On 19 September 2023, the Supreme Court, sitting in the Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs Chamber, upheld a complaint lodged by the Izba Gospodarczo Handlowa (a chamber of commerce) against a resolution of the National Electoral Commission (PKW) refusing to issue it a certificate of the entitlement to participate in the referendum campaign in programmes of public radio and television broadcasters.
Pursuant to Article 48(1)(3) of the Act of 14 March 2003 on the Nationwide Referendum, the entity entitled to participate in the referendum campaign in radio and television programmes referred to in Articles 49-55 is, inter alia, a community organisation that meets the following conditions:
a) it has been registered or notified, in accordance with the legislation in force, no later than one year prior to the day on which the resolution or the decision to order the referendum was announced,
b) its area of activity covers the entire territory of the Republic of Poland,
c) it carries out activities related to the subject of the referendum and these activities fall within the scope of its statutory objectives.
The PKW, in the resolution No. 158/2023 of 8 September 2023, refused to issue the Izba Gospodarczo Handlowa a certificate of the entitlement to participate in the referendum campaign in programmes of public radio and television broadcasters, indicating that chambers of commerce are not 'community organisations' within the meaning of the provisions on the nationwide referendum.
The Supreme Court explained that provisions of the Act on the Nationwide Referendum do not introduce a legal definition of a 'community organisation', as referred to in Article 48(1)(3) of the Act. Such a definition is provided in Article 5(2)(5) of the Code of Administrative Procedure (CAP), according to which it is a professional, self-governing, cooperative, and other community organisation. Pursuant to Article 1(4) of the CAP, its provisions shall apply, inter alia, to proceedings concerning the issuance of certificates.
The applicant is an entity established under the Act of 30 May 1989 on Chambers of Commerce, and therefore an organisation of economic self-government, which directly stems from Article 2 of the aforementioned Act. As the Izba Gospodarczo Handlowa is an organisation of economic self-government, it falls into the category of ‘self-government organisations’ and therefore it is a community organisation within the meaning of Article 5(2)(5) of the CAP. Thus, it is ‘other community organisation’, referred to in Article 48(1)(3) of the Act on the Nationwide Referendum, and therefore the entity entitled to obtain the certificate referred to in the aforesaid provision. Such legal qualification of the chamber of commerce is confirmed by the fact that it is registered in the National Court Register - the register of associations, other community and professional organisations, foundations, and independent public health care institutions.