The Peaceful Assembly Act Kp 1/17
Ref. No. Kp 1/17
JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
Warsaw, 16 March 2017
The Constitutional Tribunal, in a bench composed of:
Julia Przyłębska – Presiding Judge
Henryk Cioch
Grzegorz Jędrejek
Zbigniew Jędrzejewski
Leon Kieres
Lech Morawski
Mariusz Muszyński – Judge Rapporteur
Piotr Pszczółkowski
Małgorzata Pyziak-Szafnicka
Michał Warciński
Sławomira Wronkowska-Jaśkiewicz,
Grażyna Szałygo – Recording Clerk,
having considered – at the hearing on 16 March 2017, in the presence of the applicant, the Sejm and the Public Prosecutor-General – an application by the President of the Republic of Poland, lodged with the Tribunal in accordance with Article 122(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, to determine the conformity of:
1) Article 1(4) of the Act of 13 December 2016 amending the Peaceful Assembly Act – insofar as, by adding Chapter 3a entitled “The Procedure for holding periodic assemblies” (Arts. 26a-26e) to the Peaceful Assembly Act of 24 July 2015, it differentiates among public assemblies with respect to their status by means of a construct that has not been provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland – to Article 32(1) and Article 57 of the Constitution;
2) Article 1(4) of the amending Act of 13 December 2016, referred to in point 1 – insofar as, by adding Article 26b(4) to the Peaceful Assembly Act of 24 July 2015, it rules out the possibility that the organiser of an assembly may appeal a substitute order issued by a voivode to ban the assembly, to Article 32(1) and Article 45(1) in conjunction with Article 57 of the Constitution;
3) Article 2 of the amending Act of 13 December 2016, referred to in point 1 – insofar as it introduces a ban on holding certain assemblies, by requiring the application of the newly-enacted provisions to events that occurred before the entry into force of the said provisions – to Article 2 of the Constitution,
adjudicates as follows:
1. Article 1(4) of the Act of 13 December 2016 amending the Peaceful Assembly Act, which adds Chapter 3a entitled “The procedure for holding periodic assemblies” (Arts. 26a-26e) to the Peaceful Assembly Act of 24 July 2015 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. item 1485), is consistent with Article 32(1) and Article 57 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
2. Article 2 of the amending Act of 13 December 2016, referred to in point 1, is consistent with Article 2 of the Constitution.
Moreover, the Tribunal decides:
pursuant to Article 59(1)(2) of the Act of 30 November 2016 on the Organisation of the Constitutional Tribunal and the Mode of Proceedings Before the Constitutional Tribunal (Journal of Laws – Dz. U., item 2072), to discontinue the proceedings as to the remainder.
The ruling was adopted by a majority vote.
Julia Przyłębska
Henryk Cioch
Grzegorz Jędrejek
Zbigniew Jędrzejewski
Leon Kieres (votum separatum)
Lech Morawski
Mariusz Muszyński
Piotr Pszczółkowski (a dissenting opinion with regard to the discontinuance of the proceedings)
Małgorzata Pyziak-Szafnicka (a dissenting opinion with reference to the entire ruling)
Michał Warciński
Sławomira Wronkowska-Jaśkiewicz (a dissenting opinion with reference to the ruling)