Top Polish court issues ruling on dispute involving convicted MPs
The Constitutional Tribunal (TK) has ruled that legislation adopted in parliamentary votes in which two convicted former MPs were unable to take part, as they had their mandates revoked, were unconstitutional.
Former Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski and his deputy, Maciej Wasik, both members of the previous governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, were found guilty of engaging in misconduct related to the misuse of authority. However, they were subsequently granted pardons by President Andrzej Duda.
Nonetheless, their mandates were revoked due to the fact that individuals who have been convicted by the court are ineligible to serve as members of the Polish parliament.
Whether the two politicians remain MPs has become a source of heated debate between the government, parliamentary Speaker Szymon Holownia, and PiS.
In late January, Duda, who is considered a PiS ally, announced that he would refer every bill passed in the absence of Wasik and Kaminski to the Constitutional Tribunal, which consists mainly of judges appointed by the former PiS government.
On Wednesday, the TK ruled that the first law reported by Duda, the Amendment to the Act on the National Centre for Research and Development, was unconstitutional.
"The unconstitutionality of the audited law is not because it was passed by the Sejm without the participation of all 460 MPs, but rather because two MPs were prevented from participating in the procedure as a result of the arbitrary actions of the Sejm Speaker, which are not regulated by the current legal framework in the Republic of Poland," said Judge Bogdan Swieczkowski in justification of the ruling. (PAP)
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