Polish ombudsman says mandates of two sentenced MPs have expired

Speaker of the lower house of the Polish parliament, Szymon Hołownia, on Monday (Jan. 8) began a series of meetings with top legal experts to discuss the ongoing case of two PiS MPs, Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, who have been sentenced to two years in prison by a Warsaw court.

Following the court verdict in December, Hołownia issued a notification regarding the expiry of the two lawmakers' parliamentary mandates due to a binding prison sentences.

Kamiński and Wąsik appealed to the Supreme Court, whose contested Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs Chamber later annuled Hołownia's decision.

Hołowania first met with Justice Minister Adam Bodnar. "Important decisions are ahead of us, we have a plan of action, but I've decided to discuss it with the most important state officials. I mostly care for social order, but based on equal rules for all," he said ahead of the meeting.

The justice minister told reporters after the meeting that, in his view, Kamiński and Wąsik "are sentenced persons" and that "there is the speaker's decision ending their mandates, while the binding court sentence also includes ban on holding public functions".

Bodnar was also asked about Kamiński's comment made earlier on Monday in a radio interview, in which the former interior minister declared that "only physical force" would stop him from taking part in parliamentary voting.

"I think that when we use words like "force," we should always bear in mind that in a democratic state it should always be a force of persuation, argumentation, based on respect for the constitution," he stressed.

Speaker Hołownia later met with the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Polish ombudsman, Marcin Wiącek.

"The parliamentary mandates have expired, and therefore a procedure stipulated in the Electoral Code regarding filling these mandates should be launched, however, the Supreme Court's rulings stands in the way. I think we should examine the consequences said rulings have caused, but from the point of view of the constitution, which is unambiguous, a criminal court sentence renders the mandates expired," the ombudsman said ahead of the meeting.

"I think that the Extraordinary Review Chamber as well as the Supreme Court operating under the procedure mentioned in the Electoral Code do not have the authority to question a criminal court ruling," he added.

The human rights commissioner was also asked about a potential "second pardoning" of the sentenced by the president. "The right of pardon is possible, however, the essence of this right is based on sparing the punishment. It can also be based on expungement, but exercising the right of pardon cannot question the fact the sentencing verdict," Wiącek added.

"Taking the path of the right of pardon, one must not create fiction that a binding criminal court sentence has been passed," the ombudsman stressed.

Furthermore, he underscored that "the right of pardon does not hold retroactive powers that could eliminate the factually passed sentence". Wiącek reiterated that "the parliamentary mandates have expired with the passing of the binding sentence".

President Andrzej Duda's chief of staff Marcin Mastalerek announced on Monday morning the president invited Szymon Hołownia to a meeting at the Presidential Palace later that day.