Adamczyk's lawsuit dismissed. He questioned the correctness of the so-called TVP liquidation resolutions

The District Court in Warsaw dismissed in its entirety the lawsuit filed by Michał Adamczyk questioning the correctness of the so-called liquidation resolutions of TVP of December 27, 2023, which concerned the dissolution of the Company and the appointment of a liquidator, TVP reported on Thursday.

"The court found that the opening of the liquidation of the Company based on the provisions of the Commercial Companies Code was lawful and the liquidator is authorized to act on behalf of the Company. The regulations do not specify the time limit for completing the liquidation, and the reversibility of the liquidation process does not invalidate the actions taken earlier," it was indicated in the information provided to PAP on Thursday by the Corporate Communication Department of Telewizja Polska SA in liquidation.

In the oral justification of the judgment, the District Court (XXVI Commercial Division) clearly stated that "the liquidation of the Company was entered in the register, there are no two centers of the Company's power". "In light of the above, the plaintiff (M. Adamczyk) did not have the legitimacy to file a lawsuit in this case. The judgment is not final" - TVP added in the information.

On December 19, 2023, the then head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz dismissed the previous presidents of the management boards of Telewizja Polska, Polskie Radio and the Polish Press Agency and their supervisory boards, citing the Commercial Companies Code. He also appointed new supervisory boards of the companies, which in turn selected new management boards of these companies. Tomasz Sygut became the president of the management board of TVP, appointed at that time by the supervisory board of the company. Michał Adamczyk was appointed president of TVP by the National Media Council in its then composition on December 26, 2023.

After President Andrzej Duda vetoed the budget bill prepared by the new government, on December 27, 2023, Sienkiewicz decided to put TVP, Polish Radio and PAP into liquidation. He made the same decision on December 29, 2023 with respect to 17 regional companies of Polish Radio stations.

On December 16, 2024, the District Court in Warsaw dismissed in its entirety the lawsuit filed by Michał Adamczyk against Telewizja Polska. In this lawsuit, Adamczyk questioned, among other things, the appointment by the new Supervisory Board of the new president of the management board of TVP, Tomasz Sygut - the TVP press office informed PAP at the time.

The written justification for the judgment at that time indicated, among other things, that "in the absence of appropriate regulations, the relevant provisions of commercial law should have been applied to the situation of the defendant company: the owners of joint-stock companies - public radio and television - find themselves in a legal loophole with regard to the appointment and dismissal of members of their supervisory boards and management boards, resulting from the lack of a solution consistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. At the same time, they are obliged to make decisions that enable the proper functioning of the company and the implementation of the tasks entrusted to it by the legislator. The State Treasury as a shareholder should - in the absence of specific regulations - use the norms of commercial law that are also applicable in this case caused by the defectiveness of the enacted law and the unjustified omission of the legislator".

"In this case, the State Treasury, properly represented by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, fulfilling the obligation to take appropriate remedial actions resulting from the resolution of the Sejm of 19 December 2023 on restoring legal order and the impartiality and reliability of public media and the Polish Press Agency, adopted a resolution to dismiss Mateusz Piotr Matyszkowicz from the management board, and Przemysław Rafał Tejkowski, Radosław Krzysztof Włoszek and Maciej Jan Łopiński from the supervisory board of the company, and then appoint Piotr Mieczysław Zemła, Henryk Taborowski and Anisa Edyta Gnacikowska to the supervisory board of the company. The properly appointed supervisory board, on the other hand, was competent to adopt a resolution on the appointment of Tomasz Piotr Sygut to the management board of the company," it was indicated in the cited justification.

"Michał Adamczyk is not actively entitled to appeal against the resolutions adopted on December 19, 2023: the National Media Council does not have the authority, based on an act compliant with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, to appoint members of supervisory boards and management boards of public television. The resolution adopted on December 26, 2023 did not therefore have the effect of appointing the plaintiff to the position of president of the management board of +Telewizja Polska+ SA" - the court concluded. (PAP)

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