Glapiński before the State Tribunal? Chairman of the committee: I don't know if we will make it in 2026

It is not known whether the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Responsibility regarding the preliminary motion to hold the president of the National Bank of Poland, Adam Glapiński, accountable before the Tribunal of State (TS) will be prepared in 2026, says the chairman of the committee, Zdzisław Gawlik from KO.

On Thursday, the first meeting of the Committee on Constitutional Responsibility in 2026 was held regarding the preliminary motion to bring the President of the NBP, A. Glapiński, to constitutional responsibility before the State Tribunal. The committee meets in closed session.

“Witness resistance is getting bigger”

Three witnesses were to be questioned again – directors of NBP departments (K. Sukiennik – director of the General Dept., K. Senderowicz – director of the Domestic Operations Dept. and R. Szumski – director of the Internal Audit Dept.). Gawlik said that all of them presented their sick leaves to the committee on Thursday.

– The resistance of witnesses is getting bigger and the problems with questioning them are getting bigger. Especially from people who have an employment relationship with the NBP – Gawlik told PAP Biznes after the Commission meeting.

Will the report be prepared this year? It is unknown

Asked whether the Commission's report on the initial motion to bring the president of the NBP before the Court of Justice could be prepared in 2026, he said he did not know.

– I make it clear from the beginning that I do not set any time limits. Also because the legislator himself once assumed that in the work process of the Constitutional Responsibility Committee, which has started, (…) there is no period that ends the work at the end of the term of office of the Sejm. Here, even the Commission appointed by the next Sejm can control (conduct the same case – PAP). This means that it was assumed that the discounting method does not apply here. (…) We must make every effort not only to collect evidence, but also to interview those witnesses who have been indicated in any way – he added.

Gawlik, when asked about the prospects for hearing the President of the NBP, A. Glapiński, before the Commission, stated that there was no such need yet.

– It will probably be time for the final – he pointed out.

Gawlik said, refusing to provide personal details, that the prosecutor's office had already heard four of the fifteen witnesses whose hearing the Commission had requested in this manner.

According to information from the Sejm, the Committee has so far directly questioned 30 witnesses out of over 60 mentioned in the initial motion.

According to Gawlik, the next meeting of the committee regarding the application for a TS for Glapiński will take place on January 20.

A motion to bring the president of the NBP before the State Tribunal – that's how it started

A group of MPs from the ruling coalition submitted a preliminary motion to bring the President of the NBP, Adam Glapiński, before the State Tribunal in March 2024. The motion accuses the President of the NBP of violating the constitution and laws, including: by indirectly financing the budget deficit as part of asset purchases in 2020-2021, conducting this purchase without “due authorization” from the Monetary Policy Council, or by failing to comply with the apolitical order of the President of the NBP.

The NBP considers the allegations to be completely groundless and believes that the entire proceedings may paralyze the work of the central bank. Glapiński informed that the NBP would not participate in the procedure to bring him before the State Tribunal, and any decisions of the ODK were not important for the bank in connection with the Constitutional Tribunal's judgment in this case.

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 calling the president of the National Bank of Poland to account before the State Tribunal is adopted by the Sejm by an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half (230) of the statutory number of deputies.

The resolution results in the suspension of the activities of the person concerned. However, in 2024, the Constitutional Tribunal questioned the provisions on this matter.

The President of the NBP is appointed and dismissed by the Sejm at the request of the President of the Republic of Poland. Glapiński's second and last term as president of the NBP expires in June 2028. The term of office of the current president, Karol Nawrocki, expires in August 2030. Parliamentary elections will be held in Poland in the fall of 2027 at the latest. (PAP Business)

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