During the 61st session, the Sejm passed the following laws:

The Act sets forth the rules for obtaining information on the criminal record of persons applying for and employed in certain positions in financial sector entities in the Republic of Poland, regardless of the form of employment. Under the Act, a basis will be created to protect the property of financial sector entities and their customers, thus increasing the security of trade. An employer who is an entity of the financial sector will have the right to demand that a person applying for employment and a person employed in the positions specified in the bill provide information on any convictions for specific crimes.

Amendments to the Law - Introductory provisions of the Law on the organization and procedure before the Constitutional Tribunal and the Law on the status of judges of the Constitutional Tribunal give the possibility to publish the Tribunal's decisions of March 9, August 11 and November 7, 2016, made in violation of the provisions of the Law on the Constitutional Tribunal.

The amendments are clarifying in nature, enabling efficient implementation of procedures provided for in the Act on the Supreme Court. The purpose of the amendment is, among other things, to ensure implementation of the principle of budgetary autonomy of the Supreme Court Disciplinary Chamber. The act also contains a regulation that is to be introduced to ensure that the filling of the positions of the First President of the Supreme Court or the President of the Supreme Court will take place in accordance with the new act on the Supreme Court.

Amendments to the Act on the Common Court System and the Supreme Court Act introduce, among other things, a two-stage consultation procedure for the dismissal of a president or vice-president of a court. Under the new procedure, the Minister of Justice will first seek an opinion of the court's college, and if the opinion is negative, he will turn to the National Council of the Judiciary. The NCJ will be able to refuse consent by a two-thirds majority. The law also equalises the standard retirement age to 65 for female and male judges, leaving women the option to choose and retire earlier at 60, regardless of their length of service.

The changes in the act on healthcare services financed from public funds introduce new rules for the Instrument for Evaluation of Investment Applications in the Health Sector (IOWISZ). According to the act, the number of entities that will be able to apply for an opinion on the advisability of an investment will be increased. The new solutions provide that obtaining certain subsidies from the state budget for the purchase of equipment or renovations will require a positive opinion on the advisability of the investment. The changes will also cover the procedure for submitting and evaluating investment applications. Entities that want to request an opinion on the advisability of the investment will have to provide more information about the planned undertaking. This will apply when the investment covers more than one field of medicine.

The amendments to the Road Traffic Law and the Act on Vehicle Drivers bring the legal system into line with the Constitutional Tribunal's judgment of 11 October 2016, ruling that it is inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland to stop the driver's license of a driver who exceeded the permitted speed by more than 50 km/h due to a state of emergency related to saving life or health.

An amendment to the Act on Driving Vehicles, which determines that hearing limitations are not a health impediment to the ability to obtain driver's licenses in categories C and C1 (i.e. for trucks).

The amendments to the Act on the Prison Service and the Act - the Executive Penal Code concern broadening the competence of the SW in connection with performance of tasks connected with the electronic supervision system (SDE). The passed act is to ensure improvement of effectiveness and safety of serving sentences in this system.

The amendment to the act on organizing and conducting cultural activity assumes extension of state patronage over cultural activity to include protection of national heritage outside the country. According to the act, the patronage exercised by the state, consisting in support and promotion of creativity, education and cultural education, cultural activities and initiatives, as well as care over monuments, will cover initiatives not only in Poland, but also abroad.

The Act on the Registration of Yachts and Other Craft Up to 24 M in Length concerns the creation of a unified register of yachts and other craft up to 24 m in length (covering inland and offshore craft, sailing and motorized, including those intended for fishing) with the possibility of registration with the Chambers of the Sea in the case of a maritime mortgage, the arrangement of electronic submission of applications (e-PUAP) and the creation of an electronic database for the registration of yachts to ensure permanent access to data for emergency services and state administration.

The House passed amendments to the Law on Social Security for Farmers and certain other laws. The Act introduces an amendment concerning social security for farmer's helpers working during harvesting in an agricultural holding. A solution has been prepared for farmers who are assisted by other persons during fruit and vegetable harvesting, when there is a concentration of work.

The amendment to the Civil Code and certain other acts provides for the introduction of a shorter general statute of limitations for claims. This is intended to encourage creditors to initiate proceedings more quickly, thus contributing to stability and certainty of legal transactions.

The amendments to the Civil Procedure Code, the Enforcement Proceedings in Administration Act and the Land and Mortgage Register Act are aimed at adjusting the regulations to the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal. The Tribunal declared unconstitutional one of the articles of the Civil Procedure Code to the extent in which it refers to security by encumbering a debtor's property with a compulsory mortgage.

MPs decided to amend the Act on government administration departments and the Act on spatial information infrastructure. The amendment concerns the transfer of spatial infrastructure matters from the department of information technology to the department of construction, planning and spatial development and housing.

The Sejm has passed four laws on the termination of agreements on the promotion and mutual protection of investments with France, Belgium and Luxembourg, Cyprus and the Netherlands. The so-called intra-EU BIT agreements are being terminated due to the European Commission questioning them as incompatible with European Union law. The provisions of the agreements contradict the principles of free movement of capital, freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services as well as the fundamental principles of EU law, such as the principle of primacy, unity, effectiveness and certainty of EU law.

The MPs have amended the Act on State Medical Rescue Service. The changes provide for, among other things, taking over by the Minister of Health of the tasks in the scope of maintenance and technical service of the Command Support System (SWD) of the State Medical Rescue (PRM), which has so far been performed by the minister competent for public administration.

Resolutions passed by the House:

The Sejm, by an absolute majority of votes, adopted three resolutions: on granting consent to prosecute MP Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz for the act specified in the motion of the plaintiff Dawid Jackiewicz; on granting consent to prosecute MP Ryszard Petru for the act specified in the motion of the private prosecutor Maciej Wąsik; and on granting consent to detain and temporarily arrest MP Stanisław Gawłowski.

The Sejm has passed a resolution by acclamation to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Details in a separate communication

text: CIS

The Sejm of the Republic of Poland pays tribute to the Jewish fighters who showed the greatest heroism and devotion, fighting in defense of universal values, such as human freedom and dignity - reads the resolution on the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising