Constitutional Tribunal Majority Fractures as Justice Minister Predicts Fall Resolution

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek announced that Parliament will likely elect an eighth Constitutional Tribunal judge in September, ensuring the body functions normally by autumn.

Constitutional Tribunal Majority Fractures

Breakthrough changes in the Constitutional Tribunal may arrive sooner than anticipated as Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek announced that the Sejm will likely select the eighth judge of the current term during the September session. According to the head of the Ministry of Justice, the new democratic majority and the implementation of legal “Plan Bs” will lead to the Tribunal becoming a fully and normally functioning body by autumn.

Another TC Judge at the September Sejm Session

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek stated that a new judge of the Constitutional Tribunal will likely be elected at the September session of the Sejm, marking the eighth judge appointed by the Sejm of this term. In Żurek’s view, the Tribunal will be a “normally functioning body” by autumn. In June, the Sejm elected Sławomir Patyra as a Constitutional Tribunal judge, who was the seventh judge appointed by the current parliamentary majority, taking the seat of Andrzej Zielonacki whose term expired on June 28. In March, the Sejm elected six TC judges in a single session, bringing the Tribunal’s composition up to the statutory number of 15 judges, whereas ruling coalition MPs previously left vacancies unfilled.

Head of Ministry of Justice Announces Plan Bs

The head of the Ministry of Justice and Prosecutor General assessed in a Wednesday interview on Polsat News that by autumn the Constitutional Tribunal will be a “normally functioning body, and not the estate” of President Bogdan Święczkowski. Żurek stated that he is not disclosing his “Plan Bs,” but they exist, are compliant with legal regulations, and he believes that all individuals currently unable to adjudicate will take their seats at the judicial bench. Having already elected seven judges, Żurek noted that everything is going according to plan and that the Sejm will likely elect another at the September session to reach eight, noting that the Tribunal has 15 judges total, thereby establishing a democratically elected majority.

Judiciary Breakthrough and Judge Piskorski’s Term

Żurek pointed out that judges issuing dissenting opinions have emerged within the current Tribunal composition, indicating that the previous majority within the Tribunal has internally fractured. He also stated that in the case of the Tribunal’s president, “the mills of justice have begun to grind.” He expressed confidence that he will bring this to a successful end this year by November, ensuring that legal judges—both those chosen under PiS and those chosen now by the democratic coalition—will sit together and adjudicate important cases. The term of TC judge Justyn Piskorski expires on September 18, meaning the eighth judge would be appointed in his place.

Dispute Over Oaths and Admission to Adjudicate

In March, the Sejm elected six TC judges: Magdalena Bentkowska, Dariusz Szostek, Maciej Taborowski, Marcin Dziurda, Krystian Markiewicz, and Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, but President Karol Nawrocki accepted the oath from only the first two. The Presidential Palace explained that two vacancies arose during President Nawrocki’s term and argued that for the remaining four judges, it was not indicated whose seats they were taking nor when their terms begin. In April, during a ceremony in the Sejm’s Column Hall, all six judges took the oath using a formula stating they did so “before the president,” and subsequently delivered their written oath texts to the Office of Submissions of the Chancellorship of the President of the Republic of Poland, though only Bentkowska and Szostek were admitted to adjudicate in the TC. In late July, the seventh judge chosen by the current Sejm term, Sławomir Patyra, took the oath in the presence of the president, but declared that he will not currently participate in hearings until the four judges chosen in March by the Sejm are admitted to adjudicate.