The Commissioner for Human Rights, Adam Bodnar was silenced when he criticised the impartiality of the Constitutional Tribunal and judge Julia Przyłębska. During a session of the parliamentary Justice and Human Rights Committee, chairman Stanisław Piotrowicz lashed out and accused the commissioner of not defending citizens and acting with a political agenda. The session was quickly brought to a close and Bodnar was not allowed to respond.
"In matters that have constitutional significance, in matters where there is a deep political intrest, you can't count on, in my opinion, the impartiality of the Constitutional Tribunal," said Commissioner for Human Rights Adam Bodnar at a session of Justice and Human Rights Committee in the Sejm.
The chairman of the Justice and Human Rights Committee, Stanisław Piotrowicz replied: "it is horrible that such content comes from the mouth of the representative of a constitutional power. You don't represent the citizens, you do not act in the defense of citizens' rights, you are pursuing a political mission".
"I believe, that the commission has become aquainted with the information from the Commissioner for Human Rights about the state of adherence of freedoms and human and civil rights in 2017," the chairman summed up and closed the session, not allowing Mr Bodnar to say anything more.
"This is a breach of the Constitution, because every year the Commissioner for Human Rights has a right to inform the Sejm and its organs about his work. Yesterday, chairman Piotrowicz prevented him from doing that," said Civic Platform MP Michał Szczerba.
For an opposing view, Law and Justice MP Marek Ast said: "he (chairman Piotrowicz) doesn't agree for one of the constitutional organs to weigh the legality of another, and this is what happened. There was absolutely no basis for this, neither practical, nor legal, to preach this type of thesis."
"This is a mechanism of taking action for politicians from Law and Justice, who have been doing this for a long time," said Modern Party MP Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz.
She added: "if an important act is being dealt with in the Sejm, then the Law and Justice politicians are just going to take such actions to distract attention from the heart of the matter. And the heart of the matter is that the Law and Justice politicians are just finally taking over the Supreme Court."
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVN24 International