From the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, an opinion will be dispatched to the Constitutional Tribunal asserting that the amendment to the Supreme Court statute aligns with the Constitution. The government intends to request the Tribunal to formally confirm this constitutional compatibility, according to government spokesperson Piotr Müller.
Asked during a press briefing in Słupsk about the status of funds from the National Recovery Plan, which Poland has not yet received, the spokesperson stated that no amounts are being lost because the KPO is presently suspended, and that funds shifted in time would not vanish.
What remains possible at this moment is to await the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling.
– Müller referenced the motion submitted by President Andrzej Duda to the Tribunal concerning the amendment to the Supreme Court law, which PiS considers a central milestone for the European Commission to release funds for the National Recovery Plan’s implementation.
Decision of the Constitutional Court
The government spokesman noted that an agreement had been reached the previous year at the level of the European Commission and the government, later implemented in parliament, resulting in the passage of the Supreme Court law amendment. The president then decided to submit it to the Constitutional Tribunal.
Müller emphasized that until the Tribunal issues its decision, there is no alternative course of action available to the government.
The decision is pivotal because any further steps depend on confirming whether the law complies with the Constitution.
– he said.
An official opinion will be sent to the Constitutional Tribunal on behalf of the Prime Minister’s Office, arguing that the law is constitutional and in line with the administration’s request for a declaration of compliance, he noted.
The Constitutional Tribunal has asked the Prime Minister’s Office to present its position on the amendment, a development announced in mid-March by EU Affairs Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk.
Such a position has already been prepared and will be submitted to the Tribunal when needed, Szynkowski vel Sęk stated.
He added that the position is a detailed legal assessment, spanning several dozen pages, aimed at countering the arguments raised in the president’s motion.
In February, the President referred the amendment to the law on the Supreme Court to the Constitutional Court under preventive scrutiny. By late February, Julia Przyłębska, President of the Constitutional Court, announced that the Tribunal had initiated proceedings in response to the President’s request and that a hearing would be arranged soon.
The January amendment to the Supreme Court law, introduced by PiS, includes provisions transferring disciplinary and immunity cases from the Supreme Court’s Professional Liability Chamber to the Supreme Administrative Court. It also outlines substantial changes regarding the review of judicial independence and impartiality.
In February, the President asked the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of several provisions, including the test of judicial independence and the transfer of disciplinary and immunity cases to the Supreme Administrative Court. The application, exceeding one hundred pages, also questions clauses that permit resumption of already concluded disciplinary and immunity cases, as well as the 21-day vacatio legis established for this amendment.
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Mon/PAP