Polish+anti-communist+law+unconstitutional,+Matthew+Day,+Telegraph

Telegraph, London, 2:26am BST 12/05/2007
=Poland's anti-communist law 'unconstitutional'=

By **Matthew Day** in Warsaw

Poland's constitutional tribunal has blown a hole in a controversial law aimed at purging former communist agents from public office after it ruled that much of the law was unconstitutional.

Speaking to a crowded court, the head of the tribunal, Janusz Niemciewicz, listed a lengthy litany of points which the 11-judge panel deemed at odds with the constitution.

The law required some 700,000 people, including school directors and board members of public companies, to submit statements declaring any contact they had had with the communist secret services.

The court rejected key aspects of the law including the requirement for journalists to submit declarations.

The ruling is a blow to Poland's conservative prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and his twin brother Lech, the country's president, who have made confronting the country's communist past into a political crusade.

Chief Justice Jerzy Stepien, speaking on behalf of the panel, also delivered withering criticism of the government, which had heralded the law as a key point in its war on an alleged network of former communist agents.

"A state based on the rule of law should not fulfill a craving for revenge instead of fulfilling justice," he said. "Screening must not be used for meting out punishment."

The vetting law had been a key point of the government's policy aimed at clearing anybody with ties to the nation's old communist secret services from public office.

When it came into effect in May, the law met resistance from a number of public figures and professional bodies who claimed that it was an affront to their human rights.


 * From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/12/wpoland12.xml**

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