Bogdan Święczkowski, head of the Constitutional Tribunal, has formally challenged the ECHR’s jurisdiction regarding the status of four contested judges, asserting that the court lacks legal competence to intervene in Polish judicial appointments.
The Status of the Contested Judges
Four individuals elected by the Sejm as judges—Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, Krystian Markiewicz, Maciej Taborowski, and Marcin Dziurda—have initiated proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights. They took an oath in the Sejm after the President did not invite them to swear before him, an act the Tribunal maintains did not establish a formal service relationship.
ECHR Interim Measures
On May 5, the ECHR ordered Polish authorities to refrain from obstructing the four individuals from performing their judicial duties until further notice. The government has been requested to provide information regarding their situation by May 20, while the claimants have until June 2 to file a full complaint.
Tribunal’s Rejection of ECHR Authority
In a formal statement, the Tribunal declared that the ECHR has no formal competence to assess the legality of selecting Constitutional Tribunal judges. Święczkowski emphasized that the Tribunal recently ruled that any interpretation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights allowing the ECHR to override Polish constitutional law is itself unconstitutional.
Proposed Legislative Path
The Tribunal indicated that if state authorities choose to implement the ECHR’s decision, they could do so through legislative changes to the Act on the Status of Constitutional Tribunal Judges, provided these changes align with the Tribunal’s own recent rulings on the matter.