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CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN SECRET SECRET//NOFORN UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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Viewing cable 06WARSAW547, CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL STRIKES DOWN PORTIONS OF

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06WARSAW547 2006-03-24 13:23 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Warsaw 
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
 
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