The Constitutional Tribunal ruled on Tuesday that requiring the publication of the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal in the authoritative diary of the Laws as a condition for their application is incompatible with the Constitution. The judgement was given in consequence to the legal question of the Zamość territory Court concerning the provisions of the Act on the publication of normative acts.
The court in Zamość asked about the constitutionality of the situation in which the effects of the judgement of the Constitutional Tribunal are only updated after its publication in the diary of Laws by the Prime Minister. The problem afraid an unpublished June 2024 TK ruling on mandatory life driving bans for alcohol.
Position of the president of the Constitutional Tribunal
President of the Constitutional Tribunal Bogdan Święczkowski stressed that the publication of the judgement in the diary of Laws is "technical activity", and its absence "does not obliterate the effects of the judgment". According to him, the Prime Minister has no legitimacy to measure whether a ruling can be published.
Świętczkowski added that the head of the government "has no right to interfere with the content of the ruling passed to him". The function of the Prime Minister is limited only to the "technical transportation of the judgment" by order of the president of the Constitutional Tribunal.
Effects on courts
The CCC ruled that its judgments are "final" and "cannot be effectively challenged by another authorities of the state", which are "obliged to their execution and respect". The courts must take into account the unpublished decisions of the Constitutional Tribunal in their proceedings.
Świętczkowski pointed out that Tuesday's judgement ordered the law enforcement authorities to take into account the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal, which, after 6 March 2024, "on the basis of the unlawful practice of the Prime Minister" were not announced. This besides applies to the Zamość case, where the court should take account of the June 2024 judgment.
Judicial composition and opposition
The conviction was given in a composition led by Jarosław Wyrembak with the participation of Zbigniew Świętczkowski, Stanisław Piotrowicz, Krystyna Pawłowicz and Rafał Wojciechowski. The last 2 judges made separate sentences.
Pavlowicz assessed the judgement as "necessary", arguing that the constitution "clearly follows" the validity of the decisions of the Constitutional Tribunal from the minute of publication. Wojciechowski felt that the proceedings should be dismissed due to the inadmissibility of the judgment.
Policy context
Since March 2024, the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal are not published in the diary of Laws after the resolution of the Sejm stating that taking account of decisions of the Constitutional Tribunal "issued in violation of law" may violate the rule of legalism. akin situations occurred in 2016 under Beata Szydło (PiS).
The Warsaw-Prague territory Attorney's Office is presently investigating the failure of the Prime Minister to fulfil his duties in connection with the failure to print the 2016 TK judgments. The spokesperson for that government Rafał Bochenek claimed that the papers issued by then president of TK Andrzej Rzeplinski "were not judgments".
Sources used: "PAP" Note: This article has been edited with the aid of Artificial Intelligence.
