Opinia prawna w sprawie ustawy z 22 grudnia 2015 r. o zmianie ustawy o Trybunale Konstytucyjnym

Provisions of the Act does not infringe the principle of independence of judges of the Constitutional Tribunal and the individual’s right to have his/her case heard without undue delay. Adoption of the solution according to which the Tribunal decides, as a rule, by a full bench is also consistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. However, the finding that there have indeed been grounds for immediate entry into force of the amendment of the Constitutional Tribunal Act of 22 December 2015., is not obvious. Therefore, the arguments justifying the departure from the introduction of the period of vacatio legis should be clarified in the explanatory memorandum of the Act. In the author’s view, a provision requiring a qualified (2/3) majority for the Tribunal to adjudicate can be considered not to comply with Article 190 para. 5 of the Constitution. The legislature should consider, with a view to the future law, clarifying the content of the concept of particularly glaring cases used in Article 31a para. 1 of the Act. Worth considering is also the change in the order in which motions are heard, as referred to in Article 80 of the Act.