Karol Nawrocki Makes Long-Awaited Judicial Move: What New Judges Heard from the President

President Karol Nawrocki appointed hundreds of district and administrative court assessors at the Presidential Palace, addressing the ongoing chaos and challenges within the Polish judiciary.

Presidential Appointments and Hopes for the Judiciary

President Karol Nawrocki made a long-awaited move in the judiciary by appointing 211 district court assessors and 18 provincial administrative court assessors on Tuesday. During the ceremony at the Presidential Palace, the head of state addressed the new appointees, stating that they represent the hope of the Polish justice system.

– You are indeed the hope of the Polish judiciary, as the new generation of assessors today, and in the future, certainly of judges – President Nawrocki said. He added that he sees this new generation as a great hope for healing the Polish wymiar sprawiedliwości.

A Day for the Justice System and the Presidential Anchor

Nawrocki described Tuesday at the Presidential Palace as a “day of the justice system,” referencing the earlier swearing-in of Constitutional Tribunal judge Sławomir Patyra and the handing over of appointments to four Supreme Court judges. He noted that these ceremonies indicate there is one anchor in the stormy sea of the Polish judiciary before which an oath must be taken—the President of the Republic of Poland.

– This is not about me at all. It is about all previous presidents, all future presidents, before whom, according to the will of the entire nation and the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, every judge and every assessor must take an oath, because such is the will of the Polish nation – the president stated.

Acknowledgment of Persistence and a Broken System

The president congratulated the new assessors on their “persistence,” acknowledging the long academic path they and their loved ones had traversed to reach this point. He also thanked them for their choice to serve the citizens of the Republic of Poland.

– This is certainly a difficult choice, also in the face of what we have been observing for many years and what we are observing, ladies and gentlemen, also in recent years – Nawrocki said. – We are all adults, ladies and gentlemen, and we know that the Polish judiciary in the year 2026 simply looks bad. There is chaos, there is confusion, for which neither you nor I personally are responsible – he added.

Minister Żurek’s Appeal and Constitutional Tribunal Ruling

In early July, Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek appealed for an “urgent invitation” to the Presidential Palace and for enabling the start of service for “over 200 young lawyers who successfully passed the judicial exam.”

On June 25, the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the requirement for the prime minister’s countersignature for the effectiveness of the president’s appointment of judicial assessors, as well as the staffing of certain positions in the Supreme Court (such as the president of the General Assembly of the Supreme Court or the judge directing the work of the Supreme Court), is unconstitutional. The Tribunal acknowledged that the constitution explicitly lists executive acts of the president that do not require a countersignature, but noted that this catalog cannot be read exclusively literally, recognizing a category of derivative actions functionally necessary to execute the core prerogative.