The association Lawyers for Poland has written to the President of the Republic of Poland requesting that he publicize the ongoing elections to the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS).
“We appeal to the President to speak out — in an appropriate, dignified form determined by the President — in order to mobilize the Citizens of our Homeland to assume responsibility for it also in the sphere of judicial power — regardless of whom they wish to support,” the letter states.
Judge Łukasz Piebiak, president of the association Lawyers for Poland, addressed a letter today to the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, concerning the elections to the National Council of the Judiciary.
In the introduction, he emphasized that the constitutional system of the Republic of Poland — in accordance with the Constitution — is based “on the principle of democratic election of each of the three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial.”
Unfortunately, public awareness that elections to the KRS are taking place these days — in which the Sovereign–Nation, that is all citizens of the Republic of Poland, can and should genuinely influence the shaping of judicial authority — remains minimal, Judge Piebiak noted.
On behalf of the association, he asked the President to “inform Poles that they can genuinely influence the justice system by supporting the candidates who have already been nominated.”
“We appeal to the President to speak out — in an appropriate, dignified form determined by the President — mobilizing the Citizens of our Homeland to take responsibility for it also in the sphere of judicial power — regardless of whom they wish to grant their support,” the letter reads.
On February 11, the Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, issued a notice announcing the launch of the procedure for nominating candidates for members of the National Council of the Judiciary elected from among judges. This was the final deadline for initiating the procedure under the regulations currently in force.
Under the applicable provisions, the Sejm elects 15 judge-members of the KRS from among judges of the Supreme Court, common courts, administrative courts, and military courts for a joint four-year term. No later than 90 days before the expiry of the Council members’ term, the Speaker of the Sejm announces in the official gazette the commencement of the nomination procedure for KRS members.
Those authorized to nominate a candidate to the Council include a group of 2,000 citizens aged 18 or older and 25 judges who are currently adjudicating. Candidates selected in this manner must be submitted to the Speaker of the Sejm within 30 days from the announcement of the start of the KRS election procedure.
The Speaker then promptly forwards the nominations to Members of Parliament and makes them public. He also requests parliamentary clubs to indicate, within seven days, their candidates for Council membership. A parliamentary club may designate no more than nine candidates for the KRS. If the total number of designated candidates is fewer than 15, the Presidium of the Sejm — in accordance with the statute — designates the remaining candidates (from among those nominated) in the number required to reach 15.
Subsequently, the competent parliamentary committee establishes a list of 15 candidates, with the stipulation that at least one candidate indicated by each parliamentary club must be included. Finally, the members of the Council are elected by the Sejm for a joint four-year term by a three-fifths majority vote in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of deputies.