The Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said he hopes the constitutional review of the Supreme Court law will be completed in a month or two. He noted that the government has filed a position with the Constitutional Court arguing that the law on the Supreme Court is constitutional.
During a press briefing after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Morawiecki was asked when a ruling might come from the Constitutional Tribunal on the Supreme Court law and whether he could guarantee that, if the law is found constitutional, funds from the National Reconstruction Plan would reach Poland.
“The date of the hearing depends entirely on the Constitutional Court,” the prime minister replied, adding, “I hope this issue is addressed within a month or two.”
Asked what the tribunal’s verdict might be, Morawiecki said, “I have no idea. We have presented our government’s position, and as far as I know, the Sejm is presenting the same position today or tomorrow. It will be given to the Constitutional Tribunal, and it is clear that the provisions must align with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Beyond that, we cannot decide the outcome.”
Morawiecki also pointed out that during a meeting of the LIBE Committee, EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders expressed that the Supreme Court law meets the European Commission’s expectations. He cautioned, however, that the certainty of any disbursement will depend on what arrangements existed when the first application was filed.
“I hope there will be no further grounds to block the process,” the head of the Polish government said.
During the briefing, Morawiecki was asked whether he believed that Zbigniew Ziobro or anyone else could influence the Constitutional Tribunal’s ability to review amendments to the Supreme Court law. He described such speculation as political and personal and emphasized that the judges of the Constitutional Court act independently based on the law, regardless of past affiliations.
He added that, regardless of opinions about the bill, efforts should continue to have the tribunal review the proposal submitted by the president and to reach a decision as soon as possible. “This period of doubt and delay affects us all, and I hope the work moves forward swiftly, though I have no direct influence over the process,” he said.
When asked about the tribunal’s composition and possible political motives behind decisions, Morawiecki described it as a situation similar to the European Commission appointments: new roles are taken, and judges should decide impartially in line with applicable rules, regardless of their past positions, he stated.
The amendment to the Supreme Court Act, pushed in January by PiS, was described by its authors as a milestone intended to unlock funds from the National Reconstruction Plan. On February 10, after the bill reached the president, Andrzej Duda announced his plan to submit the amendment to the Constitutional Tribunal for preventive scrutiny, urging the court to address the case promptly.
The president’s submission questioned several core provisions of the Supreme Court amendment, including the independence test for judges, transfers of disciplinary and immunity cases from the Supreme Administrative Court, and the 21-day vacatio legis for the amendment.
The prime minister’s comprehensive statement, nearly 100 pages long, appears on the Constitutional Tribunal’s website as the first written input in this case, dated March 24 of this year.
Formal positions on the case must be provided by the Attorney General and the Sejm. The Constitutional Tribunal has not yet set a date to hear the case, and the tribunal is urged to address the president’s request fully. A full court hearing requires the presence of at least 11 judges.
— gah/PAP