Bogacki after intervention in TK: the stakes are the control of the Government of Tusk

Zdjęcie: Bogucki po interwencji w TK: stawką jest kontrola rządu Tuska

Zbigniew Bogucki, Head of the Chancellery of the president of the Republic of Poland, referred to the dispute over the Constitutional Court as “a conflict for Polish democracy”. After police intervention at the TK headquarters, he warned that real control of Donald Tusk's government was at stake. For citizens, this means asking whether executive power remains limited by law.

Bogacki: The dispute concerns the limits of power

During a peculiar press conference on 2 November, Zbigniew Bogucki presented the position of the Chancellery of the president of the Republic of Poland against the situation in the Constitutional Court and police intervention at its headquarters. The head of the NRP said that the core of the conflict was not personality, but the answer to the question of who, according to the constitution and laws, is empowered to lead the Court.

Bogacki put things on the line. In his opinion, the question is whether the government, the Prime Minister and the Ministers will be subject to control by bodies independent of the government's will. Official message by the President's Chancellery quotes his assessment that otherwise the executive power becomes uncontrollable.

This is the right measurement of the current crisis. Each government has a mandate to conduct politics, but no government is given the right to set its own limits. Constitutional control can be uncomfortable. That's why it exists.

Dispute over the legal basis for intervention

The head of the Polish Academy of Sciences informed that the law firm obtained written legal opinions from professors Ryszard Piotrowski and Jacek Zalesny. He besides referred to the positions of the first president of the ultimate Court and the president of the ultimate Administrative Court. According to the Chancellery's report, reservations about the legal basis of the action were besides raised by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, president of the Chief Bar Council of Przemysław Rosati and prof. Marcin Matczak.

Bogucki accused that during the night, unumunded officers in ski masks were introduced into the building. He assessed it as a forceful takeover of a constitutional body. This is the position of head of the NRP, not a final court ruling. However, the very fact that the police are utilized in the dispute over the cast of the TK management requires a full, public and precise legal basis. The state cannot request the citizen to obey the law if its highest authorities replace the legal standard with a political fact made.

The current conflict has been increasing for months. We've written about dispute around the Court and Bogacki's consequence to the actions of the Minister of Justice. A separate front remains leaving the TK without a budget for 2027. Together, this creates an image of the emphasis on an institution whose function is to measure the conformity of the activities of the majority with the basic law.

The president consulted on solutions

Bogucki stated that on 31 October, president Karol Nawrocki consulted representatives of political groups with the chance to repair the legal situation around the TK. According to KPRP chief Donald Tusk and his group did not participate in the talks. At the same time, the Minister admitted that there is no chance of changing the Constitution. Among the ideas discussed, he indicated the selection of TC judges by qualified majority.

Systemic dialog cannot mean consent to freedom. The starting point must be constitutional rule of division of powersthe judicial authority of the courts and tribunals. If 1 organization can usage an executive apparatus to find who actually controls the Court, the balance disappears.

For Poles, this is not an academic lawyer's war. The independency of constitutional control depends on the protection of civilian rights, property and freedom from the Act adopted by the power of a temporary majority. The government is passing. The precedent for the usage of force against a constitutional body is and can be utilized by any next power. Poland needs institutions strong by law, not stronger by law.

Sources: Chancellery of the president of Poland, It's about time!

Source: High Time!