The Polish Justice and Human Rights Committee has invited all Constitutional Tribunal judges and Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek for a meeting next Tuesday, April 28th, amid growing concerns over the Tribunal’s paralysis.
Dispute Over Tribunal Judges’ Oath-Taking
The invitation follows a dispute regarding the appointment of six new Constitutional Tribunal judges elected by the Sejm on March 13th. Two of the elected judges took their oath of office in the Presidential Palace in early April, following an invitation from President Nawrocki.
Representatives of the Left party stated that the situation of the remaining four judges is under analysis. The other four judges took their oath in the Sejm’s Column Hall on April 9th, stating they were doing so “before the President.” Two judges who had already sworn before President Nawrocki repeated the oath.
Judges Assume Office, Others Remain in Dispute
Dariusz Szostek and Magdalena Bentkowska assumed their positions at the Tribunal on the same day. Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski stated that the remaining four individuals – Krystian Markiewicz, Maciej Taborowski, Marcin Dziurda, and Anna Korwin-Piotrowska – have not taken office, as the events in the Sejm cannot be recognized as an oath “before the President.”
Constitutional Tribunal Crisis: A Historical Overview
In October 2015, the VII Sejm elected five new Constitutional Tribunal judges, primarily with the votes of the then-governing PO-PSL coalition. These judges were intended to replace three whose terms were ending on November 6th and two whose terms ended in December of that year.
On November 25th, 2015, the new VIII Sejm, with a majority held by PiS, passed resolutions declaring the October 8th election of Tribunal judges invalid. On December 2nd, the Sejm elected Julia Przyłębska, Piotr Pszczółkowski, Henryk Cioch, Lech Morawski, and Mariusz Muszyński as judges of the Constitutional Tribunal, nominated by PiS.
On December 3rd, 2015, the Constitutional Tribunal – then presided over by Andrzej Rzepliński – ruled that the VII Sejm had elected two judges in a manner inconsistent with the constitution (replacing those whose terms ended in December); the election of the remaining three (replacing those whose terms ended in November) was consistent with the constitution. President Andrzej Duda did not administer the oath to those three judges, but did so for the five individuals elected on December 2nd.
Committee Head Vows Action Against Paralysis
Committee Chairman Paweł Śliz stated, “Briefly: ENOUGH paralysis in the Constitutional Tribunal. As a lawyer and Chairman of the Justice and Human Rights Committee, I will not stand idly by as the foundations of the Republic are dismantled brick by brick.”
Śliz added, “The Tribunal is a wall against which the hopes of citizens are dashed. Today, over half of Poles do not trust this institution, and over half a thousand cases of ordinary people are frozen. If we allow Polish-Polish warfare to consume the remnants of the legal order, future generations will not forgive us.” He emphasized it was “time for a major CHECK.” “Either we restore elementary order, or we allow chaos to become law,” he concluded.