Glosa do Wyroku Trybunału Konstytucyjnego z dnia 20 listopada 2019 r., sygn. akt K 4/17
Commentary to the Judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of 20 November 2019, Case K 4/17

Summary/Abstract: In the judgment of 20 November 2019 (Case K 4/17), the Constitutional Tribunal assessed the compatibility with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of provisions imposing on local government units the obligation to cover financial losses of independent public health care institutions run by local governments. The negative financial result of local government healthcare institutions resulted from insufficient financing of medical services by the National Health Fund. The Tribunal found that local government units were thus obliged to partially finance health care services, despite the fact that this is a task of government administration. The issue of providing local government units with adequate financial resources has repeatedly been the subject of rulings by the Constitutional Court. Jurisprudence to date has been based on a restrictive interpretation of Article 167(1) and (4) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. As a result, the aforementioned provisions ceased to fulfill the guarantee function in relation to local government. The judgment under review constitutes a departure from the above line. The position adopted therein deserves to be endorsed and continued in future jurisprudence.

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