Administrative proceedings on enforced debt collection; immovable property subject to enforced debt collection K 27/15
Ref. No. K 27/15
JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
Warsaw, 18 October 2017
The Constitutional Tribunal, in a bench composed of:
Andrzej Zielonacki – Presiding Judge
Zbigniew Jędrzejewski – Judge Rapporteur
Piotr Pszczółkowski
Małgorzata Pyziak-Szafnicka
Michał Warciński,
having considered, at a sitting in camera on 18 October 2017 – in accordance with Article 92(1)(1) 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) – an application lodged by the Ombudsman with the Tribunal to consider the conformity of:
Article 144 of the Act of 17 June 1966 on Administrative Proceedings on Enforced Debt Collection (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2014 item 1619, as amended) – insofar as it authorises a competent debt-collection officer who is carrying out enforced debt collection by the seizure of an immovable property or a flat, used by a debtor for residential purposes, to evict the debtor and the other household members, in a situation where no substitute accommodation has been indicated, and the debtor is unable to provide him/herself with a new dwelling – to Article 30, Article 71(1) and Article 75(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland as well as to Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 1993 No. 61, item 284, as amended),
adjudicates as follows:
Article 144 of the Act of 17 June 1966 on Administrative Proceedings on Enforced Debt Collection (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2017 items 1201 and 1475, as amended) – insofar as it authorises a competent debt-collection officer who is carrying out enforced debt collection by the seizure of an immovable property or a flat, used by a debtor for residential purposes, to evict the debtor and the other household members, in a situation where no substitute accommodation has been indicated, and the debtor is unable to provide him/herself with a new dwelling – is inconsistent with Article 30, Article 71(1) and Article 75(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, due to the fact that it does not contain any regulations guaranteeing minimal protection against homelessness to persons who are unable to provide themselves with new dwellings.
Moreover, the Tribunal decides:
pursuant to Article 59(1)(3) 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 unanimous.
Andrzej Zielonacki
Zbigniew Jędrzejewski
Piotr Pszczółkowski
Małgorzata Pyziak-Szafnicka
Michał Warciński