The Constitutional Tribunal (TK) has issued a ruling that will effectively prevent Poland’s new governing coalition from putting central bank governor Adam Glapiński – seen as an ally of the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party – on trial.
The TK, which is itself seen as being under the influence of PiS, deemed that existing rules, which require only a simple majority in parliament to bring the central bank governor before the State Tribunal, the body tasked with trying the highest officials of state, to be unconstitutional.
The judges decided that a higher threshold was needed to safeguard the independence of the central bank and that this should be the same as the one required to bring government ministers before the State Tribunal: a super-majority of three fifths of MPs in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament.
That figure would almost certainly be beyond the current ruling coalition, which has 241 MPs in the 460-seat Sejm, well below the three-fifths threshold of 276. Even with the support of the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja), the government could only muster 259 votes.
Wczorajszy wyrok TK: wszczęcie postępow. o postawienie Prezesa NBP przed Trybunałem Stanu uchwałą Sejmu podjętą bezwzględną większością przy obecn. co najmniej połowy ustawowej liczby posłów,skutkującą automat.zawieszeniem Prezesa NBP w czynnościach-jest NIEZGODNE z Konstytucją pic.twitter.com/Pz2msORDRa
— Krystyna Pawłowicz (@KrystPawlowicz) January 12, 2024
Figures from the new ruling coalition have regularly accused Glapiński – who is a longstanding associate of PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński – of conducting monetary policy to PiS’s political order, in violation of his constitutional obligations.
In December, shortly before becoming prime minister, Donald Tusk said that they would “seek opinions confirming whether [Glapiński] has performed his function unconstitutionally and contrary to the principles of law”. If so, he could be brought before the State Tribunal, said Tusk.
Glapiński denies such allegations. In November, after PiS had lost its parliamentary majority in elections, he wrote to the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, outlining the incoming coalition’s plans to bring him before the State Tribunal.
Lagarde assured him that he would be protected by EU law if the new government unlawfully suspended and prosecuted him
ECB chief Christine @Lagarde has assured Poland's central bank governor that he will be protected by EU law if the new government unlawfully suspends and prosecutes him.
The incoming ruling coalition has suggested it may seek to put him on trial https://t.co/4qq81F7Jqk
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 5, 2023
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Main image credit: NBP / twitter.com
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
