Violating the Constitution, undermining the President’s prerogatives, and preparing a coup – these are the most frequent arguments raised after reports that four judges elected by the Sejm to the Constitutional Tribunal are preparing to take their oath in parliament.
Four judges elected to the Constitutional Tribunal in March this year by the Sejm plan to take their oath in parliament. Under the Constitution, this should take place before the President of the Republic of Poland. Therefore, Marcin Dziurda sent an invitation to Karol Nawrocki for Thursday at 1:30 PM.
Similar letters were sent by Krystian Markiewicz, former president of the Polish Judges Association “Iustitia”, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, head of the judges’ association Themis, and Maciej Taborowski, who was involved in the media campaign “Free Courts”.
Attempted takeover of the Constitutional Tribunal
This unprecedented situation has been addressed by commentators, politicians, and legal experts alike.
“The forceful takeover of the Constitutional Tribunal, and the undermining of the President’s prerogatives in this matter, will mean that Poland loses the characteristics of a democratic state. The actions of an illegal Tribunal will trigger an avalanche that will first deprive Poland of financial credibility”, wrote Tomasz Sakiewicz, president of TV Republika, in a commentary published on tomaszsakiewicz.pl.
“To begin serving in the Constitutional Tribunal by breaking the Constitution. That’s a first. They will end up in prison, as sure as night follows day. And for many years, because this bears all the hallmarks of a coup d’état”, emphasized Cezary Gmyz in his post on platform X.
“A celebrated contempt for the Constitution, the law, and the President of the Republic of Poland”, stressed Patryk Jaki.
“Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal are supposed to safeguard the Constitution, yet individuals selected by Tusk are openly and publicly breaking the law by claiming they will take the oath tomorrow before Czarzasty”, commented Sebastian Kaleta, recalling the provisions of the Polish Constitution.
Dr. Oskar Kida compared the situation to a wedding “that one of the parties knew nothing about and did not agree to”.
“This entire situation is absurd. It only proves that the individuals elected by the Sejm are unfit to be Constitutional Tribunal judges, because they do not respect Polish law and are turning our state into a farce. Of course, this ‘oath’ does not fulfill the statutory requirement of taking the oath before the President, and therefore no official service relationship will be established. They will have no right to exercise the office of a Constitutional Tribunal judge – they must wait until the President administers the oath to them, just like in the case of the other two”, he wrote on platform X.