“The lack of entries in the National Court Register has no significance for the operation of these companies,” said the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, on Monday, referring to the court’s refusal to enter the Polish Radio into liquidation in the National Court Register.
The head of the ministry referred to the dismissal by the District Court in Warsaw (13th economic department of the National Court Register) of the application for entry into the National Court Register of changes regarding the dissolution of Polskie Radio SA
“I wanted to clarify a few things to avoid distortions and problems with the interpretation of this fact. Lawyers call the entry in the National Court Register (KRS) declarative. It is simply – in other words – information” – explained the Minister of Culture on Monday and National Heritage.
He pointed out that “when such an entry is refused, you can complain about the refusal or simply file an objection.”
“The effect of filing an objection is that the refusal, or rather this administrative action of the court, ceases to have any significance. Legally, it has no effects as long as, by a final court judgment, the resolution of the General Meeting of Shareholders (GM) on the appointment – in this case of liquidators – is adopted by the court invalidated,” Sienkiewicz explained. He added that “it is a long, two-stage court process and it will take time.”
“The conclusion is simple that today’s lack of entries has no significance for the operation of these companies. When an objection or complaint is filed against this decision of the referendaries, nothing changes,” he said. “Legally, the status of the companies is the same and they function normally as in normal times. This means that the liquidators are still liquidators, that they still act to take care of the property, property and buildings entrusted to them. And they supervise the implementation of correct decisions in these companies,” he explained. head of the ministry
“I am calmly waiting for the moment when, as a result of this appeal, the Commercial Court will issue a final ruling on the legality or illegality of the resolution on the appointment of liquidators,” he assured.
He pointed out that “the case is so strange that eleven referendaries across the country issued, in essence, a completely different ruling, entering the companies in the National Court Register.” “Here we are dealing with two refusals. Moreover, refusals in the Warsaw court, which has already registered one company – Radio dla Młodych,” said the minister.
He explained that “there is no legal difference between regional joint-stock companies and Telewizja Polska SA, between Polskie Radio SA and the radio company from Koszalin.” “It is exactly the same company,” he said.
“I have read the justification for this refusal. It provides the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal in the manner that was adopted. The referendary did not mention that this judgment does not exist in the eyes of the law,” he said.
Sienkiewicz cited the judgments of the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, which stated that decisions made with the participation of judges who, in the opinion of these institutions, were appointed illegally should be considered non-existent. He added that in this case it was judge Jarosław Wyrembak.
He criticized the courts’ reference to the negative opinion of the National Broadcasting Council, which prohibits the liquidation of public media. In his opinion, the decisions of the National Broadcasting Council “also have no legal significance.” He added that “for seven years this council has not noticed the complete degeneration of the entire public media system in Poland.” In this context, he criticized the Council’s decision to refuse to punish Radio Szczecin and TVP Info for disclosing the data of the son of MP Magdalena Filiks. The National Broadcasting Council stated that the materials “did not directly disclose personal data of the pedophile’s victims.” According to Filiks, media materials contributed to the suicide of her son, Mikołaj, on February 17, 2023.
“I believe that after the second instance, this judgment will be good – it will overturn the administrative decision of the referendaries of Warsaw courts. This is not just a legal dispute about who controls television. It is a dispute about the essence of public life in Poland. Should a political party have media tools, thanks, which lies, cheats and causes a Polish-Polish war? Do such media have the right to exist? In my deepest opinion, absolutely not!” – he emphasized.
“Hence my decision to put these companies into liquidation. I hope that thanks to restructuring and rehabilitation it will be possible to achieve a completely different effect than the one we have observed over the last eight years. And this is my main goal,” Sienkiewicz concluded.
“The liquidation is not withdrawn. Until the verdict is passed, nothing will change in these companies and it will continue like this,” the minister assured.
On Monday, the court clerk of the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw Warsaw in Warsaw Karolina Ilczuk did not agree to enter the Polish Radio into liquidation in the National Court Register, which was decided by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz on December 27, 2023. A similar decision was made on Monday by court referendary Tomasz Kosub in relation to Telewizja Polska ARE
After today’s decision, the Minister of Culture announced, among others: that “when Polskie Radio SA in liquidation files a complaint against today’s action of the court clerk (entry in the register), which will probably take place immediately, the entry loses all force until the complaint is examined by the court, and then a possible appeal by the second-instance court” .
December 27 min. Sienkiewicz announced on Wednesday that due to President Andrzej Duda’s decision to suspend financing of public media, he decided to put into liquidation the companies Telewizja Polska SA, Polskie Radio SA and Polska Agencja Prasowa SA
