The Polish parliament has adopted a resolution that the government has said will “begin the process of repairing” one of the country’s top judicial bodies.
The resolution on the Constitutional Tribunal (TK), the body that adjudicates whether laws comply with the Constitution, was passed by the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, on Wednesday evening.
240 MPs supported the resolution, while 197 opposed it.
The government has said that under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government, the TK became politicized, and its ability to pass legally binding rulings was compromised by the presence of judges whom it considers to have been appointed in violation of procedure.
While a resolution of the lower house of parliament is not legally binding, it nonetheless signals political will and can be treated as guidelines for other institutions.
Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz, an MP from Civic Coalition (KO), the largest grouping in the governing coalition, said in addressing the house when the motion to pass the resolution was put forward: "With this resolution, we begin the process of repairing the Constitutional Tribunal.”
"The process that is necessary has been long awaited, thoroughly debated, and planned sensibly," she added.
The resolution aims to kick-start the reversal of changes to the TK made by PiS, which the government argues has triggered a constitutional crisis.
It was tabled by a group of MPs of the current parliamentary majority with KO at the forefront. The bill states that the TK judges that were appointed in 2015 by the PiS government are not judges by law, citing perceived violations in the process of their appointment, and that the Tribunal’s chair is an “unauthorized person.” It also includes a call for their voluntary resignation.
According to Gasiuk-Pihowicz, the TK stopped serving its basic role, which is to examine whether bills and acts are in accordance with the Constitution.
The resolution was vociferously attacked by PiS MPs, who called it “an attack on the Constitution, an attack on the system of the Polish state,” as MP Krzysztof Szczucki put it.
“The parliamentary caucus of the PiS party firmly opposes the adoption of this bill,” he went on to say, calling for it to be rejected and for all MPs “to think seriously about whether they want to lend a hand to what bears all the hallmarks of treason.”
240 MPs supported the resolution, while 197 opposed it.
The government has said that under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government, the TK became politicized, and its ability to pass legally binding rulings was compromised by the presence of judges whom it considers to have been appointed in violation of procedure.
While a resolution of the lower house of parliament is not legally binding, it nonetheless signals political will and can be treated as guidelines for other institutions.
Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz, an MP from Civic Coalition (KO), the largest grouping in the governing coalition, said in addressing the house when the motion to pass the resolution was put forward: "With this resolution, we begin the process of repairing the Constitutional Tribunal.”
"The process that is necessary has been long awaited, thoroughly debated, and planned sensibly," she added.
The resolution aims to kick-start the reversal of changes to the TK made by PiS, which the government argues has triggered a constitutional crisis.
It was tabled by a group of MPs of the current parliamentary majority with KO at the forefront. The bill states that the TK judges that were appointed in 2015 by the PiS government are not judges by law, citing perceived violations in the process of their appointment, and that the Tribunal’s chair is an “unauthorized person.” It also includes a call for their voluntary resignation.
According to Gasiuk-Pihowicz, the TK stopped serving its basic role, which is to examine whether bills and acts are in accordance with the Constitution.
The resolution was vociferously attacked by PiS MPs, who called it “an attack on the Constitution, an attack on the system of the Polish state,” as MP Krzysztof Szczucki put it.
“The parliamentary caucus of the PiS party firmly opposes the adoption of this bill,” he went on to say, calling for it to be rejected and for all MPs “to think seriously about whether they want to lend a hand to what bears all the hallmarks of treason.”
Source: PAP, TVP World
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