The dispute surrounding Poland’s Constitutional Court returned to the forefront following the end of the national mourning for the victims of the attack in Krakow. On 10 November, the group of judges elected by the current parliamentary majority held a second General Assembly and adopted changes to the institution’s rules.
National mourning was declared for 8 and 9 November following the 7 November attack in Krakow’s central square, in which six people were killed and 15 were injured. Mourning in the city will continue through 11 November, but the political conflict in Warsaw returned to the agenda as early as Tuesday.
Judges changed the rules of operation
The adopted amendment strengthens the role of the General Assembly of Judges in the management of the Constitutional Court. It stipulates that if at least five judges request a discussion of an issue, the chairperson must convene an assembly within 14 days.
The budget rules have also been changed. The chairperson will have to obtain a positive opinion from the General Assembly on the report on budget execution. The explanatory statement says that the chairperson must manage the court’s work as “first among equals”.
The judges who took part in the sitting do not recognise the temporarily suspended chairperson, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, as part of the current leadership. They were also not included in the calculation of the required quorum.
Tusk promised publication in the official journal
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the government would publish the adopted amendment to the rules in the official journal. “The Constitutional Court has started work. I can announce the beginning of a new era,” Tusk said, quoted by “Rzeczpospolita”.
According to him, this would be the first such publication in years. Until now, the government had refused to publish a number of decisions by the court, which, according to those in power, had been politically subservient to the previous conservative majority.
The next clash is scheduled for 17 November
The next sitting of the General Assembly is scheduled for 17 November. It is to consider requests to lift the immunity of Święczkowski and Sochański.
The prosecution claims that the two obstructed the work of five judges elected by the current parliament and that they committed violations in determining the judicial panels. Święczkowski rejects the accusations and says that he has become the target of a political attack.
The Law and Justice party described the judges’ actions as illegal. According to the opposition, the removal of the court’s leadership represents an attack on the constitutional order. The governing parties and the judges supporting the changes claim the opposite — that they are restoring the institution’s normal operation.
The conflict is unfolding against the backdrop of the broader confrontation between Tusk’s government, President Karol Nawrocki and the conservative opposition. In 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Poland’s Constitutional Court no longer met the requirements for an independent and impartial court because of the procedures used to appoint some of its members.
Sources: rp.pl, wiadomosci.onet.pl, oko.press