“It will be in accordance with the law as we understand it,” Donald Tusk said a few months ago about “reforms” regarding the rule of law and public media. This clear announcement of violating the law and the Constitution apparently appealed to the representatives of the so-called judicial caste people. However, it is shocking that Prof. Stanisław Bierant, former Vice President of the Constitutional Court!
A retired judge of the Constitutional Tribunal ‘rewrites’ the law in an interview for the website OKO.press. Of course, with a creative omission of the Constitution, to which he referred so often.
I believe that the Sejm, the Government, the Prosecutor General and other potential participants in the proceedings should not recognize Julia Przyłębska as President of the Constitutional Court, nor recognize the consequences of her activities. The Tribunal also has no vice-president because the president did not choose him from the candidates nominated to him a few months ago. Furthermore, by law, the vice president performs duties assigned by the president while the president is absent
– argued Prof. Biernat.
The professor “forgot” that the judges of the Tribunal themselves decided to appoint Judge Julia Przyłębska as President of the Constitutional Court.
READ MORE: The Constitutional Tribunal has resolved the issue of the term of office of the Tribunal President! It was determined that there were no grounds for calling a meeting to elect candidates
The General Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Court, by an absolute majority and in the presence of two-thirds of the judges of the Constitutional Court, adopted a resolution declaring that there are no grounds for convening a meeting to select candidates for the to elect a Constitutional Court. Chairman of the Tribunal.
So essentially the Court is currently unable to function and take any action, either internally or externally. It is an inactive, completely ‘hollowed out’ state organ. Government authorities must draw practical conclusions from this. It is not possible for her to hear cases, pronounce judgments or submit them for publication in the Journal of Laws
– tells his story Prof. Biernat.
You should ask the professor what the ‘hollowing out’ of a constitutional body of the Polish state means and in which regulations we can find the institution of ‘hollowing out’ an organ. It is worth reminding the former Vice President of the Constitutional Court that the Tribunal’s rulings are final and not subject to any revision. This is stated in the Constitution. It should also be noted that attacks on constitutional bodies and attempts to overthrow or violate them are subject to criminal liability.
A resolution instead of a constitution?
However, this is not the end of the professor’s absurdities. It is clear that he is a strong supporter of highly illegal activities, such as replacing the constitution with declarative resolutions of the Sejm. These are intended to shorten the terms of office of the Constitutional Court and the National Council for the Judiciary.
As far as the Constitutional Court is concerned, a special constitutional law would then have to be issued, which would interrupt the term of office of the members of the Tribunal and lay the ground for new elections of judges. The Constitution should specify the procedure for the election of the judges of the Constitutional Court, and in particular regulate the stage at which the qualifications of candidates are submitted and verified. It is worth considering whether the Sejm alone should have the power to elect Tribunal judges. As regards the National Council for the Judiciary, a provision should be included in the Constitution explicitly stating that fifteen members of the judiciary are elected by the judicial community.
– he said in an interview for OKO.press.
This argument is difficult to comment on, but a fan of Donald Tusk will probably like it. It is clear that the provisions of the Constitution are higher than the Sejm’s resolution. Mr. Prof. Biernat must be aware of this.
The constitution is the most important law
Prof. Biernat also complains that the Polish Constitutional Tribunal has recognized the superiority of the Constitution over EU law. It does not bother him that his mentor and colleague from the Constitutional Court, Prof. Andrzej Rzepliński.
Today, many rulings of the current Constitutional Tribunal are downright harmful to Poland’s place in Europe. The result of the Constitutional Court’s bizarre 2021 rulings on the relationship of Polish law to EU law is the European Commission’s complaint to the CJEU a few months ago about failure to fulfill treaty obligations. [skarga dotyczy TK Przyłębskiej – red.]
– we read in an interview for OKO.press.
On this occasion, it should be recalled that the Constitutional Tribunal chaired by M. Safjan (current Judge of the CJEU) decided in 2005 that “the Constitution remains – by reason of its special power – the supreme law of the Republic of Poland, in regarding all international agreements binding on the Republic of Poland”. The Tribunal made a similar decision a few years later, when it was chaired by Prof. Andrzej Rzepliński, who justifies that “EU law cannot impose solutions that are in contrary to the Polish Constitution”
– Zbigniew Kuźmiuk recently recalled on the website wPolityce.pl.
In the text preceding the interview with Prof. The term ‘5-pack for the rule of law’ is used casually, clearly placing the entire discussion in the vicinity of a cheap discount store and beer shelves. It is a pity that the former Vice President of the Constitutional Court is standing next to this plank.
Oko.press, WB
Source: wPolityce
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.