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ACT of 8 December 2017 on the Supreme Court Chapter 1 General

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ACT of 8 December 2017 on the Supreme Court Chapter 1 General Appendix to the announcement of the Speaker of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland of 4 April 2019 (item 825) regarding the publication of a uniform text of the Supreme Court Act ACT of 8 December 2017 on the Supreme Court Chapter 1 General provisions Article 1. The Supreme Court shall be a judiciary body responsible for: 1) the administration of justice by: a) ensuring the legality and uniformity of the case law of common courts and military courts by examining appeals and passing resolutions resolving legal questions; b) 1extraordinary review of valid court judgments to ensure their consistency with the principle of a democratic state ruled by law implementing the principles of social justice by the examination of extraordinary appeals; 2) examining disciplinary cases to the extent defined by statute; 3) examining election protests and confirming the validity of elections to the Sejm and the Senate, the election of the President of the Republic of Poland, elections to the European Parliament, and examining protests concerning the validity of a national referendum or a constitutional referendum, and confirming the validity of a referendum; 4) issuing opinions on draft statutes and other normative acts under which courts adjudicate and function, as well as other draft statutes to the extent that they affect cases within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court; 5) performing other actions defined by statute. Article 2. The Supreme Court shall have its seat in Warsaw. Article 3. The Supreme Court shall be divided into Chambers: 1) Civil Chamber; 2) Criminal Chamber; 3) Labour Law and Social Security Chamber; 4) Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs Chamber; 5) Disciplinary Chamber. Article 4. The President of the Republic of Poland shall, after asking the opinion of the Supreme Court Board, define in a regulation the rules of the Supreme Court, which shall determine the number of positions of judges of the Supreme Court, not lesser than 120, including the number of such judges in each chamber, the internal organisation of the Supreme Court, the internal rules of procedure and the specific scope and procedure of functions performed by assistants, taking into account the need of ensuring effective functioning of the Supreme Court, its chambers and bodies, the specificity of proceedings before the Supreme Court, including disciplinary proceedings, as well as the number and type of examined cases. Article 5. § 1. The First President of the Supreme Court shall report on an annual basis to the President of the Republic of Poland and the National Council of the Judiciary on the activity of the Supreme Court and major issues identified in connection therewith, including issues arising from the case law. Attached to the report of the First President of the Supreme Court shall be a report of the President of the Supreme Court heading the Disciplinary Chamber on the activity of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. § 2. The First President of the Supreme Court shall table the report referred to in § 1 also to the Sejm and the Senate. No vote shall be held on the report. 1 In the wording laid down in Article 2(1) of the Act of 10 May 2018 amending the Act – Law on the common court system, the Act on the Supreme Court and certain other Acts (Journal of Laws, item 1045), which took effect on 16 June 2018. Article 6. § 1. The First President of the Supreme Court shall present competent authorities with comments about identified legal irregularities or gaps which must be eliminated to ensure the rule of law, social justice and consistency of the legal system of the Republic of Poland. § 2. The President of the Supreme Court heading the Disciplinary Chamber shall present competent authorities with comments about identified legal irregularities or gaps which must be eliminated to ensure effective examination of cases within the jurisdiction of the Chamber or to reduce the number of disciplinary offences. Article 7. § 1. The minister responsible for public finance shall include the draft revenue and expense statement of the Supreme Court in the wording approved by the Supreme Court Board in the draft state budget. § 2. The Supreme Court Board shall include the draft revenue and expense statement of the Disciplinary Chamber in the wording approved by the assembly of judges of the Disciplinary Chamber in the draft revenue and expense statement of the Supreme Court. § 3. To the extent of implementation of the budget of the Supreme Court, the First President of the Supreme Court shall have the powers of the minister responsible for public finance. § 4. To the extent of implementation of the budget of the Supreme Court concerning the functioning of the Disciplinary Chamber, the President of the Supreme Court heading the Disciplinary Chamber shall have the powers of the minister responsible for public finance. § 5.2) Any reallocation of expenses resulting in a reduction of expenses concerning the functioning of the Disciplinary Chamber shall require the approval of the President of the Supreme Court heading the Disciplinary Chamber. § 6.2) The President of the Supreme Court heading the Disciplinary Chamber shall implement the budget of the Supreme Court concerning the functioning of the Disciplinary Chamber. Article 8.3) The Supreme Court shall immediately publish its rulings and, after the preparation of the reasoning, also the reasoning of rulings in the Public Information Bulletin on the institutional website of the Supreme Court. Article 9. The Supreme Court may publish compilations of its rulings. The name “Case Law of the Supreme Court” together with the name of the relevant chamber shall be protected by law. Article 9a.4) § 1. The Supreme Court shall be the controller of personal data processed in judicial proceedings. § 2. Article 15, Article 16 to the extent that specific regulations provide for a different rectification procedure, Article 18 and Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (Legal Journal of the EU L 119 of 04.05.2016, p. 1, as amended5), hereinafter “Regulation 2016/679”, shall not apply to the processing of personal data in judicial proceedings. § 3. In connection with the processing of personal data in judicial proceedings, the obligations referred to in Article 13 of Regulation 2016/679 shall be performed by publishing the information referred to in Article 13(2) of Regulation 2016/679 in the Public Information Bulletin on the institutional website and at an accessible location in the building of the Supreme Court. Article 10. § 1. The provisions of the Act of 27 July 2001 – Law on the common court system (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 52, 55, 60 and 125) shall apply accordingly to the extent not governed by this Act. § 2. The provisions of the Act of 16 September 1982 on employees of public institutions (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 1915) shall apply accordingly to employees of the Supreme Court other than judges to the extent not governed by this Act, and the provisions of the Act of 26 June 1974 – Labour Code (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 917, as amended6) shall apply to the extent not governed by the aforementioned Act. Chapter 2 Bodies of the Supreme Court Article 11. The bodies of the Supreme Court shall include the First President of the Supreme Court, Presidents of the Supreme Court, the General Assembly of Judges of the Supreme Court, the assembly of judges of chambers of the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court Board. 2 Added in Article 1(1) of the Act of 12 April 2018 amending the Act on the Supreme Court (Journal of Laws, item 847), which took effect on 9 May 2018. 3 In the wording laid down in Article 93(1) of the Act of 14 December 2018 on the protection of personal data processed in connection with the prevention and combatting of crimes (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 125), which took effect on 6 February 2019. 4 Added in Article 93(2) of the Act referred to in footnote 3. 5 The amendment of the Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the EU, L 127 of 23.05.2018, p. 2. 6 The amendments to the consolidated text of the Act were published in the Journal of Laws of 2018, item 1000, 1076, 1608, 1629, 2215, 2244, 2245, 2377 and 2432. Article 12. § 1. The First President of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland for a term of six years from amongst five candidates nominated by the General Assembly of Judges of the Supreme Court and may be re-elected only once. The person appointed the First President of the Supreme Court may remain in that position only until voluntary retirement, mandatory retirement or termination of the official relationship of a judge of the Supreme Court. § 2. The General Assembly of Judges of the Supreme Court shall nominate candidates for the position of the First President of the Supreme Court from amongst active judges of the Supreme Court, no later than six weeks before the end of the term of the First President of the Supreme Court or within 14 days after voluntary retirement, mandatory retirement or termination of the official relationship of a judge of the Supreme Court or resignation from the position of the First President of the Supreme Court. Article 13. § 1. The General Assembly of Judges of the Supreme Court responsible for the nominations referred to in Article 12 § 2 shall be chaired by the First President of the Supreme Court or, if that is not possible or if such person is proposed as a candidate, by the President of the Supreme Court most senior as a judge.
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