PSL creates group to relaunch Constitutional Tribunal — RMF24
In Poland, the Polish People's Party (PSL) has created a parliamentary group to work on a proposal for a “constitutional relaunch” of the Constitutional Tribunal. Representatives of Confederation, the Development Plus club, Poland 2050 and the Together parliamentary circle have expressed preliminary willingness to take part. At the same time, the Civic Coalition and the Left said they would not participate in the group’s work, RMF24 reports.
Who will join the work
Confederation will be represented in the PSL group by MPs Grzegorz Płaczek and Michał Wawer. The Development Plus club will delegate Krzysztof Szczucki and Paweł Jabłoński, while Poland 2050 will be represented by Digital Affairs Minister Michał Gramatyka. The Together parliamentary circle also agreed to join the discussion.
Together co-chair Adrian Zandberg said his group proposes ending the current terms of Tribunal judges elected by both sides of the political dispute and enshrining new rules at the constitutional level. MP Elżbieta Burkiewicz from the Centre said her club had not yet discussed the matter. Zbigniew Konwiński, head of the Civic Coalition parliamentary club, said his political force does not plan to take part in the group’s work. Anna-Maria Żukowska, head of the Left club, opposed the initiative, believing it would lead to a change in the country’s political system.
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What the PSL initiative provides for
The draft constitutional amendments provide that Poland’s National Assembly — a joint sitting of the Sejm and Senate — could, following a substantiated request from the National Council of the Judiciary, declare the Constitutional Tribunal persistently incapable of performing its functions. This would require a decision supported by at least three-fifths of the statutory membership of the National Assembly, or at least 336 votes.
Following such a decision, the National Assembly would elect 15 Tribunal judges in a single vote by the same qualified majority: five each for terms of three, six and nine years. Candidates would be submitted by the Marshal of the Sejm after receiving opinions, including from the first presidents of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, and with the president’s prior consent.
Submitting the draft constitutional amendments requires the signatures of at least 92 MPs. Final adoption of the amendments requires at least a two-thirds majority in the Sejm and an absolute majority in the Senate. The Law and Justice party, for its part, announced plans to create a separate parliamentary group on developments surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal.
