President Karol Nawrocki has publicly rebuked Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek for his contested judicial nominations, accusing him of violating the Constitution.
Nawrocki Responds to Żurek’s Allegations
President Karol Nawrocki called it “very sad” that Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek does not recognise that the Constitution clearly defines the president’s powers in judicial nominations, citing a 2012 Constitutional Tribunal ruling he allegedly ignores.
He said the minister’s “legal tightrope” is meant to criticize a lack of justification, but pointed out that all judges nominated by the president are Polish judges and should dispense justice, not turn court rooms into parliaments.
During the exchange the president added: “I wish you a pleasant gymnastics” before wishing the minister a “nice gymnastics of legal tightrope,” noting he feels ministers might be biting their own tail.
Żurek on the ‘Key of Refusal’ by Nawrocki
In a press conference Minister Żurek said he understood the president’s refusal of 46 judge nominations and described the cause as “whispers” that displeased the president, calling it an unlawful and unconstitutional manoeuvre.
He claimed that the key to the refusal lay in the lists of objections signed by several judges in 2020 and 2021, related to the so‑called envelope elections.
