Poland conditional.
Politicians of various options referred to the president’s decision on Sunday. Opposition representatives drew attention to the current situation in the Constitutional Court.
What will TK do?
At the end of last year, some lawyers, including former judges of the Constitutional Court, pointed out that the term of office of the President of the Constitutional Court, Julia Przyłębska, will expire after 6 years, i.e. on December 20, 2022, and at the same time she will not run again on this can apply for a position. In early January, six judges of the Constitutional Court sent a letter to Przyłębska and the president, demanding that Przyłębska convene the General Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Court and select candidates from which the president will elect a new president. The authors of the letter believe that under the Law on the Organization and Procedure of the Constitutional Court, Przyłębska’s term as president has come to an end. Przyłębska replied that the six judges’ letter “has no legal basis and is meaningless”. According to her, her position as president will expire at the end of her term as judge of the Constitutional Court, i.e. in December 2024.
Poland 2050’s Michał Kobosko assessed Polsat News that the amendment “really won’t come into effect” and that what is happening today in the Constitutional Tribunal indicates that the Tribunal will not be able to make a decision, and certainly not before the elections.
Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, MP for the PSL-Polish coalition, believes that the president has fallen into a difficult situation and has decided that “it will not be played by the ruling camp”.
This is a battle in the power camp and the president was here to help one side or the other. The president said no. He turned that potato. He threw it into a deep cellar
said Bartoszewski.
The drama of Bartoszewski and Kierwiński
He also pointed out that the Constitutional Tribunal is divided into two unequal parts and that there is no majority of judges who will unanimously consider this political issue.
This issue will not be resolved in this term, which means that Poland will not receive money for KPO, and this is a disaster for all Poles
Bartoszewski added.
KO MP Marcin Kierwiński took a similar view.
I don’t think Poland will get money from the KPO because I don’t think this law, or milestones in general, will be respected by PiS
– he said.
According to him, the president “hid his head in the sand” and walked away from responsibility. According to the KO MP, in the Constitutional Tribunal “we will have to deal with what we are dealing with in the camp of the divided rightists in the parliamentary chamber – there will be an attempt to convince these judges, an attempt to deal with each other to go, perhaps in the traditional way because PiS also offers several interesting proposals “.
The best possible decision
Małgorzata Paprocka, Secretary of State at the President’s Chancellery, answered the deputies.
Today the President says: it is very good that an agreement has been reached again (with the European Commission), but I have very serious constitutional doubts about this bill
she pointed out.
She pointed out that the constitution leaves so much room for the president because the president is the guardian.
The president made the decision he deemed best for the citizens and the Polish judiciary
she added.
“knife war”
In practice, according to left-wing MP Adrian Zandberg, the president’s decision will mean that Poland will not receive money from KPO in the coming months. He pointed out that the Constitutional Tribunal will not rule soon on the Supreme Court novella, because a “knife war” is going on in it.
This law dealt with whether or not Poland would receive PLN 160 billion. You haven’t been able to deal with it for two years, it’s a political failure. First you didn’t get along with your own group, then you didn’t get along with your own president, and finally the president sends this bill in the form of a superveto to the Constitutional Tribunal, where it is known that the entire bench will not comply
– said Zandberg to the deputies of the ruling coalition.
“The Tribunal will make decisions in accordance with its jurisdiction and the law.”
Radosław Fogiel, member of parliament of PiS, head of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, responded to the left-wing member of parliament. He stated that his party was doing everything possible to ensure that the money from KPO reached Poland.
At the same time, he admitted that he hoped that the amendment to the law on the Supreme Court would be referred to the Constitutional Court for follow-up, ie after signature by the president.
I respect how the constitution governs relations between different institutions and different government departments in Poland. The Sejm did its job, the president had the right to make the decision he made, and now this decision belongs to the Constitutional Tribunal. Regardless of whether one has a good or worse personal relationship, this Tribunal will make decisions in accordance with its jurisdiction and in accordance with the law
he assured.
Confederation deputy Jakub Kulesza ruled that taking this case to the Constitutional Tribunal “puts the matter in the hands of Jarosław Kaczyński”.
The fact that there is currently a personal conflict in the Constitutional Tribunal, composed by Jarosław Kaczyński, does not mean that in such an important case the Tribunal will simply not stick to it if necessary
he said.
READ ALSO:
– ONLY HERE. Prof. Grabowska: The president has made a prudent decision regarding the Supreme Court law. It definitely does not close the road from Poland to KPO funds
— Head of the KPRP: According to the president, the law on the Supreme Court was not a good legal act from the start. And that is, let me put it this way, a euphemism
I have/PAP
Source: wPolityce