The Sejm passed “lex Romanowski”

The draft amendment of the Act on the exercise of the mandate of a associate and Senator was prepared on the initiative of a group of MPs: KO, Polski 2050-TD and PSL-TD.

There were 236 Members, against – 203, no 1 abstained in the vote on the fresh government on Friday.

According to the amendment, the parliamentarian to whom the temporary detention provision was applied will be deprived of his right to pay. The prohibition on the exercise of the rights and obligations resulting from the word of office will besides apply to parliamentarians who have been given a decision to apply provisional arrest before the date of entry into force of the amendments to the Act.

Under the amended law, specified parliamentarians will not be able to carry out field activities (including the right to intervene or the right to information). They will besides not be able to "use social and surviving rights, specified as the right to pay or to a parliamentary allowance".

"Lex Romanowski". The communicative of the Justice Fund

The law is commonly referred to as "lex Romanowski" from the name of the PiS MP, b. Deputy Minister of Justice Marcin Romanowski, who is suspected in the investigation concerning the Justice Fund. Romanowski's crimes were to consist, among another things, of "pointing out to subordinate employees entities who should win grants competitions from the Justice Fund". The politician was besides to order improvements in the incorrect tenders before they were notified and allowed grants to entities that did not meet the formal and material requirements. The charges besides concern the misappropriation of money in the full amount of over PLN 107 million and the attempted misappropriation of money in the amount of over PLN 58 million.

On 9 December, the territory Court for Warsaw Mokotów decided to arrest Romanowski for 3 months. The MP failed to appear at a court meeting, and the investigating prosecutor issued a BOLO for him. On December 19, Marcin Romanowski received political asylum in Hungary. Earlier that day, the territory Court in Warsaw informed of the release of the European Arrest Warrant against this policy. Interpol was besides asked to print a red note.

The granting of Romanowski's asylum caused tension in Polish-Hungarian relations. Romanowski declared in December that he "considers his mission to the Danube as a fight against lawlessness and as an action to "as rapidly as possible remove from power a government harmful to Poles".