MAIN MATTERS
We have welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgment dismissing the cassation appeal filed by the Prosecutor General with regard to the case concerning refusal to provide a printing service to the LGBT Business Forum Foundation, says a statement issued by Adam Bodnar and his deputy Sylwia Spurek. The Supreme Court has confirmed that the service provider may not categorize or select customers based solely on their personal features. (more)
The discussion on the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance is a time of intensified focus on anti-Semitism in the public debate, has concluded a survey carried out by the Centre for Research on Prejudice at the request of the CHR. According to the survey, the act whose aim was to restrict the use of incorrect codes of remembrance has instead led to their more common use. (more)
The government is fully aware of the difficult financial situation of persons with disabilities and their families. Deputy Minister Krzysztof Michałkiewicz has replied to the CHR’s letter concerning the provision of support to such persons. According to the minister, the key elements of the new support system For independent living, adopted by the 3rd Congress of Persons with Disabilities, will be included in the currently developed Strategy for Disabled Persons, of which no details have yet been provided. (more)
THE COMMISSIONER ON CITIZENS’ ISSUES
Owners of 250 hotels and holiday centres that have been purchased from the Employees Holiday Fund are now facing serious problems. The parliamentary act of 2015 annulled their rights to property and made it hardly possible for them to claim their rights. The Sejm waited as long as 17 years to execute the Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment regarding the Fund’s assets, and in the meantime those assets were sold. The CHR has appealed to the Prime Minister for adopting a systemic solution of the problem. (more)
Police Commander -in-Chief should issue guidelines that would require taking an immediate intervention in case of any detected public reference to racist, fascist or Nazi symbols and slogans, believes the CHR. The Commissioner has emphasized instances of police officers’ lack of reaction to such content; they should also have knowledge about such symbols and slogans. (more)
The Commissioner has sent an inquiry to the Ministry of the Interior and Administration asking whether it has instructed the police officers to check IDs of citizens trying to ask questions in open meetings held with representatives of the authorities. In the CHR’s opinion, such activities of the police may raise doubts as to the observance of fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. (more)
If the Minister of Justice appoints a judge to be a member of a disciplinary court, without the judge’s consent and the possibility to appeal against such a decision, it is a violation of the constitutional principles, believes the CHR. Such appointment system is not consistent with the principle of division and balance of powers and with the right to court. (more)
Despite the earlier announcements, the government has not yet increased the protection of borrowers in relation to banks. The Commissioner has inquired the Minister of Justice about the reasons for the delay. (more)
Persons who receive a family benefit instead of old-age pension should be exempt from the monthly fees for access to radio and television broadcasts, believes the Commissioner. (more)
Citizens complain that it is not clear which of the divorced parents has the right to the family tax reduction. There also exist problems with preferential tax settlements for single parents. The CHR has sent an intervention letter to the Minister of Finance. (more)
Criminal liability of citizens has to be provided for by an act of the Parliament and not by a minister's regulation. According to the Commissioner, this constitutional requirement is not meet by the provisions of the Aviation Law which gives the minister the freedom to lay down regulations regarding the operation and security of airports. (more)
Persons who have concluded civil-law contracts with farmers for seasonal work in fruit or vegetables harvesting should be covered by the minimum wage guarantees, stated the CHR. (more)
Officers of the Customs and Tax Service, whose employment ceased when they were on sickness leaves, do not get the sickness benefit. The CHR sees a legal gap here, and has sent a letter of intervention to the president of the ZUS Social Security Institution. (more)
Representatives of the National Mechanism for the Torture Prevention Mechanism visited rooms for persons detained for the purpose of sobering up, located within the Municipal Police Headquarters in Gdańsk. (more)
LEGISLATION
Following the CHR’s intervention, the Supreme Administrative Court has annulled a decision on customs duties, issued many years ago to the detriment of the taxpayer. The Supreme Administrative Court found that a customs office can also make a mistake consisting in the omission to verify whether the applied tax rate is correct. (more)
Following the CHR’s intervention, the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Kielce has annulled a judgment which required a resident of a social welfare home to cover the costs of his stay there for a period over which the person was not staying there anymore. (more)
How should a court , when dividing the assets of divorcing spouses, determine the value of their apartment or house if it has been purchased with a bank loan? According to the CHR, the market value of the real estate should be taken into account, and the related financial settlements between the spouses should be taken into account separately- this is the opinion on the Commissioner on the question submitted for preliminary judgment. (more)
THE CHRONICLE
On 13 June 2018, the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Human Rights approved the CHR Office’s report on the implementation of the budget for 2017. The Supreme Audit Office had no comments on the implementation of the budget. (more)
On 13 June 2018, at the CHR Office Adam Bodnar held the second meeting with representatives of organizations of national and ethnic minorities. (more)
On 14 June 2018, at the CHR Office a meeting of experts was held to discuss the draft amendments to the bankruptcy law concerning, in particular, private persons bankruptcy. (more)