Can't go, won't go

Neither President Lech Kaczyński nor Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz nor even the Speaker of the Sejm Marek Jurek attended the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the first verdict of the Constitutional Tribunal (TK). The President was apparently prevented by illness, and the Prime Minister changed his plans at the last minute, choosing instead to meet representatives of miners' trade unions.

Kaczyński, Marcinkiewicz and Jurek were all replaced by lower-level officials. "This has never happened in the history of European tribunals ... This is a bad sign ... of neglecting this body, of neglecting the law and the Constitution," the former president of the tribunal, Andrzej Zoll, said.

The tribunal was established in 1986 and its members were approved by communist officials. However, it soon turned out to be more than the lame duck the communists envisaged - in its first verdict it shocked the government, stating that the Council of Ministers' decision to raise the maintenance fees of flats bought from the state was unconstitutional.

The absence of PiS officials at the anniversary celebrations was not the first affront to the tribunal. In April the President, Prime Minister and Speaker did not make it to TK's annual general assembly. Their absence came after the tribunal questioned the legality of certain stipulations of the bill on the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiTV). The Tribunal and PiS also clashed over the issue of clarifying the process of lawyers' applications, which would make the legal profession more accessible. PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński accused the tribunal of "impossiblism," interpreting the law in such a way that the government cannot do anything.