It is unacceptable that the Constitutional Tribunal cannot take decisions due to obstruction of some judges, so the intervention of the legislator is necessary and the proposals in the draft give it a chance, said the head of the Justice Commission, Marek Ast (PiS), told PAP when asked about the draft of PiS for the Constitutional Tribunal.
At the same time, he denied the intention was to “unblock” the Constitutional Court ahead of the hearing on the Supreme Court bill scheduled for May 30.
On Thursday, PiS MPs introduced a bill on “improving the activities of the Constitutional Tribunal” to the Sejm; it is about reducing the minimum number of judges of the General Assembly and the full composition of the Constitutional Court to 9 judges. The amended provisions apply to proceedings initiated and not completed before the date of entry into force of the amendment.
In an interview with PAP, MP Ast stressed that whether the bill will be passed in the Sejm next week depends on President Elżbieta Witek. He admitted that he probably wouldn’t qualify then.
To present the draft at the meeting, we need the opinion of the Sejm Research Bureau
– he said.
However, it is not excluded, because the first reading of this draft could take place and the draft could then be referred to the committee responsible
– added.
Even if passed at this session of the Sejm (May 9 – PAP), these provisions cannot go into effect at the end of May because the draft still has to go to the Senate and the President. the entire legislative process
– emphasized the head of the parliamentary committee on Justice.
As the politician noted, “even with the accelerated trajectory” this process will not be completed before the beginning of June, “so proposes that the Constitutional Tribunal should be able to decide at the end of May whether this full composition should meet on the date set for 30 May – that’s not the point.”
It is about unblocking the Constitutional Tribunal for the future
he stressed.
It is unacceptable that due to the obstruction of some judges of the Constitutional Court – the only body competent to examine whether the statutes are in accordance with the Constitution – it is impossible to take decisions, so that the intervention of the legislator necessary and the proposals in the draft offer such an opportunity
– added.
Ast admitted that the decision of the Marshal of the Sejm also depends on whether the bill goes to the committee he heads or to the Legislative Committee.
The draft amendment to the Law on the Organization and Procedure of the Constitutional Tribunal – as indicated in the explanatory memorandum – aims to streamline the activities of the Constitutional Tribunal by reducing the minimum size of the General Assembly from 2/3 of the number judges of the Tribunal (i.e. 10 judges) to 9 and the full composition of the Tribunal from 11 to 9 9 judges.
The proposed law will streamline the operation of the Tribunal and enable faster handling of critical cases – it will ensure the continuity of the operation of the Tribunal in situations where it is difficult or objectively impossible to assemble the correct number of judges , eg if these places remain vacant or in case of long-term illness of the judge(s).
– we read in the justification of the project.
The date of the hearing on the amendment of the law at the Supreme Court
On May 30, the Constitutional Tribunal set the date of the hearing on the amendment of the law on the Supreme Court. President Andrzej Duda’s request in this case, submitted under the preventive review procedure, will be considered by the Tribunal in its Full Court, chaired by President Julia Przyłębska. Judge Bartłomiej Sochański will be the rapporteur. At least 11 judges of the Constitutional Court are required to convene a full court hearing.
The amendment to the Supreme Court law, according to its authors – PiS deputies – aims to fulfill the most important rule of law “milestone” for the European Commission to unblock money for KPO.
For months, a dispute has been raging in the Constitutional Court over the term of office of Julia Przyłębska as President of the Constitutional Court, which has prevented the Tribunal from convening in full recently. According to some lawyers, including former and current judges of the Constitutional Court, Przyłębska’s term of office expired after 6 years, namely on December 20, 2022, and at the same time she cannot apply for this position again. According to Przyłębska herself, as well as Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and some experts, her term of office will expire in December 2024 – with the end of Przyłębska’s term as judge of the Constitutional Tribunal.
In early January, six judges of the Constitutional Court, including Vice-President Mariusz Muszyński, sent a letter to Przyłębska and the President demanding that she convene the General Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Court and select candidates from whom the President will appoint a new president will nominate.
At the beginning of March, the press service of the Constitutional Tribunal reported that President Przyłębska had convened the General Assembly of Tribunal judges, which “adopted by an absolute majority, in the presence of two-thirds of the Tribunal judges, a resolution stating that there was no reason to convene a meeting to select candidates for president of the tribunal.”
At the beginning of April, the Constitutional Tribunal received a letter from five judges of the Constitutional Tribunal in which they indicated their willingness to proceed with the President’s motion on the Supreme Court Act, but indicated in the letter that all actions of Przyłębska, attributed to the President of the Constitutional Court, are ineffective and contrary to applicable law. Five judges also called for the convening of the General Assembly of the Constitutional Tribunal and the election of a new president. Referring to this letter, Judge Jarosław Wyrembak of the Constitutional Tribunal stated that it is part of a series of actions that seriously threaten Poland’s raison d’être.
Gawkowski: PiS is trying to ridicule the constitutional organs of the state even more
PiS further seeks to ridicule the constitutional organs of the state – for example, the head of the Left Club, Krzysztof Gawkowski, referred to the project submitted by PiS, whereby the minimum number of judges of the General Assembly of the Constitutional Tribunal and the entire composition of the Constitutional Court up to 9 judges.
The draft amendment to the Law on the Organization and Procedure of the Constitutional Tribunal, prepared by PiS deputies, was submitted to the Sejm on Thursday.
Just when we thought the Constitutional Tribunal and the Polish judiciary couldn’t get any worse, it turns out that Law and Justice is knocking on the Tribunal from below, trying at all costs to protect the constitutional organs of the state that were supposed to protect constitutions that to protect democracy
That’s what Gawkowski said at Thursday’s press conference.
He added that they were used to PiS “ordering verdicts in the Constitutional Tribunal over the phone”.
But today Law and Justice goes one step further – it wants to change the law and reduce the quorum in the Constitutional Tribunal from 11 to 9 people, because 9 people have Mr. Kaczyński for the remote control, he has for the telephone, he has to order
he said.
According to the head of the Left Caucus, the Constitutional Tribunal “is not working and will not work as long as the Morawiecki government, supported by Kaczyński’s party, is in power”.
The United Right is responsible for the fact that there is no money from the European Union in Poland today. Lack of money from the European Union is economic betrayal
– he said.
Gawkowski called on President Andrzej Duda to get involved in raising funds from the National Reconstruction Plan because it was he who referred the amendment to the Supreme Court law to the Constitutional Tribunal. According to the authors – PiS deputies – this amendment should fulfill the most important rule of law “milestone” for the European Commission to unblock money for KPO.
KO: The PiS project is another element of pressure in the ZP camp
The draft law introduced by PiS on the reduction of the full composition of the Constitutional Tribunal is another element of exerting pressure and quenching political emotions in the United Right camp, politicians from the Civic Coalition ruled on Friday. According to them, “TK is the core of PiS’s business.”
MP Arkadiusz Myrcha (KO) ruled on Friday during a press conference in the Sejm that the Constitutional Tribunal had become the scene of a battle between Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and PiS President Jarosław Kaczyński.
There was a stalemate of several weeks, many months, we saw a pathetic exchange of opinions between judges (TK – PAP), who wrote open emails to each other, letters encouraging them to finally get to work and focus to the deed on the Supreme Court, because without a president, Andrzej Duda does not want to sign this law – this law that was supposed to unlock money from KPO
said MP.
And when it seemed that we were on the right track, when the views of the government and the Sejm on this issue were received (at the Constitutional Tribunal), the rebel judges politically linked to Zbigniew Ziobro still said that they would not participate in these works
emphasized Mircha.
According to him, “the political dispute between Zbigniew Ziobro and Jarosław Kaczyński is entering a new phase”.
The Constitutional Tribunal has become a specific area for negotiating electoral lists. We know, we see it perfectly every day, that today there is such a muscle tension between Zbigniew Ziobro and Jarosław Kaczyński. Some people take offense, write offensive tweets, don’t invite each other to conventions, and as a result, the worst effect of this is – TK paralysis
noted the MP.
His opinion: “PiS wants to show the ‘Ziobrists’ in the Tribunal today that they can work without them.”
Only this pathetic spectacle has been going on for so long that most Polish citizens are losing hope that these KPO funds will ever come to Poland
said Myrcha.
Today’s bill is another element of pressure from quenching some political emotions in the United Right camp
noted the MP.
According to MP Katarzyna Lubnauer (KO), “The Constitutional Tribunal is the essence of PiS’s activities.”
For example, PiS destroys state institutions, institutions that are supposed to provide civil rights. TK has become a dummy, and a fighting dummy
said the MP.
Devoured, politicized, fighting for power and not thinking about the well-being of the citizens, the well-being of Poland. It is betrayal from the point of view of Poland’s interests, that we do not have money from KPO yet, that Polish citizens pay extra money that other EU countries receive
Lubnauer said.
We demand money from KPO for Poland, we demand that this government resign if it cannot get this money
she added.
tkwl/PAP
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Source: wPolityce