The Sejm’s resolution on appointing a particular inquiry committee U 2/24
Ref. No. U 2/24
JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
Warsaw, 6 November 2024
The Constitutional Tribunal, composed of:
Krystyna Pawłowicz – Presiding Judge
Julia Przyłębska
Bogdan Święczkowski – Judge Rapporteur,
Recording Clerk – Michał Rylski,
having considered, at the hearing on 6 November 2024 – in the presence of the applicants – the application by a group of Sejm Deputies lodged with the Constitutional Tribunal to consider the conformity of:
“(1) Articles 1 and 2 of the Resolution of 7 December 2023 adopted by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland with regard to appointing the Inquiry Committee to examine the lawfulness, appropriateness, and purposefulness of the actions taken to prepare and conduct the 2020 Polish presidential election by means of a postal ballot with Article 111(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland in conjunction with Article 95(2) as well as Article 2 of the Constitution, Article 7 of the Constitution, and Article 45(1) of the Constitution (with reference to the standard of a fair trial) as well as Articles 1 and 2 of the Act of 21 January 1999 on the Sejm’s Inquiry Committees [Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2016 item 1024], due to the lack of precise phrasing that the Committee’s subject of examination comprises only the extraordinary manner of conducting elections by means of a postal ballot, and not ordinary activities undertaken in any presidential elections, which makes it possible for the Committee to carry out its actual work on the activities of government administration in every election;
(2) Articles 1 and 2 of the Resolution of 7 December 2023 adopted by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland with regard to appointing the Inquiry Committee to examine the lawfulness, appropriateness, and purposefulness of the actions taken to prepare and conduct the 2020 Polish presidential election by means of a postal ballot with Article 111(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland in conjunction with Article 95(2) as well as Article 2 of the Constitution, Article 7 of the Constitution, and Article 45(1) of the Constitution (with reference to the standard of a fair trial) as well as Articles 1 and 2 of the Act of 21 January 1999 on the Sejm’s Inquiry Committees due to the lack of a precisely specified timeframe of the case examined by the Inquiry Committee;
(3) Articles 1 and 2 of the Resolution of 7 December 2023 adopted by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland with regard to appointing the Inquiry Committee to examine the lawfulness, appropriateness, and purposefulness of the actions taken to prepare and conduct the 2020 Polish presidential election by means of a postal ballot with Article 111(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland in conjunction with Article 95(2) as well as Article 2 of the Constitution, Article 7 of the Constitution, Article 45(1) of the Constitution, in conjunction with Article 146(1) and (4) of the Constitution, in conjunction with Article 149(1) of the Constitution, in conjunction with Article 87(1) of the Constitution as well as Articles 1 and 2 of the Act of 21 January 1999 on the Sejm’s Inquiry Committees due to the lack of a precisely specified timeframe and scope ratione materiae of the case examined by the Inquiry Committee, including the activity aimed at evaluating the international-law effects of the legal form of the election date modification, the legal form of removing, from the legal order, a decision by invalidating or reversing the decision to hold an all-postal ballot election, which constitutes the power of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in any elections regardless of their postal form, and arises from Poland’s international-law obligations within the scope of mutual election observation by the competent representatives of the OSCE and the EU, as well as the consequences of such a decision for holding elections abroad;
(4) Articles 1 and 2 of the Resolution of 7 December 2023 adopted by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland with regard to appointing the Inquiry Committee to examine the lawfulness, appropriateness, and purposefulness of the actions taken to prepare and conduct the 2020 Polish presidential election by means of a postal ballot with Article 111(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland in conjunction with Article 95(2) as well as Article 2 of the Constitution, Article 7 of the Constitution, Article 45(1) of the Constitution, in conjunction with Article 128(2) of the Constitution, as regards examining the power of the Marshal of the Sejm to order presidential elections, and Article 129(1) of the Constitution, as regards the Supreme Court’s adjudication on the validity of a presidential election, as well as Articles 1 and 2 of the Act of 21 January 1999 on the Sejm’s Inquiry Committees due to failure to limit the Committee’s work to the activities of government administration in Article 1 of the Resolution, i.e. as regards interference with the powers of constitutional authorities, namely the Marshal of the Sejm and the Supreme Court;
(5) Article 1 and Article 2(1)(a)-(b) of the Resolution of 7 December 2023 adopted by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland with regard to appointing the Inquiry Committee to examine the lawfulness, appropriateness, and purposefulness of the actions taken to prepare and conduct the 2020 Polish presidential election by means of a postal ballot with Article 111(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland in conjunction with Article 173 of the Constitution, Article 175(l) of the Constitution, Article 183(1) and (2) of the Constitution; Article 188 of the Constitution, Article 198(1) and (2) of the Constitution; as well as Articles 1 and 2 of the Act of 21 January 1999 on the Sejm’s Inquiry Committees, as regards ‘the assessment of lawfulness’ of the activities, i.e. the violation of the principle of the tri-division of powers and interference with the powers of the Courts, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal, and the Tribunal of State by the Resolution on appointing the Committee;
(6) Article 2(4) of the Resolution of 7 December 2023 adopted by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland with regard to appointing the Inquiry Committee to examine the lawfulness, appropriateness, and purposefulness of the actions taken to prepare and conduct the 2020 Polish presidential election by means of a postal ballot with Article 111(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland as well as Articles 1 and 2 of the Act of 21 January 1999 on the Sejm’s Inquiry Committees, as regards the lack of precision and the possibility that the Committee may assess any other legal acts, decisions, instructions, or determinations issued by the government administration, also those which constitute the typical and ordinary work of the government administration in any presidential elections”;
adjudicates as follows:
Article 2 of the Resolution of 7 December 2023 adopted by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland with regard to appointing the Inquiry Committee to examine the lawfulness, appropriateness, and purposefulness of the actions taken to prepare and conduct the 2020 Polish presidential election by means of a postal ballot (Official Gazette – Monitor Polski, item 1440) is inconsistent with Article 111(1) in conjunction with Article 2 and in conjunction with Article 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
Moreover, the Tribunal decides:
to discontinue the proceedings as to the remainder.
The ruling was unanimous.
Krystyna Pawłowicz
Julia Przyłębska
Bogdan Święczkowski