“If you write laws badly and try to impose ideology through criminal statutes—if you draft them imprecisely, in a way that infringes a fundamental freedom such as freedom of speech—the president has no choice,” said Małgorzata Paprocka of the Presidential Chancellery, commenting on President Andrzej Duda’s move on the hate‑speech bill. The legislation has been sent to the Constitutional Tribunal.
On Thursday the Chancellery announced that President Duda had referred the 6 March amendment to the Criminal Code to the Tribunal for preventive review. The so‑called hate‑speech bill widens the list of protected characteristics in hate‑motivated crimes to include nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, lack of religion, age, gender, disability and sexual orientation. Notably, after the change a person need not belong to a given group to report hate and potentially halt discussion.
Speaking on Polsat News’ “Gość Wydarzeń,” Paprocka outlined the reasoning behind the referral:
“It is a bad law that raises very serious constitutional doubts. The president had little choice. When statutes are drafted poorly and ideologies are pushed through criminal law in a way that infringes free expression, he must act. He has sent the bill on, and we don’t yet know its fate. I don’t know what the Constitutional Tribunal will decide.”
She questioned the practical meaning of age‑based discrimination:
“What does discrimination on the grounds of age even mean? Age is a biological, objective fact—everyone has one. How do you single out a minority that would be discriminated against for it? The bill is written so that either every statement might be punishable or the norms remain empty.”
Paprocka added that the measure deals with “a very sensitive matter—freedom of expression.” In the president’s view, she concluded, “the bill goes too far and lacks precision.”