A JUDGES’ MEETING
MIROSŁAW PIOTROWSKI
‘Deficit of democracy’ is a definition identified with our EU system
Judges of all countries, unite! In Warsaw there was a meeting of judges. For now, only the Polish ones, and not all of them. Only those who are particularly concerned about the state of democracy in our country and alleged threat of destroying the separations of powers. In the European Union, as an institution, this separation of powers has been impaired for years and I have not heard anybody being really concerned about it. ‘Deficit of democracy’ is a definition identified with our EU system. We can look it up in a dictionary. However, legal systems of particular countries, like Germany, are something different. Today functioning of the German Constitutional Tribunal in Karlsruhe is an example for the government in Poland. So, what are judges afraid of? Changes? I have been to court once. During the government of the Civil Platform party. At that time, I received legal help from my friend euro-deputy Zbigniew Ziobro who had been sued to the court. He had 30 court cases. The case was dismissed, but argumentation being the basis of the court statement shocked many people. When I was reading the justification of a judge, my thoughts were running through Belarus and Russia to North Korea. I feel even sorry about writing arguments. But when I am watching the meeting of judges in Warsaw, with judge Rzepliński and Petru in the main role, I recall a lot of other similar court cases with which people came to my MP office with a request about intervention. They all bounced off the wall of justice. I intervened about their matters even in Strasburg. At present the chairperson of the Constitutional Tribunal prof. Andrzej Rzepliński, not perceiving a decision of a lawmaker, that is, the Seym, and also president of the Republic of Poland announced that judgments are passed according to the constitution. OK, I heard myself when during the mentioned meeting of judges in Warsaw he told TV that ‘Poland is departing from the West’. Wanting to tie his ‘final’ statements with a parabola into legal iunctim, one can still ask a question: under which article of the Constitution of Republic of Poland did he pass such a judgment?
AA
„Niedziela” 38/2016