Constitutional Tribunal to Hear Pegasus Commission Case as High-Stakes Debate Continues

The Constitutional Tribunal has scheduled a hearing for September 10 to assess the constitutionality of the Sejm’s decision to establish an investigative committee over the Pegasus software used by state services, according to the Tribunal’s data. An application was filed with the Constitutional Court in March by PiS MPs.

Earlier, in May, the Tribunal issued a protective order that instructed the Pegasus Commission of Inquiry to refrain from any action, factual or legal, until the court issues its final ruling in the case.

Despite this security order, the Commission intends to continue its work and shed light on the scandal at hand, according to its chair, Magdalena Sroka (PSL-TD).

Deputy chair Marcin Bosacki (KO) described the court’s move as a political maneuver aimed at stalling the Pegasus probe, adding that the Commission would persevere and not bow to what he termed pseudo-resolutions of a pseudo-TK.

At the time, PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński stated that after the Constitutional Court’s decision, PiS politicians would lose the right to appear before the Pegasus Investigative Committee.

Commission of Inquiry

In January of this year, Parliament established a committee to examine operational and reconnaissance activities tied to Pegasus, covering the period from November 2015 to November 2023. The inquiry will review the legality, correctness, and purpose of actions conducted with this software by the government, secret services, and police. It will also determine who was responsible for acquiring Pegasus and similar tools for Polish authorities.

According to a group of PiS MPs, the January Sejm resolution creating the commission does not satisfy the requirement of definitive law. They argue that the commission’s scope is inadequately defined, not precise enough, and poorly constructed, a view reflected in the motion’s justification.

Voicing concerns about the legal framework, the plaintiffs claim that imprecision in the statute leads to ambiguity in the contested provisions, and they challenge the breadth of the commission’s mandate.

They argue that the scope of the operational and reconnaissance activities to be investigated is unclear and whether the commission will examine actions conducted exclusively with Pegasus or also with other systems.

Moreover, the resolution did not specify a particular case to be addressed, with critics pointing to the long time frame from 16 November 2015 to 20 November 2023 and noting that the subject matter seems to involve many procedures where operational control was used, whether completed or underway, requiring MPs to probe potential irregularities.

Violations of the Constitution

Another constitutional concern raised by the applicants is that the commission would assess the legality of operational and reconnaissance activities by also reviewing courts’ actions in granting or denying authorization for operational control.

There is an argument that the Commission cannot be granted the power to judge the legality of judicial decisions.

The Constitutional Tribunal will address these issues in a panel chaired by Zbigniew Jędrzejewski, with rapporteurs Stanisław Piotrowicz and Jarosław Wyrembak. The hearing is set to begin on September 10 at 20:00. Zbigniew Bogucki represents the PiS MPs in this matter.

The next sessions of the Pegasus Investigation Committee are anticipated to occur in early September. Former and current officials from the Internal Security Service, Military Intelligence Service, and the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau are expected to be questioned.

The government does not publish Constitutional Court rulings

In March, the Sejm approved a resolution condemning the constitutional crisis from 2015–2023 and noting that decisions by the Constitutional Tribunal, when issued in violation of the law, may infringe legal principles by state bodies. By July, two laws aimed at reforming the Constitutional Tribunal were adopted, with amendments later approved by the Senate and awaiting Sejm consideration. A constitutional amendment on the Tribunal is being discussed in the Senate. Since the Sejm resolution, Constitutional Court rulings have not been published in the Journal of Laws.

READ ALSO: Jacek Ozdoba on the Pegasus Commission: The conclusion is this. Wasted public money. They are proving something that wasn’t there. [citation]

OUR NEWS. The President of the Constitutional Court calls on the Head of the Government Legislation Center to publish the Constitutional Court rulings immediately. [citation]

MD/PAP

Source: wPolityce [citation]