The Sejm begins stormy deliberations. Reform of the National Labor Inspectorate, liquidation of the Central Anticorruption Bureau and the dispute over the Tribunal
The three-day session of the Sejm starts on Wednesday. And everything indicates that nightly legislative marathons are back. It won't be easy for the MPs – the deliberations are to last until 1:30 a.m. on the first day and until 12:45 a.m. on the second day. They are to adopt several very important changes by Friday.
The MPs will start their work with the second reading of the bill amending the Act on the National Labor Inspectorate (form no. 2250). A meeting of the committee to consider the submitted amendments is scheduled for 3 p.m. And as Katarzyna Uebrhan, rapporteur and chairwoman of the Social Policy and Family Committee, tells us, the third reading is to take place on the same day.
After the first reading, MEPs only introduced clarifying amendments. For example, it was added that ZUS is obliged to make it available to the Border Guard data of contribution payers and foreigners to the extent necessary to carry out its statutory tasks
As Katarzyna Uebrhan emphasizes, the reform introduces important solutions protecting employee rights. — First, it provides for the right of inspectors to administratively transform civil law contracts, including B2B relationships, into employment contracts. This is a solution that can fundamentally change the rules of the game and the labor market in Poland. Secondly, the Act provides for solutions that protect employers through the possibility of applying for an individual interpretation to the Chief Labor Inspector to determine whether an employment relationship exists in a given relationship, explains the MP.
However, PiS MPs are against the reform. There are already suggestions in the corridors of the Sejm that Karol Nawrocki will not sign it. This is the most realistic scenario.
See also: The PIP reform is in a bind. Even trade unionists prefer contract work to full-time employment
PiS and PSL want to fight the agreement with the MERCOSUR countries
The Sejm will also consider draft resolutions that will oblige the government to fight the Mercosur agreement in the Court of Justice of the European Union. PSL and PiS are behind the initiative. Although both sides agree that the contract is harmful, the devil is in the details and… words. PSL goes in a more moderate tone, only “concludes” to the government to take action. PSL politicians believe that Donald Tusk's government knows perfectly well what to do, and the resolution is only intended to support these actions.
PiS demands “a punch on the table.” He wants the Sejm to be tough “obliged” government to “instant” challenging EU decisions. PiS warns that time is running out – the deadline for submitting a complaint has already expired March 9, 2026 Additionally, they demand the so-called security, i.e. a request for the Court to suspend the application of the contract until it issues a judgment. Without this, according to the opposition, the complaint itself will be just an empty gesture.
The Parliamentary Agriculture Committee supported the PSL project, so it can be assumed that MPs will vote similarly at the plenary session.
See also: Poles are afraid of the agreement with Mercosur. An expert explains whether we are at risk of a meltdown
The fight for the Constitutional Tribunal is doomed to success
On Wednesday, March 11, we will finally know the official list of coalition candidates for judges of the Constitutional Tribunal. The deadline for applications set by the Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, will expire at noon. The election of judges to fill six vacancies on the Court is scheduled to take place on Friday. Patryk Michalski, author of the “Michalski News” program on TVN24+, gave the five most likely candidates. These are:
- judge professor Krystian Markiewicz, judge of the District Court in Katowice, chairman of the Codification Commission of the Judiciary and Prosecutor's Office, former president of the Association of Polish Judges IUSTITIA;
- judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, president of the District Court in Opole, president of the Themis association of judges;
- attorney professor Maciej Taborowski, lawyer, member of the Codification Commission of the Judiciary and Prosecutor's Office, former deputy of the Commissioner for Human Rights;
- attorney Magdalena Bentkowska, attorney, in the past she represented cardiac surgeon Mirosław G. in a high-profile court case against Zbigniew Ziobro;
- attorney: professor Marcin Dziurda, legal advisor, former president of the General Prosecutor's Office of the State Treasury.
This list has been prepared by the coalition partners for months and has been changed many times. Currently, the Constitutional Tribunal consists of 9 out of 15 judges, which means six vacancies for these positions. So far, the Sejm has not chosen the candidates proposed by PiS four times. It is possible that there will be further changes to the coalition's list on Wednesday, although it apparently took its final shape on Tuesday evening.
Before making a choice, the coalition wants to adopt a resolution “on the actions necessary for the Constitutional Tribunal to meet the requirements of a legally established, independent and impartial court” is scheduled for Thursday. The Sejm is scheduled to consider it on Thursday. The resolution calls into question, among other things, the election of Julia Przyłębska and then Bogdan Święczkowski as president of the Constitutional Tribunal.
Paweł Śliz, chairman of the Justice and Human Rights Committee, does not want to talk about details, but assures that the committee is prepared to quickly process documents in the Constitutional Tribunal case.
This means that another dispute with the president is brewing. According to the law on the status of Constitutional Tribunal judges adopted under PiS, a person elected as a judge of the Tribunal takes an oath before the president. Karol Nawrocki is unlikely to take the oath from the indicated candidates. However, as Przemysław Rosati, president of the Polish Bar Council, points out, the most important legal act, i.e. the constitution, does not provide for Constitutional Tribunal judges to take an oath before the president.
— There should be no such oath, because additional premises cannot be introduced by statute. The Constitution states that the Constitutional Tribunal consists of 15 judges, selected individually by the Sejm. Judges elected in this way are independent in exercising their office and are subject only to the constitution. The idea is that the status of a judge should be shaped already at the moment of selection. The act is only intended to define the procedure for proceedings before the Constitutional Tribunal, emphasizes Rosati.
However, both Karol Nawrocki and Bogdan Święczkowski will use the lack of oath to undermine the status of the new judges. Some of the candidates we talked to expect that the situation will be difficult.
Additionally, there is a complaint by PiS MPs in the Constitutional Tribunal against the law passed during their government. As reported by the Polish Press Agency, on Monday, March 9, PiS submitted to the Constitutional Tribunal an “application for security” and a temporary suspension of the Sejm from electing Constitutional Tribunal judges.
No CBA since October?
The Sejm is also to consider a bill to liquidate the Central Anticorruption Bureau. The competences of the CBA are to be taken over by the police, ABW and KAS, and anti-corruption protection will be handled by the police, ABW and SKW.
According to the latest version of the project ready for second reading, this is to take place on October 1. PiS MPs strongly protest against this act and for this reason they do not participate in the work on it. They emphasize that the bill abolishing the CBA distracts and does not coordinate anti-corruption activities, is controversial, will not pass the legislative process and will not enter into force because the presidential veto is obvious.
Two draft changes to the Tax Ordinance. What are they about?
MPs are also to deal with changes in taxes. This concerns the first readings of two important draft amendments to the Tax Ordinance.
The first draft (print 2288) assumes above all repeal of art. 70 pairs 6 point 1 of the Tax Ordinance, which has been and still is the subject of disputes in courts for over a decade. This provision provides for the suspension of the limitation period when fiscal penal proceedings are initiated. The problem is that tax authorities sometimes use this provision not to punish the taxpayer (for a fiscal offense or offense), but only to suspend the limitation period and complete parallel tax proceedings. That is why entrepreneurs and tax advisors have been demanding its repeal for years. The same project also assumes other changes in the tax limitation period.
The second draft (Sejm form 2287) includes all solutions that the Ministry of Finance consulted in the fall of 2025 and which do not concern the statute of limitations. The project therefore includes, among others:
— introducing simplifications regarding tax schemes (MDR), including the abolition of the obligation to report national schemes,
— clarification that applications for individual interpretation cannot be submitted in MDR cases (currently, the Supreme Administrative Court rules that the Director of the KIS is obliged to interpret the provisions on MDR);
— facilitations regarding tax payments – another person will be able to pay tax for someone else, i.e. for another taxpayer, if the tax amount does not exceed PLN 5,000. PLN (currently the limit is PLN 1,000);
— reduction of certain formalities, including if the tax overpayment results from a correction of the declaration and does not exceed PLN 10,000. PLN, the taxpayer will not have to submit an application for confirmation of overpayment. The office itself must settle such an overpayment. However, if it exceeds 10 thousand PLN, the taxpayer will have to explain why he is submitting a correction of the declaration;
— the tax office will be able to correct minor errors in the tax return up to PLN 10,000. PLN (today – PLN 5,000) without unnecessary correspondence with the taxpayer.
Read more: The government wants to relieve taxes. Do you believe in it? We are checking
