The Presidium of the Polish Bishops' Congerence has submitted a request to the Prime Minister for public information

https://episkopat.pl/doc/225053.Prezydium-KEP-zlozylo-wniosek-do-Prezesa-Rady-Ministrow-o

In the application submitted to the Prime Minister, the members of the Presidium of the Polish Bishops' Conference included the question why the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland of 27 November 2024 declaring the illegality and at the same time unconstitutional in its entirety, for formal reasons, of the decree of the Minister of Education of 26 July 2024 amending the decree on the conditions and manner of organising religious education in public kindergartens and schools (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1158) has not yet been published in the Journal of Laws.

The bishops also asked for information on what is the constitutional and statutory legal basis for the inaction of the state authorities and government administration in this case, and what the Prime Minister, as head of the government administration, intends to do to restore the state of affairs in accordance with universally applicable law regarding the publication of the Constitutional Tribunal of 27 November 2024.

The members of the Presidium also asked the Prime Minister whether he takes responsibility for the unlawful actions of the Minister of National Education in issuing regulations amending the regulation on the conditions and manner of organising religious instruction in public kindergartens and schools without first reaching the required agreement with the authorities of the Catholic Church, the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church and other churches and religious associations (Article 12(2) of the Act of 7 September 1991 on the educational system, i.e. Dz. U. of 2024, item 750), the effect of which will be, among other things, the sudden and involuntary loss of employment of numerous teachers of religious education.

The members of the Presidium of the Polish Bishops' Conference, consisting of: Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda SAC, President of the Polish Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Józef Kupny, Deputy President and Bishop Marek Marczak, General Secretary submitted a motion to the Prime Minister acting in their own name and formally on behalf of the Bishops' Conference of Poland, and in fact on behalf of and for the faithful of the Catholic Church in Poland, and in particular groups such as teachers of Catholic education in public kindergartens and schools, parents (legal guardians) of children attending religious education classes in the public education system and pupils, especially those over the age of majority, attending Catholic education classes at school.

Failure to publish the judgement of 27 November 2024 in the Journal of Laws so far violates the rights of natural and legal persons under the so-called procedural justice set out in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and ratified international agreements. The necessity to publish all judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal was also pointed out by the Venice Commission, which was critical of cases of non-publication of judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal in previous years. According to the standard formulated by the Venice Commission, the executive cannot influence the jurisprudence of courts and tribunals by limiting the publication of their judgments.

Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference