I was surprised by President Andrzej Duda’s move; when the president announced that he would submit a request to the Constitutional Tribunal regarding the law on the commission investigating Russian influences, I expected that we would wait for the decision of the Tribunal in this matter – said Marek Ast (PiS), referring to the presidential draft of the amendment of the law to the committee.
On April 14, the Sejm passed a law on the establishment of a commission to investigate Russian influence on the internal security of the Republic of Poland in the years 2007-2022. PiS MPs came up with the initiative for such a law. On Monday, President Andrzej Duda signed the law into law and announced that he would submit it to the Constitutional Tribunal in the course of its subsequent review. The law was published in the Journal of Laws on Tuesday and took effect on Wednesday.
Before noon on Friday, the president announced that he was preparing an amendment to the law on the Committee for the Investigation of Russian Influence. Andrzej Duda called on parliament to approve the amendments as soon as possible. The bill was introduced to the Sejm on Friday night.
PiS MP surprised
The chairman of the parliamentary justice committee, Marek Ast (PiS), was questioned by journalists on Friday about the presidential project. When asked if he was surprised by the president’s move, As replied:
Of course it surprised me. Because when the President announced that he would apply to the Constitutional Tribunal to examine the provisions of the law and its conformity with the Constitution, I rather counted on it and was convinced that we would wait for the decision of the Constitutional Tribunal and then the President, if necessary, would propose amendments to the law depending on the decision of the Tribunal, but it happened otherwise.
When asked if deputies would be elected to the committee, he replied that the law contained certain provisions that said clubs would have 14 days from the law’s entry into force to submit candidacies. After this date, he added, the Sejm can elect them. As he noted, he shares the president’s view that “the committee should consist mainly of experts.”
On April 14, the Sejm passed a law on the establishment of a commission to investigate Russian influence on the internal security of the Republic of Poland in the years 2007-2022. PiS MPs came up with the initiative to appoint her. On May 11, the Senate passed a resolution to reject the bill establishing this commission. A week ago, the Sejm voted against the Senate resolution. On Monday, President Duda announced that he had signed the law and that he would refer it – as a follow-up – to the Constitutional Tribunal. The law was published in the Journal of Laws on Tuesday and took effect on Wednesday.
The purpose of the commission
Under the law, the Commission analyzes, among other things, official activities, creation, duplication, sharing of information with third parties; influencing the content of board decisions; making harmful decisions; making advance directives on behalf of a government agency or company; entering into contracts or disposing of public or corporate funds. The decisions that the committee could take include: revoking an administrative decision issued as a result of Russian influence, issuing a ban on performing functions related to the disposal of public funds for a maximum period of 10 years, and the revocation and prohibition of a security clearance for 10 years. year.
President Duda announced preparations for a change in the law on Friday. He said the presidential draft assumes experts, not lawmakers, will sit on the committee; the appeal will not be addressed to the Administrative Court, but to the Court of Appeal in Warsaw (with the possibility of changing it to the Court of Appeal in the place of residence). The president also wants the remedial measures to be abolished, replaced only by the commission’s judgment that the person does not guarantee the proper conduct of activities in the public interest.
In Friday’s statement, President Duda also assured his “definite support” for the law on investigating Russian influence. He noted that he was “absolutely convinced of the rightness” of the decision to sign it.
gah/PAP
Source: wPolityce