Supreme Court: PKW must approve PiS's financial report for 2023

The Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs Chamber, established by the 2017 Supreme Court Act, has faced significant criticism. Its legitimacy is disputed by the current government and segments of the PKW because it comprises judges appointed via the restructured National Council of the Judiciary.

This decision was confirmed by Supreme Court spokesperson Aleksander Stępkowski.

"The content of today’s ruling is the annulment of the decision by the National Electoral Commission (PKW), which means that the PKW is obligated to adopt a resolution accepting the (PiS party's) electoral committee's financial report" he stated.

"The National Electoral Commission (PKW) rejected the report, accusing it of violating Article 131, Paragraph 5, and Article 132, Paragraph 1 of the Electoral Code. In short, the accusation was that the electoral committee accepted non-monetary benefits during the election campaign," the spokesperson explained.

He stated that "in no way ... did the National Electoral Commission indicate how it made the findings on which it based its decision."

PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński commented on the the decision on X. "An important decision by the Supreme Court. The question remains whether the current authorities will implement it or if, once again, the law will be broken, thus confirming the fact that the regime change occurred by force, and that even the rudiments of the law no longer apply in Poland," he wrote.

On August 29, 2023, the PKW had rejected the financial report submitted by the PiS electoral committee. At the time, PKW member Ryszard Balicki explained that the Commission, lacking investigative powers, had relied entirely on documentation provided by other state authorities.

Among the reasons for rejecting the report were allegations of election campaigning at military picnics, a promotional video produced by the Ministry of Justice, and election campaigning by employees of the Government Legislative Center.

Balicki noted that the violations identified by the PKW amounted to 3.6 million zlotys, which were reflected in the Commission’s resolution.

As a result of the PKW's decision, PiS appealed to the Supreme Court.

After the rejection of the report, the party’s direct subsidy (approx. 38 million zlotys) was reduced by three times the disputed amount, approximately 10.8 million zlotys.

In addition, the annual budgetary subsidy of nearly 26 million zlotys was also cut by 10.8 million zlotys.

Furthermore, PiS was required to return 3.6 million zlotys to the State Treasury, corresponding to the contested amount.