The Ministry of Justice has published a draft law that purports to restore the proper functioning of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal. It contains many unconstitutional ideas, but the most glaring of them is in Article 7 of the draft law introducing a new law on the Constitutional Tribunal. For it turns out that any judgments issued, as the authors put it, with the participation of an “unauthorized” person, which means judges Mariusz Muszyński, Justyn Piskorski and Jarosław Wyrembak (and earlier judges Henryk Cioch and Lech Morawski), are “null and void”. How could that be? Well, that is simply what the legislature intends to decree, despite the obvious contradiction with Article 190(1) of the Polish Constitution and the obvious interference with the competences of the judiciary. Therefore the public should be made aware of the chaos this will cause in the state and the following consequences for the “average” citizen.
I. Are you a Polish national living outside the Republic of Poland who needs to take care of any matter in a governmental office? After the “restoration of the rule of law” in the Constitutional Tribunal, you will be forced to come to Poland to mail your required documents in a Polish post office in order to meet the submission deadline. Otherwise, you will miss the deadline. That is because the judgment of 30 October 2019 in case P 1/18 is invalid.
https://ipo.trybunal.gov.pl/ipo/Sprawa?cid=2&dokument=18520&sprawa=20052…
II. You took a cash loan that you forgot about because you moved residence and you lost a trial in absentia that took place 6 years ago? That’s too bad. After the “restoration of the rule of law” in the Constitutional Tribunal, you will unfortunately have no right to challenge your being reported the Register of Insolvent Debtors. That is because the judgment of 26 November 2019 in case P 9/18 is null and void.
https://ipo.trybunal.gov.pl/ipo/Sprawa?cid=2&dokument=18660&sprawa=20872…
III. You won a lawsuit against a dishonest borrower and for 2 years you have not been able to obtain an enforcement title in court to refer the case to a bailiff? That’s too bad! You are not entitled to complain about the excessive duration of the proceedings and will not be able to obtain financial compensation for this. That is because the judgment of 3 July 2019 in SK 14/18 is invalid.
https://ipo.trybunal.gov.pl/ipo/Sprawa?cid=2&dokument=18105&sprawa=20634…
IV. You have inherited a real property from your grandfather, which was suddenly and without a warning registered by the authorities it on the register of historical monuments, significantly restricting your ability to renovate and otherwise alter the building? What a pity! There is not much you can do to oppose this and challenge the arbitrary administrative decision of the authorities. It’s the law. The judgment of 11 May 2023 in case P 12/18 is invalid.
https://ipo.trybunal.gov.pl/ipo/Sprawa?&pokaz=dokumenty&sygnatura=P%2012/18…
V. You are an entrepreneur, reflecting on the famous case of the “printer from Łódź”, reported to the Police by the representatives of the then Ombudsman, Adam Bodnar, because the he refused to print materials of an LGBT organization, and thus allegedly committed an offence under Article 138 of the Misdemeanor Code? Yes, you’re guessing correctly. Now you, too, may have to stand trial charged with with this illegal act. And that is because, the judgment of 26 June 2019 in case K 16/17 is null and void.
https://ipo.trybunal.gov.pl/ipo/Sprawa?&pokaz=dokumenty&sygnatura=K%2016/17…
This is only a small part of the rulings that will be nullified. Thus, the provisions of the law that the Constitutional Tribunal found to violate the rights and freedoms of citizens are again a part of the legal system.
And now a real gem:
Adam Bodnar ceases to be the Minister of Justice and becomes the Ombudsman once again, because the judgment of 15 April 2021 in the case K 20/20, in which the Constitutional Tribunal eliminated the possibility of “extending” the term of office of the Ombudsman “indefinitely” is invalid. And yet, the Minister himself submitted to this ruling and humbly made room for Prof. Marcin Wiącek in 2021.
