In the Journal of Laws on September 30, the ordinance of the Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek, amending the regulations of court office, appeared. The change concerns, among others rules of the functioning of the random system of allocation (SLPS). He introduces a provision according to which “the chairman of the department may decide, in the event of a need to improve the work efficiency of the department, that matters recognized in the composition of three judges will assign the referents, and the other two members of the composition will be appointed by the chairman of the department according to the principles set by the President of the Court after consulting the Court's college.”
The amendment aroused controversy. Critics – including President Karol Nawrocki – indicate that It gives the ability to manually control the adjudication panels. The president wrote in social media that the ordinance is a “ostentatious act of lawlessness” and an attempt to replace laws with a regulation, which – in his opinion – “strikes the constitutional order and the democratic legitimacy of the legislative power.”
On Saturday, at a press conference in Poznań, the ordinance of the head of MS was asked by the president of PSL, deputy prime minister, head of the Ministry of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. In his opinion, “Only a change in the Constitutional Tribunal, a new chapter in the Basic Law, in the Constitution, on the Constitutional Tribunal will change the situation of justice“.
The initiative is already complex
He emphasized that such an initiative is already complex. He added that he expected her to support both the president and the environment of opposition parties. – If we want to really repair the justice system, if we want to add a sense of absolute certainty of justice among our citizens – and this is a superior task for the authorities – we must change the basic law in the chapter on the Constitutional Tribunal – said the head of PSL.
He added that in this respect “original sin began from 2016, with the devastation of the Constitutional Tribunal by our predecessors.” He noted that “they led to the destruction of trust in the judiciary and the quality of the law, also resolving disputes between the centers of power.”
-The Constitutional Tribunal in the assumptions of the 1997 constitution was a fuse that caused that if the executive power has disputes, if the executive has a lot of legislative power, if there is a change in justice, there is something beyond what determines whether the law is consistent with the constitution, whether the law can serve Poland well-noted Kosiniak-Kamysz noted
He added that this was the “independence of the Constitutional Tribunal, its credibility, and the report of citizens who sought justice there as in the last resort.” – It has been devastated. Without repairing the foundation stone, without repairing foundations, it is impossible to build a safe and just home. Justice cannot be built on the next floors. We need to renew the foundation stone, which is the Constitutional Tribunal-said Kosiniak-Kamysz.
Constitutional reset
He pointed out that this is the idea of the Polish People's Party: “Constitutional reset in the field of CT”. – I expect a declaration from our political opponents that they want to actually fix (justice). If they want, this is the only chance. Everything else is always necessary, necessary, but it is insufficient, because the overall action is the construction of strong foundations, which is the Constitutional Tribunal – he noted.
– Unfortunately, the constitutional majority is needed to change the constitution. We expect all political environments to follow PSL's voice and want to change the constitution in this respect. This is the foundation stone, without which all other actions repair will not bring what is the basis for repairing the destroyed justice system by our predecessors – said the deputy prime minister.
He added that if the Constitutional Tribunal is not repaired in Poland, “we will be in these disputes, because one side will always contest the other side.” He pointed out that the foundation of the problem of justice is that we have no reference point that would resolve political disputes.
– Of course, those who did this, those who led to this devastation are the most guilty. And they should first come to us and say: you know what, we have collapsed, it is so messy that even if you win the election, it is difficult for you to clean it that you have to fix it from scratch. And I think that this would be the biggest change that would happen in Polish politics. I hope that our today's exchange of sentences, our today's conference will go to the hearts and minds of those who receive us. We are ready – declared the head of PSL.
According to him, “on the side of the government coalition there is no problem with this, there is a problem on the PiS side and the president's acceptance must be at the end.” – So this is my public question: are they ready to fix the justice system? – he said.
Kosiniak-Kamysz asked if he would take direct talks on this subject with the opposition, he emphasized that such a question would ask this week.
