Polish court official asked to resign after breaking ranks
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
29.04.2016 12:48
A director of a branch of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal has been called upon by the court 'to submit his resignation' after he argued its rulings needed to be approved by an external body.
Kamil Zaradkiewicz, Director of the Constitutional Tribunal's Department of Jurisprudence and Studies. Image: TVP screenshot
Kamil Zaradkiewicz, director of the tribunal's Department of Jurisprudence and Studies, gave interviews with both Polish daily Rzeczpospolita and public broadcaster TVP on the matter.
He told Rzeczpospolita that the tribunal's rulings are 'not always' binding and final.
The Office of the Tribunal has said unofficially that “he has lost our trust... and owing to this situation, he has been asked to resign, but he refused.”
The tribunal has been in a deadlock with the Polish government since 9 March, when the court rejected a raft of reforms to how it functioned that had been voted through parliament.
Prime Minister Beata Szydło declined to publish the tribunal's 9 March ruling, technically preventing it from being binding.
The matter has become international, with the Venice Commission, an arm of the Council of Europe, urging the Polish government to respect the court's judgement.
According to the Office of the Tribunal, Zaradkiewicz and other representatives of the tribunal are entitled to speak with the press, but they must receive approval beforehand.
The office claims he had not sought approval, and its first move was to suspend him from making public statements.
The row over the tribunal deepened this week when Poland's Supreme Court adopted a resolution stating that the tribunal's rulings should be respected, even if not published by the prime minister. (nh)
Source: TVP, Rzceczpospolita