The upcoming session of the Sejm will review the bill amending the Constitutional Tribunal. PiS General Secretary Krzysztof Sobolewski said in an interview with PAP.PL that the measure is not connected to the timing of the president’s motion regarding the Supreme Court case.
On May 4, PiS MPs submitted a draft amendment to the law governing the organization and procedure of proceedings before the Constitutional Court. The proposal would reduce the minimum number of judges in the General Assembly and the full composition of the Tribunal from 15 to 9 judges. The amended rules would apply to cases that began but were not finished before the amendment took effect. For months the Constitutional Tribunal has been embroiled in a dispute over Julia Przyłębska’s term as President of the Tribunal, which has hindered full sessions. Sobolewski stated that the draft would be processed at the next Sejm session and then put to a vote.
Today, agriculture related projects are moving forward, particularly in light of the grain situation resulting from the war in Ukraine. The plan is to address these issues with two laws, which stands as the sole item on the Sejm agenda.
– he added.
The bill amending the Constitutional Tribunal is scheduled for discussion at the next meeting, May 25 and 26, before it proceeds to the Senate. This timing will not be tied to the date of consideration of the President’s motion concerning the Supreme Court law. The two matters are not linked, he emphasized.
Hearing 30 May
The Constitutional Tribunal has set a May 30 hearing on the proposed changes to the Supreme Court law. The president’s request under preventive scrutiny will be examined by the Full Court, chaired by Julia Przyłębska. Currently, the Tribunal requires a minimum of 11 judges to form a full court. The disagreement over Przyłębska’s term as President has prevented a full gathering for months.
The draft amendment to the Law on the Organization and Procedure of the Constitutional Court, submitted by PiS, aims to streamline operations by reducing the General Assembly size from two thirds of the Tribunal’s judges to nine and lowering the full court from 11 to nine judges. The changes apply to proceedings that began and were not completed before the amendment took effect.
During the Sejm session of May 24 to 26, Marek Ast, the chair of the Sejm’s Justice and Human Rights Committee, indicated that the committee would begin work on the draft amendment in that session.
The ongoing dispute at the Constitutional Court concerns views by some lawyers, including former and current judges, that Przyłębska’s term ended in December 2022 and she could not reapply for the president role. Przyłębska herself, along with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and several experts, maintains that her term will end in December 2024 with the end of her service as a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal.
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mly/PAP
Source: wPolityce