If this kind of situation occurs and it also stems from the regulations in force, then of course it is partly our fault, PiS MP Marek Ast said on RMF FM radio on Wednesday when asked about the Constitutional Tribunal’s partial paralysis in the matter of the so-called. full composition.
The situation in the Constitutional Tribunal
The head of the parliamentary committee on justice and human rights was questioned by RMF FM about the draft amendment tabled by PiS deputies, which provides for a reduction in the number of judges required for the full composition of the Constitutional Tribunal.
The point is that the Court can sit in full session and try cases
said the MP.
Ast was also asked about the situation in the Tribunal, which has not been able to meet fully for months due to disagreements between judges over Julia Przyłębska’s tenure as President of the Constitutional Tribunal.
If such a situation arises and also arises from the applicable regulations, it is of course partly your fault
he answered.
He added that PiS deputies are concerned about the situation and are doing everything they can to ensure that the Constitutional Tribunal finally meets and decides.
Amendment of the constitutional court law
The draft amendment to the Law on the Organization and Procedure of the Constitutional Tribunal was submitted to the Sejm by PiS deputies in early May; it provides for the reduction of the minimum number of judges of the General Assembly of the Constitutional Tribunal from 10 to nine, and the reduction of the number of full benches of the Constitutional Tribunal – from 11 to nine judges. The amended provisions apply to proceedings initiated and not completed before the date of entry into force of the amendment.
On Tuesday, the Justice and Human Rights Committee recommended that the Sejm approve this amendment. The Sejm will consider the committee’s report on Friday.
A dispute has been raging in the Constitutional Tribunal for months over the term of office of Julia Przyłębska as President of the Constitutional Tribunal, 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 as President of the Constitutional Court expired after 6 years, i.e. December 20, 2022, and at the same time she cannot apply for this position again. According to Przyłębska herself, as well as the prime minister 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.
Six judges of the Tribunal, including Vice President Mariusz Muszyński, sent a letter to Przyłębska and President Andrzej Duda in January, demanding that they convene the General Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal and select candidates from which the president will nominate a new chairman. to point. At the beginning of March, the Press Service of the Constitutional Tribunal reported that President Przyłębska had convened the Assembly of Tribunal Judges, which “passed by an absolute majority, in the presence of two-thirds of the Tribunal’s judges, a resolution stating that there was no reason to convene a meeting to select candidates for president of the tribunal.”
The next hearings in the full composition of the Constitutional Court are scheduled for May 31. On that day at noon, the Tribunal will consider the amendment to the law on the Supreme Court requested by President Andrzej Duda. According to PiS, the amendment to the Supreme Court law is intended to fulfill the most important “milestone” for the European Commission to release funds for the implementation of the national reconstruction plan. “I believe that any verdict in this case will be good because it will clear up constitutional doubts,” Ast said. Earlier in the same day – at 10am – a hearing has also been scheduled on the power dispute between the president and the Supreme Court over leniency law.
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wkt/PAP
Source: wPolityce