Former President of the Constitutional Tribunal Marek Safjan believes that the Sejm’s resolution on the Constitutional Tribunal is very necessary because, although it “will not finally resolve the matter”, it is an important step in the organization of the Constitutional Tribunal legal system in Poland.
A bill was submitted to the Sejm last night draft resolution on eliminating the consequences of the constitutional crisis of 2015-2023 in the context of the activities of the Constitutional Court. According to the agenda, MPs will discuss it this afternoon.
This is a very necessary resolution. I disagree with those who say it is only symbolic because it has no legal consequences
– said in an interview with PAP the former President of the Constitutional Tribunal, Prof. Marek Safjan.
““Organizing reality”?
In his opinion, “this resolution brings order to the reality that has arisen as a result of the existence of the Constitutional Court in a mutilated, deformed form with double judges.”
We are dealing with an official confirmation that these judges have been elected contrary to the principles of the Constitution and are not judges
– Safjan emphasized.
According to him, if the Sejm adopts a resolution, it has “legal and significant power” because it implements court decisions, both Polish and European. In this context, he mentioned the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, the judgment of the Constitutional Court of 3 December 2015, and the case law of the High Administrative Court and the Supreme Court.
According to Safjan, “the next step is to state that the judgments passed with the cooperation of dual judges are burdened with irreparable defects.” According to him, it is a good idea to publish in Monitor Polski a list of invalid rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal because, as he said, this removes legal uncertainty.
The former President of the Constitutional Court noted that “the state of legal uncertainty is painful for citizens.”
Judgments involving dual judges are actually invalid from the outset, but stating this in this document, which shows that this is the position of the legislative body, has legal significance and translates into greater legal certainty.
– Safjan noted.
He cited the Constitutional Court’s ruling on abortion as an example.
It happened that people affected by criminal proceedings in this regard could not effectively defend themselves, citing the existing legal situation, because the Public Prosecution Service appealed the invalid judgment of the Constitutional Court. There are more such examples to give
– he said.
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Resolution as message
According to Safjan, the proposed resolution sends a message that is an important step in organizing the entire legal system in Poland, because the Constitutional Tribunal has a key position in this system: checking the constitutionality of the law.
Of course, the resolution does not resolve the issue systematically, definitively and once and for all. As a resolution it has limited capabilities. But this is an announcement that these changes are coming. And these are the changes that I, as President of the Constitutional Court, mentioned earlier: a properly constructed set of criteria for candidates, while maintaining electoral mechanisms that guarantee political balance.
– he pointed out.
And the fact that judges must be elected in a manner that is free from purely political entanglements and must be people who have not engaged in public activities for some time before their election.
– added.
According to the former President of the Constitutional Court, the Sejm resolution will also send an extremely important signal to the European Union, which “will see the determination of the ruling majority in its quest to correct the law.”
This will consolidate the belief that Poland is moving towards normality and consolidate the norms of a democratic constitutional state. And this will likely translate into the release of European funds and the recognition that Poland is no longer in violation of EU law. It will allow us to regain the position of an important Member State that has been lost over the past eight years
said Safjan.
““Organizing reality” through parliamentary resolutions to – as Safjan claims – consolidate the belief in a “return to normality” is probably the best proof that we are far from this normality.
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– ONLY HERE. Prof. Łabno comments on the draft changes of the Constitutional Court: judges have a constitutionally guaranteed individual term of office
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Source: wPolityce