If the Supreme Court's Control Chamber states that the election of the President of the Republic of Poland was important, this does not have special effects, only confirms the election result. However, if he annul the election of the president, in this case the Marshal of the Sejm can play a key role – told PAP former head of PKW Wojciech Hermeliński.
On Wednesday, the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court found the validity of the March supplementary elections to the Senate in Krakow. Earlier, the Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar requested that the Case of Extraordinary and Public Affairs would not rule in the case, as the Act on the Supreme Court, and the Chamber of Labor and Social Insurance. Bodnar pointed out that the judges of the Chamber of Control were appointed in a manner contrary to the constitution, which means that the judgments made in it do not have the value of the Supreme Court's rulings within the meaning of the Electoral Code.
PAP asked Wojciech Hermeliński, the head of the State Electoral Commission (PKW) and a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal at rest, or due to the questioning of the status of the Chamber of Control, among others By the current authorities, a similar situation may take place if the Supreme Court finds the election of the President of the Republic of Poland.
According to Hermeliński, if Iknisp finds that the election of the president was important, there will be no effects related to not recognizing the rulings of this chamber. He noted that the Supreme Court – stating the validity of the election of the president – undertakes the declaration act, i.e. an act that does not create a new legal situation, but confirms the factual state – that the candidate was elected president. Therefore, “there are no special effects” of such a resolution.
What if it happens differently?
He added that the situation would be different in which the Chamber would annul the choice, which – in his opinion – could happen even in the case of a slight difference of votes received by the candidates. Hermeliński emphasized that in this case the Marshal of the Sejm can play a key role.
According to the Electoral Code, if the Supreme Court adopts a resolution annulling the election of the President of the Republic of Poland, new elections are carried out on the principles and in the mode provided for in the Code. The decision of the Marshal of the Sejm on new elections is made public and announces in the Journal of Laws at the latest on the 5th day from the date of the publication of the Supreme Court.
Hermeliński pointed out that if the new election were held after the term of office of the current president, the President's duties were temporarily fulfilled by the Speaker of the Sejm. As the former head of the PKW assessed, then the Speaker of the Sejm could, for example, sign the so -called incidental act. As a result, SN judges with the longest internship, who were appointed as a judge before the amendment to the 2017 Act, would decide on the validity of the President's re -election of the president.
“So, as the saying goes, +there is no bad thing, which would not work out for good +. Some time would pass, but these new elections would be judged in a manner consistent with the constitution, in a way consistent” – emphasized Hermeliński.
The expert also pointed out that he himself doubts that he would not be not recognized by any of the Supreme Court provisions regarding the validity of the president's election – both in the event of his invalidity and validity. He emphasized that it should be borne in mind that there is no other body that could rule on both election protests and the validity of the elections.
Legal confusion began years ago
The Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court is – in accordance with the Supreme Court Act – competent to examine complaints about the resolutions of the National Electoral Commission and electoral protests and the validity of elections. This chamber was established pursuant to the Supreme Court Act of 2017 and consists of persons appointed after 2017 to the office of a judge at the request of the National Council of the Judiciary shaped in accordance with the provisions of the Act on the National Court Register of 2017.
The status of these judges is questioned, and Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar stated explicitly that according to the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court “is not a court”.
As early as January 2020, a resolution of three chambers of Supreme Court was adopted, according to which the improper cast of the court is when it contains a person selected by the National Court Register after 2017. Also, the CJEU – in November last year – recognizes that the questions of a preliminary ruling sent to him by a judge of the Supreme Court appointed after 2017 are unacceptable due to the fact that they were “directed by the adjudicating panel not having the status of an independent and impartial court previously established under the Act.”
In connection with doubts as to the status of the Chamber, the Sejm Marshal Szymon Hołownia proposed in December last year the so -called incidental law, which assumed that in matters related to recognition, among others The validity of the election of the president would be adjudicated by three connected chambers of the Supreme Court: criminal, civil and work.
The main assumption of the bill “on special solutions in the field of recognizing by the Supreme Court matters related to the elections of the President of the Republic of Poland and supplementary elections to the Senate of the Republic of Poland, ordered in 2025.” It was that 15 judges of the oldest service as a judge of the Supreme Court should decide on the validity of the president's election in 2025. President Andrzej Duda vetoed the law.
On May 18, presidential elections will be held. 13 candidates will start in them: Artur Bartoszewicz (economist), Magdalena Biejat (candidate of the new left), Grzegorz Braun (MEP), Szymon Hołownia (Marshal of the Sejm, third way candidate), Marek Jakubiak (MP Confederation), Karol Nawrocki (President of the Institute of National Remembrance, candidate supported by PiS), Joanna Senyszyn (former SLD MP, economist), Krzysztof Stanowski (journalist), Rafał Trzaskowski (President of Warsaw and Candidate KO), Marek Woch (candidate of non -party local government officials), Adrian Zandberg (MP, PAP candidate).
NL/ ITM/ AMAC/
