Bogdan Święczkowski, President of the Constitutional Tribunal, sent a letter today (April 4) to Prime Minister Donald Tusk in connection with the proceedings initiated by the European Commission before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against Poland for “violating the Treaties.” The reason cited for this was the “jurisprudential activity of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal.”
On February 15, 2023, the European Commission launched infringement proceedings against Poland before the CJEU (Case C-448/23). The case concerns rulings made by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, which the Commission claims amount to violations of EU law. Specifically, the Commission argues that the Tribunal’s exercise of its constitutional powers — especially its rulings in cases P 7/20 and K 3/21, which found parts of the Treaty on European Union incompatible with the Polish Constitution — breaches obligations stemming from EU law.
The rulings in cases P 7/20 and K 3/21 were issued by the Constitutional Tribunal under its clear constitutional mandate, as outlined in Article 188 of the Polish Constitution, to review the conformity of statutes and international agreements with the Constitution — reads the opening of Święczkowski’s letter, published on the Tribunal’s website.
Constitutional Tribunal President Calls for Action
The letter continues:
“I was deeply concerned to read in the opinion of Advocate General Dean Spielmann, dated March 11, 2025, that on January 31, 2024, the Republic of Poland fully acknowledged the charges raised by the Commission in its complaint against Poland.”
President Święczkowski pointed out that the proceedings initiated by the European Commission before the CJEU “directly concern the judicial activities of the Constitutional Tribunal and indirectly form part of a broader issue — namely, the sovereignty of the Republic of Poland and its constitutional court in relation to EU institutions.”
“I demand the immediate submission to the Constitutional Tribunal of the government’s position from January 31, 2024, which was cited by Advocate General Dean Spielmann in his opinion of March 11, 2025,” Święczkowski wrote to Tusk.
He further emphasized that “international treaties, including EU law, cannot limit the constitutional court’s powers that derive directly from the Constitution, which remains the supreme source of law.”