Constitutional Tribunal Strikes Down Accounting Act Amendment Over Excluded Lawmakers

The Constitutional Tribunal has ruled the April 2024 accounting amendment unconstitutional, citing the parliamentary exclusion of PiS politicians Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik from the legislative voting process.

A Legislative Verdict on Constitutional Integrity

The Constitutional Tribunal declared the accounting act amendment unconstitutional on Tuesday. The ruling stems from the exclusion of Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik—then MPs, now MEPs—from participating in the parliamentary vote on the measure, which sought to implement EU tax transparency requirements for large corporations.

Presided over by judge Jarosław Wyrembak with Bogdan Święczkowski as rapporteur, the Tribunal ruled that the exclusion of these MPs violated the principle of legalism. The court argued that this legislative process was inherently flawed due to the improper composition of the Sejm, extending the defect to the inclusion of Monika Pawłowska during the voting.

Dissent and Judicial Controversy

The ruling faced opposition within the Tribunal. Judges Bartłomiej Sochański and Jakub Stelina filed dissenting opinions, noting that the act passed with 431 votes and that the absence of two members did not alter the result. Sochański argued there is no logical link between the alleged constitutional violation and the invalidation of an act that has been in effect for two years.

Judge Stelina warned that the ruling could have broader implications, effectively negating the authority of the Sejm’s decisions during the period between the expiration of the two MPs’ mandates and their eventual election to the European Parliament. He questioned whether delegitimizing the legislature serves the constitutional interests of the state.

Background of the Legal Dispute

The legal impasse originated from the December 2023 conviction of Kamiński and Wąsik for abuse of power, leading to the attempted expiration of their parliamentary mandates by Speaker Szymon Hołownia. While the Labour and Social Insurance Chamber of the Supreme Court upheld the expiration, the Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs Chamber contested it.

Following their exclusion from Sejm proceedings and the deactivation of their voting cards, both politicians were eventually pardoned by President Andrzej Duda. They subsequently won seats in the European Parliament in June 2024. The current impasse remains marked by the Sejm’s refusal to publish Tribunal rulings it deems issued by improperly appointed judges.