The Polish Supreme Court issued a ruling rejecting President Andrzej Duda’s pardon of the Interior Minister and head of the country’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, Mariusz Kamiński.
In 2015, Duda pardoned Kamiński, Maciej Wąsik, his deputy in the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau -CBA), and two other subordinates. This sparked controversy at the time many legal experts argued that the presidential power of pardon could only apply to final, binding rulings and not to pending cases, as with Kamiński.
The ruling annulling the discontinuation of Kamiński’s case means that the proceeding has now been referred back to the court for re-examination, which could end with a possible retrial for the politician and the other sentenced men.
“The administration of justice in the Polish legal order is the exclusive domain of the common courts and the Supreme Court,” Judge Piotr Mirek said, as quoted by Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Kamiński, nominated by the Law and Justice (PiS) party from 2005 to 2007, was sentenced to three years in prison for abusing their powers in an investigation and participating in a corruption scandal that helped bring down the PiS government in 2007.
As both Kamiński and the others maintained their innocence, Duda issued presidential pardons to all four sentenced. Then, Kamiński assumed the post of Interior Minister after PiS returned to power in late 2015.
On 2 June, the Constitutional Tribunal, considered by the Court of Justice of the EU to be influenced by the government, ruled that the president was within his rights to pardon Kamiński and that the Supreme Court had no control over the president’s rights of pardon.
Criticism of the ruling came from the ruling PiS government.
Once again, the Supreme Court issued a ruling ignoring the division of powers and prerogatives dictated by the constitution, as well as the rulings of the Constitutional Tribunals, said Deputy Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta.
Kaleta accused the members of the Supreme Court of participating “in a rebellion against their own state” and said its judgements were based on the political views of the judges, not the law.
Mirek insisted that the Court have the right to interpret the law, including the Constitution.
“The Constitutional Tribunal cannot force courts to interpret provisions in one way or another”, he said.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl)
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