Brussels validates Sejm authority
Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended Constitutional Tribunal president Bogdan Swieczkowski and his deputy Bartlomiej Sochanski for one month on October 30. As one of eight judges elected by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s parliamentary majority this year, Korwin-Piotrowska took charge of the court as police cordoned off the grounds. I find the European Commission’s position a decisive validation of the Sejm’s legislative reach. A Commission spokesperson told Euronews on November 1 that the appointment of eight new members "lies within the constitutional power of the Sejm". Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath added that the court "needs to be able to function in accordance with the Polish constitution and the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU". The Commission, which previously imposed a daily fine of €1mn on Poland for failing to clean up its courts, now states that the appointment of eight new members by the Sejm lies within the constitutional power of the Polish parliament. While Brussels previously withheld €36bn in grants and €76bn in cohesion funding, it cleared the way for a €59.8bn recovery plan on February 29, 2024, after Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Tusk on an important breakthrough.
President Nawrocki clashes with court
President Karol Nawrocki clashed physically and verbally with judges during a visit to the tribunal on October 31. He told Tusk on live television that the Prime Minister bore responsibility for every police officer stationed outside the court. The International Commission of Jurists criticized the takeover on November 3. They stated that the suspension of the president and vice-president without a fair procedure and with police involvement contravenes international standards on the independence of the judiciary. The Commission also faulted Nawrocki for his refusal to swear in five of the eight judges elected by parliament this year. They said this violates international standards and the interim measures of the European Court of Human Rights. Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek, who also serves as prosecutor general, filed six motions to lift Swieczkowski’s immunity from prosecution on the same evening as the suspension. Swieczkowski and six other judges say the orders are unlawful, and the president has vowed to use his constitutional powers to stop the takeover. The Venice Commission noted in an October 13 opinion that the president should take the oaths without delay and cannot review the Sejm’s choice. US Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose called for restraint during this confrontation over the government’s use of state power and the authority of a constitutional institution.
Institutional instability persists
The eight new judges met on November 3 and declared themselves a quorum of 12. This group excluded the two suspended men and a third judge whose appointment Korwin-Piotrowska rejects. This decision stems from the fact that PiS rewrote the court’s quorum rules through parliament. The takeover caused a split at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, where management board president Maciej Nowicki said the move saw no clear legal basis. Six council members, including former chief justice Andrzej Rzeplinski and former deputy human rights commissioner Hanna Machinska, resigned in protest. Machinska told TVN that she believed the legal basis for the takeover was clearly defined. The crisis remains tied to the 2016 Tribunal Act and Article 130 of the law on the common courts, which allows a justice minister to give a judge a break from duties for up to a month. I find the ongoing instability suggests that the 2024 release of EU funds may have been premature. Legal scholars Kim Lane Scheppelle, Laurent Pech, and Maciej Kisilowski argue that Swieczkowski was never validly appointed because the assembly that nominated him included unlawfully seated judges. The new judges passed a 2027 budget and picked disciplinary panels for Swieczkowski and Sochanski during their meeting, while the backlog of cases stands at 1,171. Nawrocki took the oaths of only three of the eight judges, while the European Court of Human Rights ordered Poland on May 5 not to hinder the new judges. A Sejm vote in the second half of November will address sending central bank governor Adam Glapinski to the State Tribunal.
