Judgment Print

No right to a care allowance for the grandchild of a disabled person if the said person’s children (not being disabled themselves) are not his/her caregivers SK 33/23

Ref. No. SK 33/23

JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND

Warsaw, 8 July 2025

The Constitutional Tribunal, composed of:

Rafał Wojciechowski – Presiding Judge
Krystyna Pawłowicz
Bartłomiej Sochański – Judge Rapporteur
Bogdan Święczkowski
Michał Warciński,

Recording Clerk – Agnieszka Krawczyk,

having considered, at the hearing on 8 July 2025 – in the presence of the Polish Ombudsman[1] – Mr K.S.’s constitutional complaint lodged with the Constitutional Tribunal for it to consider the conformity of:

Article 17(1)(4) and Article 17(1a)(1)-(3) of the Family Benefits Act of 28 November 2003 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2020, item 111) – insofar as the challenged provisions take away the right to a care allowance from the grandchild of a person whose considerable degree of disability has been medically certified, where the said grandchild is the disabled person’s sole caregiver, and thus has given up his/her employment, and where there are other first-degree relatives who, due to ill health, do not look after the disabled person, but who do not hold a medical certificate confirming their considerable degree of disability – to Article 2 in conjunction with Article 32(1), Article 71(1) and Article 69 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland,

adjudicates as follows:

Article 17(1)(4) and Article 17(1a)(2) of the Family Benefits Act of 28 November 2003 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2024, item 323, as amended), in the versions that were binding until 31 December 2023 – insofar as the challenged provisions do not grant the right to a care allowance to the person referred to in the said provisions, who is a sole caregiver to the disabled family member in that respect, and who has hence given up employment – is inconsistent with Article 71(1) in conjunction with Article 32(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

Moreover, the Tribunal decides:

to discontinue the proceedings as to the remainder.

The ruling was unanimous.

Rafał Wojciechowski
Krystyna Pawłowicz
Bartłomiej Sochański
Bogdan Święczkowski
Michał Warciński