Attorney General for abandonment by the Constitutional Court of the case concerning the full composition of the Tribunal. What stands out in the job?

The Attorney General spoke in favor of the Constitutional Tribunal stopping the case brought by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s request and concerning the full composition of the Tribunal. The position on Friday is available on the TK website.

Motion by Prime Minister Morawiecki

The motion of the Prime Minister concerns the constitutionality of one of the provisions of the Act on the Organization and Procedure of the Constitutional Court (Article 37; second paragraph, first sentence). This provision provides that “the examination of a case by a Full Chamber shall require the participation of at least eleven Judges of the Tribunal”. There are 15 judges in the Constitutional Tribunal.

Any regulation that excludes or limits the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court constitutes a violation of the Constitution

– indicates the prime minister in the application.

The position of the Attorney General

However, as pointed out in the Attorney General’s position – signed by GUT Deputy Robert Hernand – in the Head of Government’s application “it has not been clearly shown that it is the contested ordinance that is the source of the constitutional problem presented, i.e. depriving the Constitutional Tribunal of the ability to efficiently carry out all the functions and duties designated under the Constitution.”

In a situation where some judges refuse to judge, the direct reason for the inability to complete the full hearing is not the contested regulations, but the attitude of specific judges

– stressed in this position.

On Wednesday, the Constitutional Tribunal would hear the prime minister’s request during a hearing consisting of five judges. On that day, the Chairman of the Jury Panel, Judge Bartłomiej Sochański, informed that the Prosecutor General had received a written statement from the Prosecutor General before the hearing. But, he added, the Constitutional Tribunal has not yet received a written opinion from the Sejm and no representative of this body has attended the session.

The Tribunal argues that the position of the Sejm, i.e. the body that issued the legislative act which is the subject of the proceedings, on this matter is necessary for further proceedings

Judge Sochański noted. Therefore, the Tribunal set a 21-day deadline for the Sejm to present this position and adjourned the hearing to September 7 this year.

For several months, a dispute has been going on in the Constitutional Tribunal over the term of office of Julia Przyłębska as President of the Tribunal, making it difficult for the Tribunal to compose a full chamber of 11 judges. The full composition of the Tribunal is due on January’s amendment to the law on the Supreme Court at the request of the President, which Andrzej Duda referred to the Tribunal in February as part of the preventive review procedure. According to PiS, the amendment to the provisions on the Supreme Court is intended to fulfill the most important “milestone” for the European Commission to release funds for the implementation of the national reconstruction plan.

kk/PAP