Marshal of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia expressed the hope that it will be possible to convince President Andrzej Duda to reform the Constitutional Court, which will include: draft changes to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. He also noted that political realism forces us to assume that this may not happen.
Yesterday, Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar and representatives of all parties in the ruling coalition presented the principles of a comprehensive reform of the Constitutional Tribunal, which consists of four projects: a law amending the Constitution, a law on the Constitutional Tribunal, a law with provisions for its implementation and resolutions of the Sejm.
Hołownia: The goal is to change the constitution
Referring to the situation of the Constitutional Tribunal today in a conversation with journalists, Hołownia stated that the entire December 13 Coalition will “clean things up.”
We must do everything we can to prevent all four projects from being rejected
– he said.
He noted that the ruling coalition is trying to change the constitution, and that this process could take many months. The Marshal of the Sejm expressed hope that it would be possible to convince the president to make changes.
Political realism leads us to assume that there may be another scenario
– he added at the same time.
Hołownia emphasized that changes in the Constitutional Court are very necessary. As he said, “students are students, the president is not the president,” and the current state of affairs at the Constitutional Court affects the validity of the rulings.
READ MORE: ‘December 13 Coalition’ unveils plan to demolish Constitutional Tribunal. Bodnar: We present the assumptions of legal acts regarding comprehensive reforms
Four projects from the December 13 coalition
Motion for a resolution of the Sejm – included in the package on the reform of the Constitutional Tribunal – includes, among other things: a call for the judges of the Constitutional Tribunal “to resign and thus join the process of democratic change.”
The draft provisions introducing the law on the Constitutional Court recognizes that the judgments of the Constitutional Court delivered in recent years in a session composed of “persons not authorized to give judgment are invalid and have no effect” . The justification specified that these were three people (and their successors) elected in 2015 “in place of the previously duly elected three judges.”
With regard to the current judges of the Constitutional Court, the intention was that they would be able to submit a declaration of retirement within one month of the entry into force of the new provisions, with the exception of persons who are not competent to give judgment. The duties of the President of the Constitutional Court would be taken over by the judge with the longest seniority at the Constitutional Court, and within three months the General Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Court would nominate candidates for the presidency to the President. This position could be filled again for another term, but only once.
According to draft law on the Constitutional Court among other things, the nine-year term of office for a judge at the Constitutional Court would continue. A candidate for judge at the Constitutional Court must be between 40 and 70 years old, have excellent legal knowledge and have the legal qualifications necessary to hold the position of judge at the Supreme Court or the Supreme Administrative Court.
According to the draft, candidates for the judges of the Constitutional Court could be nominated, in addition to – as is currently the case: the Presidium of the Sejm or a group of 50 deputies – also the President, a group of at least 30 Senators, the General Assembly of judges of the Supreme Court, the General Assembly of the Supreme Administrative Court, the National Council of Legal Advisers, the Supreme Council of Lawyers, the National Council of Prosecutors.
Draft law amending the Constitution of the Republic of Poland it assumes, among other things, that on the day the changes come into effect, the terms of office of the current judges of the Constitutional Court will expire, but they will continue to serve until their successors are elected. They then have the right to retire. The judges of the Constitutional Court would be elected by the Sejm with a majority of 3/5 of the votes for a period of nine years, and if this majority were not obtained, the judges would be elected with an absolute majority of votes. The terms of office of the elected judges would be varied: three years for five judges, six years for the next five judges and nine years for the last five judges, in order – as explained by the Ministry of Justice – ‘to secure the position of the elected judges to set’. smooth functioning of the legal system and reducing the risk of a constitutional crisis.” According to the proposed changes, politicians will be able to run for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court after four years from the expiry of the mandate of a Member of Parliament, Senator or member of the European Parliament, or after four years after the end of their employment in government.
Candidates for President and Vice President of the Constitutional Court are selected by the General Assembly of the Constitutional Court and submitted to the President, who appoints them for three years. These provisions are also included in the draft law on the Constitutional Court.
The Constitution would also contain a provision that any court may refer a legal question to the Constitutional Court on the compatibility of a normative act with the Constitution, if the resolution of a case pending before the court depends on the answer to this legal question, and the direct application of the Constitution is insufficient to obtain this resolution.
“You have to do everything…”; “I hope it will work…” – behind these and other generalities, Marshal Hołownia once again hides his intellectual impotence and leaves everything to others. How can the President of the Republic of Poland be convinced to support projects that ignore the principles of the rule of law and destroy the institution of the Constitutional Court?
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PAP/rdm
Source: wPolityce