In an Urgent Opinion published on Thursday 27 July, the Venice Commission calls on the Polish authorities to repeal - “at their earliest convenience” - the “Law on the State Commission to Investigate Russian Influence on Internal Security in the Republic of Poland between 2007 and 2022”.
While recognising that it is legitimate to wish to counter undue foreign influence, the Council of Europe’s constitutional law experts question the need for this law and, above all, its retroactive nature.
Potentially problematic past behaviour could be dealt with criminal justice system or parliamentary inquiry commissions, they argue, adding that the fact that the competence of this State Commission does not extend to events occurring from 2023 onwards, despite the Russian war in Ukraine, “adds serious doubts as to the necessity for introducing a new mechanism”.
Too broad in its scope and formulated in excessively vague manner, this law may lead to the “violation of numerous procedural and substantive human rights” and is “at odds with the principles of legal certainty, the separation of powers”, the Venice Commission observes.
Constitutional experts are particularly concerned about the potential impact of this law on next autumn’s legislative elections, pointing out that it “could easily become a tool in the hands of the majority to eliminate political opponents”.
On 11 July, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution criticising this Polish law and calling for it to be abolished or at least suspended pending the Urgent Opinion of the Venice Commission.
If this piece of legislation remains in force, say MEPs, the European Commission should initiate an accelerated infringement procedure and request interim measures from the Court of Justice of the EU.
Link to Urgent Opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/89b (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)