No possibility of at least partial payment of fees in the course of proceedings for legal representation provided by a court-appointed attorney SK 67/20
Ref. No. SK 67/20
JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
Warsaw, 5 November 2024
The Constitutional Tribunal, composed of:
Krystyna Pawłowicz – Presiding Judge
Julia Przyłębska
Bartłomiej Sochański
Michał Warciński
Andrzej Zielonacki – Judge Rapporteur,
having considered, at a sitting in camera on 5 November 2024 – 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. of 2019, item 2393) – Ms M.K.’s constitutional complaint lodged with the Constitutional Tribunal to examine the conformity of:
Article 616(2)(2) in conjunction with Article 618(1)(11), Article 626(1) as well as Article 619 of the Criminal Procedure Code of 6 June 1997 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2018 item 1987, as amended) in conjunction with Article 29(1) of the Act of 26 May 1982 – the Law on Advocates[1] (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2019 item 1513, as amended) – “insofar as the said provisions do not directly establish the right of a court-appointed defence counsel (advocate) to get a court order for the State Treasury to cover, in the course of proceedings, at least some of the costs of provided but as yet unpaid legal representation, up to the amount that does not exceed the current total amount of those costs, in the on-going case in which the said defence counsel has participated, calculated in accordance with the Regulation of 22 October 2015 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 advocate (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. item 1801)” – to Articles 24 and 64 in conjunction with Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland,
adjudicates as follows:
Article 29(1) of the Act of 26 May 1982 – the Law on Advocates (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2024, item 1564) in conjunction with Article 616(2)(2) in conjunction with Article 618(1)(11) of the Criminal Procedure Code of 6 June 1997 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2024 item 37, as amended) – insofar as the said provisions overlook granting court-appointed defence counsel the amounts of the costs of unpaid legal representation provided by them while taking procedural steps before the completion of proceedings at a given stage – are inconsistent with Article 64(2) in conjunction with Articles 24 and 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
Moreover, the Tribunal decides:
to discontinue the proceedings as to the remainder.
The ruling was adopted by a majority vote.
Krystyna Pawłowicz
Julia Przyłębska (dissenting opinion)
Bartłomiej Sochański
Michał Warciński (dissenting opinion)
Andrzej Zielonacki
[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.