The costs of unpaid legal representation provided by a court-appointed legal adviser SK 53/22
Ref. No. SK 53/22
JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
Warsaw, 20 April 2023
The Constitutional Tribunal, composed of:
Piotr Pszczółkowski – Presiding Judge
Bartłomiej Sochański – Judge Rapporteur
Jakub Stelina,
Recording Clerk – Michał Rylski,
having considered, at the hearing on 20 April 2023 – in the presence of the complainant and the Public Prosecutor-General – Ms M.T.-B.’s constitutional complaint lodged with the Constitutional Tribunal to assess the conformity of:
§ 4(1) of the Regulation of 3 October 2016 issued by the Minister of Justice with regard to the State Treasury’s coverage of the costs of unpaid legal representation provided by a court-appointed legal adviser[1] (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2019, item 68) – insofar as “the costs of unpaid legal representation provided by a court-appointed legal adviser, and incurred by the State Treasury, are specified in the said provision in the amount lower than the minimum fee for the services of legal advisers set in the Minister of Justice’s Regulation of 22 October 2015 on rates for the services of legal advisers, adopted on the basis of Article 225(2) and (3) of the Act of 6 July 1982 on Legal Advisers, which concerns minimum fees to be charged in cases where the counsel is chosen by the client” – with Article 64(2) in conjunction with Article 31(3), Article 32(1), second sentence, and Article 92(1), first sentence, of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland,
adjudicates as follows:
§ 4(1) of the Regulation of 3 October 2016 issued by the Minister of Justice with regard to the State Treasury’s coverage of the costs of unpaid legal representation provided by a court-appointed legal adviser (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2019, item 68) – insofar as the costs of unpaid legal representation provided by a court-appointed legal adviser, and incurred by the State Treasury, are specified in the said provision in the amount lower than the minimum fee for the services of legal advisers set in the Minister of Justice’s Regulation of 22 October 2015 on rates for the services of legal advisers (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2018, item 265, as amended), adopted on the basis of Article 225(2) and (3) of the Act of 6 July 1982 on Legal Advisers (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2022, item 1166), which concerns minimum fees to be charged in cases where the counsel is chosen by the client – is inconsistent with Article 64(2) in conjunction with Article 31(3), Article 32(1), second sentence, and Article 92(1), first sentence, of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
The ruling was unanimous.
Piotr Pszczółkowski
Bartłomiej Sochański
Jakub Stelina
[1] Under Polish law, both advocates (Pl. adwokat) and legal advisers (Pl. radca prawny) make up the category of attorneys (attorneys-at-law), admitted to the Bar, and fully qualified to provide professional legal representation; the main difference between the first and the latter is the range of contracts on the basis of which they are permitted by law to provide their legal services.