The Constitutional Tribunal issued a security measure regarding the possibility of bringing the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, Maciej Świrski, before the State Tribunal. The adjudicating panel included, among others, the president of the Constitutional Tribunal, Julia Przyłębska, and former PiS MP Krystyna Pawłowicz.
On Thursday Constitutional Tribunal issued a security order in which it orders, among others, the bodies of the Sejm, including its Speaker, “to refrain from carrying out any factual or legal actions related to the submitted preliminary application to hold Maciej Świrski, a member of the National Broadcasting Council, liable before the State Tribunal.” This state of affairs is to last until the Constitutional Tribunal issues a ruling ending the proceedings in this case.
The adjudicating panel consisted of five people, including the president of the Constitutional Tribunal, Julia Przyłębska, and a former PiS MP. Krystyna Pawłowicz. The decision was made unanimously, the meeting was closed to the public.
He published the entry with the Constitutional Tribunal's decision on social media PiS MP Krzysztof Szczucki.
Application in the Świrski case
In May, a group of 185 MPs submitted a preliminary motion to bring Świrski before the State Tribunal. The applicants accuse the head of the National Broadcasting Council of violations in three different segments: blocking approximately PLN 300 million from license fees for public radio and television, blocking licenses for private broadcasters (TVN, TVN24, Radio TOK FM, Radio ZET), as well as failing to carry out statistical research on the station's viewership. television in Poland.
In July, the Sejm Committee on Constitutional Responsibility issued an opinion on the application. It unanimously decided that the application required supplements; she sent him to the Speaker of the Sejm. The completed application was received at the end of September.
Members of the National Broadcasting Council may be brought before the State Tribunal for violating the constitution or statute in connection with the position they hold or within the scope of their office.
After conducting the proceedings, the Committee presents to the Sejm a report on its work together with a motion to bring the person to justice before the State Tribunal or to discontinue the proceedings.
The resolution on bringing a person to justice before the State Tribunal is passed by the Sejm by an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half (230) of the statutory number of deputies.
A resolution of the Sejm on bringing a person to justice before the State Tribunal results in the suspension of the person concerned from his/her duties.
This is not the first “security” of this kind.
Recently, the Constitutional Tribunal has issued similar safeguards several times regarding cases related to representatives of the previous government camp or persons associated with it.
In April, the Constitutional Tribunal headed by Przyłębska issued a security stating that the Minister of Justice cannot dismiss presidents and vice-presidents of courts without the consent of the so-called the new National Council of the Judiciary, until the Constitutional Tribunal issues a judgment on the provisions governing the procedure for dismissing presidents and vice-presidents of courts challenged by the neoKRS.
In May, the Tribunal tried to block the work of the parliamentary investigative committee into the Pegasus casewhile w In August, he tried to suspend the application of the amendment to the regulation on the organization of religion classes.
According to representatives of the current government, such decisions of the Tribunal have no legal effects. In their arguments, they point out that the Constitutional Tribunal is no longer an independent institution and that it is composed of the so-called understudy judges.
Main photo source: Marcin Obara/PAP