In recent days, the ruling coalition (the Civic Coalition led by Donald Tusk; EPP/RE/Greens/EFA)has intensified actions aimed at 'restoring legal order' in Poland, while at the same time, in a purely political dimension, reducing the influence of PiS (Law and Justice party, part of the United Right) in the state. Some lawyers believe that these actions are questionable in terms of their compliance with the Polish Constitution. PiS believes that the new government is breaking the Constitution. The Minister of Justice is trying to introduce the most important changes
Bodnar wants to take back the prosecutor's office and the National Council of the Judiciary
On January 12, the Minister of Justice and The Public Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar removed Dariusz Barski from the position of National Prosecutor. This is an important institution because, just before the parliamentary elections in October 2023, PiS changed the law so that it is the National Prosecutor who rules public prosecutor's office.
- Barski is a close associate of the previous Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro. In 2010, he retired, but at the beginning of 2022, he was reinstated in active service and appointed the first deputy to The Public Prosecutor General and National Prosecutor. According to Bodnar, this was done in violation of regulations. Ziobro had applied the provisions of the law that were no longer in force, which had no legal effect. According to the minister, prosecutor Barski remains in retirement and cannot perform the functions of the National Prosecutor.
- The minister's decision met with opposition from the deputies of The Public Prosecutor General, who in a statement recognized these actions as 'unlawful'. They also announced that they would submit a report on a suspected crime to the Prosecutor General. Andrzej Duda opposes Bodnar's decision. On January 15, the president met with prosecutor Barski and his associates.
- Barski was removed from performing his duties, not dismissed, because this requires the written consent of the president. For now, the minister has appointed a prosecutor to act as the National Prosecutor; the appointment of a new Public Prosecutor General also requires the president's opinion.Moreover, the new Minister of Justice has also been active in other areas in recent days:
- He announced that by the end of the week he would present the assumptions of the bill separating the functions of the Minister of Justice and The Public Prosecutor General (as it was in 2010-2016, a change introduced by the PO [Civic Platform, centre-right liberal party, part of the Civic Coalition] -PSL [Polish People's Party, part of the Third Way]government). According to the ruling coalition, this will serve to 'depoliticize the prosecution.'
- On January 12, the minister presented a draft amendment to the law on the National Council of the Judiciary. Since 2017, after changes made by PiS, judge-members of the NCJ are elected by the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament). According to Bodnar's project they will be elected by judges in elections organized before the National Electoral Commission. This is intended to free the NCJ from political pressure. The amendment would be an important step in unlocking funds from the National Recovery Plan.
Bodnar also dismissed a total of 16 judges associated with Zbigniew Ziobro from their delegations to the ministry, the National Council of the Judiciary and institutions subordinated to the ministry. At the beginning of January, he made a similar decision regarding 144 prosecutors delegated to the National Prosecutor's Office and regional prosecutor's offices.
Former PiS Ministers in Prison
Earlier, emotions were stirred by the case of former Minister of Internal Affairs Mariusz Kamiński and his deputy Maciej W?sik, who on January 9 were detained at the Presidential Palace (where they planned to stay with the president's consent) and taken to custody. Their arrest was related to the final court judgment issued on December 20, 2023, which sentenced PiS politicians to two years in prison for exceeding their powers in 2007, when they headed the Central Anticorruption Bureau. In 2015, Duda pardoned them, but in the opinion of the Supreme Court, the pardon was not effective before the judgment became final. In turn, the final judgment automatically deprived them of their parliamentary mandates.
On January 11, the president announced that he had initiated the pardon procedure for both politicians. Duda did not use the act of grace, as in 2015, after the non-final judgment, because he would have admitted that the act used at that time was ineffective. He would also undermine the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal, according to which the law of pardon is not subject to judicial review. The pardon procedure (arising from the Code of Criminal Procedure) is longer, requires the opinion of the court that issued the judgment, but the president is not bound by it. Duda appealed to Bodnar to, as The Public Prosecutor General, release Kamiński and W?sik from serving their sentence - thereby shifting responsibility to the PPG for the fact that PiS politicians are in prison. At the same time, the rulers counter the president, stating that by using the pardon procedure, he admitted that Kamiński and W?sik are no longer MPs by virtue of the final judgment - the pardon procedure is used for people who have been finally convicted.
The increased activity of the rulers in the field of restoring the rule of law and settling accounts with the PiS governments has several aspects:
- The ruling majority is making moves to convince the European Commission that it is trying to restore the rule of law - even if the president blocks the changes, the government can explain that it is doing everything to reverse the changes introduced by PiS.
- The authority shows its effectiveness - it promised to settle accounts with the PiS governments and restore the rule of law, so it does it, even if the methods are controversial. As analyses of posts on the net indicate, the arrest of both politicians in the Presidential Palace met with a positive reception for the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration Marcin Kierwiński and the actions of the police themselves. The president, who agreed to "store" the politicians convicted by a final judgment in the Palace, was negatively assessed. Even by making superficial changes, the government gains applause from citizens for whom "settling accounts with PiS" is one of the priorities.
- During its rule, PiS often used a method where legal interpretations were tailored to political actions, not the other way around. Donald Tusk's government is using this precedent, explaining at the same time that it is only reversing the bad changes.
- Far-reaching changes in the justice system are possible thanks to Bodnar. He is a human rights activist, former Ombudsman, non-partisan lawyer, who in the 2023 Senate elections received a record 630,000 votes. He therefore has a mandate to carry out even controversial actions. If a KO politician carried them out, media and social criticism would be much higher.
- PiS does not recognize the final judgment against Kamiński and W?sik, calling them political prisoners. The party also questions the legality of the changes introduced by the Minister of Justice. After losing control over the public media, this is yet another blow to the right wing. Three months before the local elections, PiS is on the defensive. Protests against the government's actions will allow PiS to close ranks, but will make it more difficult to attract new voters.
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