Lex Romanowski? No, it's a right for all crooks, thieves and... escapees.
The Sejm and the legislature late passed a bill amending the Act on the exercise of the mandate of a associate and Senator. I believe that, although this is simply a controversial solution, it is nevertheless highly crucial in terms of the sense of decency that society expects. This legislative initiative introduces fair and essential solutions for parliamentarians for whom a temporary arrest has been decided.
Why is this bill necessary? The current legal situation allows a associate or Senator to proceed to enjoy the privileges of the mandate, despite the provision of temporary arrest. This can lead to abuse and undermine public assurance in state institutions. The bill introduces clear rules, namely, if the parliamentary court makes a decision on temporary arrest, it automatically ceases to exercise its parliamentary or senatorial rights and duties.
So what changes this bill?
1. It deprives a associate or Senator of his or her ability to exercise his or her word of office from the minute he is given a provisional arrest order, even if he has not yet been arrested.
2. It suspends the payment of parliamentary salaries and allowances to parliamentarians who are formally covered by the temporary arrest decision.
3. It transfers the duties of the parliamentary or senatorial office to the Marshal of the Sejm or the Senate, thereby safeguarding the functioning of the office and eliminating the hazard of public funds being utilized by a individual who actually does not hold a mandate.
What benefits will this change have?
• It will strengthen the regulation of law and citizens' assurance in the state, eliminating situations where avoiders of justice could benefit from parliamentary immunity as a shield.
• It will prevent abuse, specified as the collection of salaries by MPs and senators who do not execute their duties due to hiding in the country or abroad from law enforcement.
• It will guarantee equality before the law, as no public function should exempt from criminal liability or let for circumvention of justice.
Adam Szejnfeld
Polish Senator
