Sejm. The ruling coalition wants to restore the rank of the Constitutional Tribunal. PiS and Konfederacja support the rejection of the reform

On Wednesday, the Sejm debated for over two and a half hours on the draft laws regarding the Constitutional Tribunal, signed by members of the government coalition.

One is a draft of a new act on the Constitutional Tribunal, the other contains introductory provisions to this act. Together with the already adopted resolution of the Sejm and the proposal to change the constitution, they constitute a package of comprehensive reform of the Constitutional Tribunal – presented at the beginning of March by the head of the Ministry of Justice, Adam Bodnar and politicians of the ruling coalition. Both bills – as parliamentary bills – were submitted to the Sejm in March.

– The coalition's commitment on October 15 was to repair the Constitutional Tribunal and this is the result of the will of 12 million citizens – said Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz from the Civic Coalition, presenting the project on behalf of the applicants. She added that the draft act on the Constitutional Tribunal “is supported by several dozen non-governmental organizations and has undergone expert consultations during three scientific conferences.”

In Gasiuk-Pihowicz's opinion, “unlike the existing Constitutional Tribunal laws, the current project was not created on a whim and will not be adopted expressly at night or in violation of the democratic principles of law-making and the rules of proper legislation.”

As she said, the project restores trust in one of the most important constitutional bodies. – We want to ensure that the Constitutional Tribunal is truly independent, competent and effective – she emphasized.

– We want to ensure that its composition is selected in a transparent manner, respecting democratic principles and the rule of law – she assured, adding that “first of all, we want a strong and credible institution that will ensure compliance with constitutional principles and rights.”

According to the drafts, judgments issued in recent years by the Constitutional Tribunal composed of “persons not authorized to adjudicate” – as it was written – “are invalid and have no effect”.

The justification specified that these were three people (and their successors) elected in 2015 “in place of the three previously duly elected judges.” Therefore, as, among others, stated, all procedural activities performed in proceedings before the Constitutional Tribunal with the participation of these “unauthorized persons” require repetition.

Barbara Dolniak, on behalf of the Civic Coalition club, assessed that in recent years “the Constitutional Tribunal has become a tool in the hands of PiS politicians used to implement political tasks.” – It is not the interest of the citizen, but the interest of the party that has become the key goal – said the MP. According to her, it was not without reason that the president of PiS, Jarosław Kaczyński, called the president of the Constitutional Tribunal, Julia Przyłębska, “his social discovery.”

Patryk Jaskulski from the Civic Coalition appealed “to every conscience, to everyone who has democracy in their hearts” to support these projects. – Let's restore the Tribunal's rank and importance, let's restore its role – said the KO MP.

Polish 2050-TD MP Tomasz Zimoch appealed: “Let's protect the Tribunal against destructive rust. We should all make sure: the Sejm, the Senate, and also the president, that the Constitutional Tribunal will finally start serving people and defending their rights, and not politicians to deal with their interests.” In his opinion, both projects are “a hand to end the dispute beyond political divisions.” As he emphasized, the proposed changes are “extremely pro-citizen”.

He was echoed by Michał Pyrzyk from PSL-TD. “The purpose of the draft laws on the Constitutional Tribunal is to create lasting foundations allowing for the reconstruction of the authority of the Constitutional Tribunal and the restoration of objective, reliable and independent control of the constitutionality of law in Poland,” he argued. “This project is the end of the corruption of the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland that has been going on for years,” the PSL MP emphasized.

According to Katarzyna Ueberhan (Left), with the bills regarding the Constitutional Tribunal, the current majority is taking “steps to erase the sins of the previous government.” “PiS's misrule was created by post-constitutional institutions. The specters of bodies parasitizing on empty names, and it all started with the Constitutional Tribunal and unpublished judgments,” said the Left MP.

Krzysztof Szczucki (PiS) said that the drafts on the Constitutional Tribunal “are a judgment passed on this institution.” – These two projects are actually about three issues. First: removal of the duly elected president of the Constitutional Tribunal and all judges of the Constitutional Tribunal – argued the PiS MP.

– Secondly, the annulment of judgments that do not suit the ruling coalition of liquidators – Szczucki listed. And thirdly – as he added – it is about “complete subordination of the Constitutional Tribunal to this coalition.”

According to the PiS MP, “when we compare these projects with the current legal order, apart from these three fundamental points, there is one more issue – dismissing all Constitutional Tribunal employees who do not meet the expectations set by Donald Tusk, Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz, or someone else from coalition of December 13”.

The PiS MP said that the authors of the projects “also did not abandon the role of the judge's oath.” – The provision of the proposed act denies Constitutional Tribunal judges the opportunity to add the words: So help me God. Well, this hasn't happened in the Polish system yet. You are once again telling us to return to the People's Republic of Poland. This is a perfect example of how you want to break the conscience of judges, he said.

– Calling you defenders of democracy, defenders of the rule of law is like calling road pirates defenders of road safety – said Szczucki.

Michał Wawer from Konfederacja was equally fiercely opposed to the projects. – The projects bring chaos, lawlessness and dictate by one side of the political dispute; the cure is worse than the disease, he said.

Wawer admitted that “PiS destroyed the Constitutional Tribunal and PiS politicians should be held accountable for what they did to the Polish judiciary,” but – as he said – “the very idea of ​​repealing the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal by law is clearly, completely illegal.” .

Both the representatives of PiS and Confederation submitted motions to reject both projects in the first reading.

Gasiuk-Pihowicz reminded that if the Constitutional Tribunal projects were referred for further work, on Friday – as the chairwoman of the Justice and Human Rights Committee – she would submit a request for a public hearing on both projects.

At the end of the debate, the head of the Ministry of Justice, Adam Bodnar, pointed out that the projects also need to be discussed with the Ombudsman, who raised objections to them. In the opinion submitted to the Speaker of the Sejm, the Ombudsman pointed out, among other things, that the incorrect composition of the Constitutional Tribunal does not automatically lead to the recognition of its acts as invalid.

– We simply decided in this project that since there are judgments issued with the participation of so-called double judges, we need to approach these judgments somehow. And we decided that the statutory solution proposed in the introductory provisions is this approach, and Professor Wiącek has a different opinion. And I think that we simply need to meet, talk and think about how, after the first reading, we should approach it and what solution we should ultimately adopt – said Bodnar.

The Sejm will decide on the motions of PiS and Confederation to reject the projects in a vote, most likely on Friday before noon.