CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL STRIKES DOWN PORTIONS OF

UNCLAS WARSAW 000547 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO PGOV PREL PL SUBJECT: CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL STRIKES DOWN PORTIONS OF MEDIA LAW REF: A. 2005 WARSAW 04079 ¶B. 2005 WARSAW 03720 ¶C. WARSAW 00448 ¶1. (SBU) On March 23 the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland (Supreme Court equivalent) ruled that four articles of the new media law rammed through Parliament in late December last year (Reftels A and B) were unconstitutional. As a result the operations of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) have been temporarily suspended. The Tribunal ruled that KRRiT did not have provenence over ethical questions with no right of censorship. Secondly, the Tribunal judged that the provision giving the President the power to appoint the chairman of KRRiT was unconstitutional and the chairman must be nominated by the members of the Council. The Tribunal also questioned the provisions of the law that granted special privileges to "social broadcasters", that provided free license renewal for Catholic media including Radio Maryja and TV Trvam. The court referred this question back to Parliament for discussion. ¶2. (SBU) Comment: The court's ruling is significant for excluding KRRiT's efforts to broaden its mandate to include journalistic integrity and ethics. This is a signal to the governing Law and Justice (PiS)-dominated KRRiT to avoid the perception of media censorship. PiS may also interpret this ruling as an indicator of weak constitutional support for the creation of their "Media Monitoring Center" (reftel C). The judgement on the nomination versus appointment of the Council chairman is insignificant as the PiS-dominated Council is sure to nominate current Kaczynski appointee Elzbieta Kruk. The referral of the provision of special privileges for "social broadcasters" back to Parliament could lead to a broadening of the privilege (to include non-Catholic outlets) or a scrapping of the provision altogether. End Comment. ASHE