A slimmed budget for the National Council of the Judiciary, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Tribunal. “Let them see the Polish zloty twice

The government coalition wants to force the Constitutional Tribunal, the Supreme Court and the National Council of the Judiciary to reflect by limiting the budget of these institutions for next year.

– Let them look at the Polish taxpayer's zloty twice before they spend it – says Patryk Jaskulski, MP of the Civic Coalition and member of the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Human Rights. – The idea was to allocate all savings from these institutions to the effects of fighting the flood – says Tomasz Trela, an MP from the Left.

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The initiative came from the government from the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister. The majority of MPs from the Justice Committee were against increasing the budgets of institutions, and now it is up to MPs from the Finance Committee to calculate how much to change them specifically. These are institutions that, according to the government, operate illegally, deepening the legal chaos, and institutions that – in their opinion – are used by today's opposition politicians.

– First, we will ask representatives of these institutions what they want to spend this money on, why they set higher budgets, and then we will propose changes and these will be cuts – announces Tomasz Trela.

Representatives of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Tribunal requested an increase in expenditure for next year – by PLN 50 million and PLN 6 million, respectively, and in the case of the National Council of the Judiciary – by over PLN 2.5 million.

Their representatives explain that this is mainly due to the increase in salaries and costs of current operations, but there are also new expenses. – Unjustified expenses, such as purchasing apartments for members of the Supreme Court or trying to pay for additional protection – says Patryk Jaskulski.

PiS politicians defend the institution. The same ones who, by changing the law, together with the president, caused chaos in the Polish justice system, undermined the credibility of these institutions and politicized them. – Of course, institutions you don't like need to be punished – comments Law and Justice MP Marek Suski.

Today, PiS politicians accuse those in power of breaking the law. – They declared war on the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal and the National Council of the Judiciary. They do not recognize these institutions. This is pure anarchy. Now they assume that they will starve these institutions, comments Law and Justice MP Andrzej Śliwka. – Not with hunger, we just want to show categorical opposition to something with which we fundamentally disagree – says Paweł Śliz, MP from Poland 2050 and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

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Regardless of the legal and political assessment of the activities of each of these institutions, politicians from the ruling team announce that the reduction of their budgets will not result in reduced salaries of regular employees or their dismissals.

– There are also officials working in the National Council of the Judiciary, ordinary people who are punished because the composition of the National Council of the Judiciary is inconsistent with the Polish constitution – says Anna Maria Żukowska, an MP from the Left and a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Human Rights. – You cannot starve an institution – he adds.

The Institute of National Remembrance will also have a smaller budget