The National Electoral Commission is not a court, therefore it cannot assess whether the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs is a court or not. Hence, it adopted a resolution that can be called conditional – said Paweł Gieras, NEC member, in “Fakty po Faktach” on TVN24. He thus referred to the issue of accepting the report of the PiS financial committee. He added that he was aware that the content of the resolution “may raise doubts.”
National Electoral Commission On Monday, it adopted the financial report of the PiS committee from the 2023 parliamentary elections. The head of the National Electoral Commission, Sylwester Marciniak, said on Monday that four out of nine members of the National Electoral Commission voted for the adoption of such a resolution, three were against and two abstained. This was the result of a decision by the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court, whose activities are questioned, among others, by European tribunals. This chamber accepted PiS's complaint about the earlier rejection of the report by the National Electoral Commission.
The adopted resolution of the National Electoral Commission indicated that it was adopted “only as a result of the complaint (PiS – ed.) being accepted by the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court.” It was added that the resolution “is inherently and directly related to the judgment, which must come from a body that is a court within the meaning of the constitution and the Electoral Code.” “The National Electoral Commission does not determine that the IKNiSP Supreme Court is a court and does not determine the effectiveness of the judgment,” the resolution reads.
READ MORE: Return on the PiS financial report
On Monday, the head of the National Electoral Commission sent a letter to the Minister of Finance Andrzej Domańskiinforming that there is no longer any reason to cut PiS subsidies. The next step belongs to Domański. In November, the minister emphasized that he acted “based on resolutions, decisions and information from the National Electoral Commission.”
Gieras: the National Electoral Commission's resolution is the answer to the problem
Paweł Gieras, a member of the National Electoral Commission, was asked on Tuesday in “Fakty po Faktach” on TVN24, “how it is that the National Electoral Commission, on the one hand, wrote in a resolution that it did not recognize the effectiveness of the ruling of the Chamber of the Supreme Court, and on the other hand, it complied with this ruling.”
– The matter of adopting Supreme Court decisions is strictly regulated in the Electoral Code and in such a case, if the resolution is subject to repeal by Supreme Courtthe National Electoral Commission is obliged to immediately adopt a resolution in the spirit in which the Supreme Court's ruling was issued, he said.
However, he added, “the problem of our legal situation, which has persisted since the reforms that have been carried out in the Polish justice system for some time, is that in the light of the case law, whether European tribunals or judgments of national courts, the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs The Supreme Court is not recognized as a court within the meaning of European Union law. – And here there is a problem and the answer to this problem was yesterday's resolution of the National Electoral Commission – noted Gieras.
Member of the National Electoral Commission: this is a conditional resolution
He was asked whether he saw any contradiction in this answer. – The National Electoral Commission is not a court, therefore it cannot, like any other court in Poland, apply, for example, dispersed constitutional control and assess whether this chamber or this neo-chamber is a court or not – said a member of the National Electoral Commission.
As he said, “therefore, the National Electoral Commission has adopted a resolution which, although it may not result directly from the content, but can be called a conditional resolution, is that it accepts the ruling of the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs, however, on condition of determining whether this chamber is court and whether this judgment comes from the courts.
– Hence the content, which, I am fully aware, may raise some doubts – added Gieras.
When asked what Finance Minister Andrzej Domański should do, he said that he “should analyze this situation.” – The minister has the opportunity to, on the one hand, analyze our resolution, which, as I say, is a conditional resolution. The minister is also bound by the resolution recently adopted by the Council of Ministers, which also obliged him to take certain actions in relation to the chamber, which is not recognized as a court – said a member of the National Electoral Commission.
– In my opinion, there are grounds to analyze this problem and its conclusion may be a decision not to recognize the Chamber of Extraordinary Control (and Public Affairs-ed.) and this judgment as a judgment of a properly appointed court in accordance with the constitution of the Republic of Poland – he added.
Gieras: I am counting on Manowska's reflection
The head of the National Electoral Commission, Sylwester Marciniak, said on Monday that during the meeting the National Electoral Commission adopted a motion obliging him to organize a meeting of the National Electoral Commission with the first president of the Supreme Court in order to hold a discussion regarding the panels adjudicating on electoral matters.
Gieras was asked in “Fakty po Faktach” what the members of the National Electoral Commission hope for. – I am counting on some reflection from the professor (Małgorzata) Manowska – he said.
– We are not just talking about confirming the validity of the elections, we are talking about very important decisions during the electoral process. These are appeals against resolutions of the National Electoral Commission, which may be passed, whether they occur during the registration of lists of candidates or electoral committees. Each such decision may be appealed against, in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Code, to the Supreme Court – said a member of the National Electoral Commission.
– We want to convince the professor and appeal to her responsibility so that the Supreme Court, as the Electoral Code says, will recognize these protests. And the Supreme Court consists of panels composed of judges about whom there is not the slightest doubt as to their legal status, he said.
There will be presidential elections next year. Their validity is to be decided by the unrecognized Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court.
Main photo source: TVN24