The financial liability of the units of local self-government (the self-government of Mazowieckie Voivodeship as the establishing entity) for the nett loss of independent public health-care centres K 4/17
Ref. No. K 4/17
JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
Warsaw, 20 November 2019
The Constitutional Tribunal, composed of:
Stanisław Rymar – Presiding Judge
Mariusz Muszyński
Piotr Pszczółkowski
Małgorzata Pyziak-Szafnicka – Judge Rapporteur
Andrzej Zielonacki,
Recording Clerk – Krzysztof Zalecki,
having considered, at a hearing on 20 November 2019 – in the presence of the applicant, the Sejm and the Public Prosecutor-General – the application by the Assembly of Mazowieckie Voivodeship, lodged with the Tribunal for it to consider the conformity of:
Article 59 in conjunction with Article 55(1)(6) as well as Article 61 of the Medical Activity Act of 15 April 2011 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2015 item 618, as amended) as well as in conjunction with Article 38(1) of the Act of 10 June 2016 amending the Medical Activity Act and certain other acts (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. item 960) – “insofar as it obliges the self-government of a voivodeship to finance, from the voivodeship budget, health-care services provided in compliance with binding regulatrions (in particular Art. 15 of the Medical Activity Act of 15 April 2011) by an independent health-care centre, for which the voivodeship self-government is the establishing entity, as regards any health-care services exceeding the services covered by an agreement with the National Health Fund” – to Article 166(1) and (2) in conjunction with Article 2 and in conjunction with Article 68(2), as well as to Article 167(4) of the Constitution,
adjudicates as follows:
I
Article 59(2) in conjunction with Article 55(1)(6) and Article 61 of the Medical Activity Act of 15 April 2011 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2018 item 2190 and 2219 as well as of 2019 item 492, 730 and 959) as well as in conjunction with Article 38(1) of the Act of 10 June 2016 amending the Medical Activity Act and certain other acts (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. item 960) – insofar as it obliges a unit of local self-government, being the entity establishing an independent public health-care centre, to cover the nett loss resulting from the introduction of universally binding provisions which entail mandatory financial consequnces for the activity of independent health-care centres – is inconsistent with Article 167(4) in conjunction with Article 166(2), Article 68(2) and Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland as well as is not inconsistent with Article 166(1) of the Constitution.
II
The provision of law mentioned in part I, within the scope indicated therein, will cease to have effect after the lapse of 18 months from the date of the publication of the judgment in the present case in the Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland.
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, and of 2019 item 125), to discontinue the proceedings as to the remainder.
The ruling was adopted by a majority vote.
Stanisław Rymar
Mariusz Muszyński (votum separatum)
Piotr Pszczółkowski
Małgorzata Pyziak-Szafnicka
Andrzej Zielonacki