Święczkowski and Sochański are candidates for the president of the Constitutional Tribunal. “Przyłębska resigned for Przyłębska”

The General Assembly of judges of the Constitutional Tribunal has chosen Bartłomiej Sochański and Bogdan Święczkowski as candidates for the position of president of the Constitutional Tribunal – confirmed the former president of the Constitutional Tribunal, Julia Przyłębska, on Friday.

As commented by constitutionalist Dr. Hab. Piotr Uiębło, these candidates “are among those least suitable” to serve as president. – When it comes to former prosecutor (Bogdan) Święczkowski, there are many doubts as to the legality of his actions when he held this most important position in the prosecutor's office. However, if we look at Bartłomiej Sochański, he is a politician, he was an active politician – he adds.

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– This only matters for people who are in this Tribunal. Whether it is Zbigniew Ziobro's friend or a former PiS councilor, it probably doesn't particularly excite anyone, especially since this Tribunal has not been fulfilling its role for a long time – says Deputy Minister of Justice Arkadiusz Myrcha.

It is no surprise that politicians of the former Sovereign Poland praise Bogdan Święczkowski. – Extensive knowledge, extensive experience in various institutions. I have known him for many years, says former deputy minister of justice and PiS MP Michał Wójcik.

Bogdan Święczkowski, as a national prosecutor, sent rebellious prosecutors who did not support Zbigniew Ziobro's reform of the justice system on delegations several hundred kilometers from their homes.

– Święczkowski is Ziobro, Sochański is Kaczyński, and Ziobro and Kaczyński are one clique, so Andrzej Duda will probably choose among Kaczyński's people – suggests Tomasz Trela ​​from the New Left.

But it is almost a miracle that Julia Przyłębska managed to successfully convene the General Assembly of judges of the Tribunal, which selects candidates for the president, because for it to be valid, 10 out of 15 judges had to come.

– When she convened (the General Assembly) a few days ago, only seven came, and the minimum majority was ten – explains Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, senator of the Civic Coalition. – Why did only seven come? Because they said that she had no right to convene the Meeting because she was no longer the president – he adds.

Some judges, headed by Bogdan Świeczkowski, believed that the former president's term of office ended two years ago. This is why in recent days Julia Przyłębska, a few days before finishing her work at the Tribunal, suddenly resigned from being president.

– And thanks to this, the judge with the longest experience convened the Assembly. And now the icing on the cake and the biggest surprise: who is the judge with the longest experience in the Constitutional Tribunal? For whom did Julia Przyłębska resign? Julia Przyłębska resigned in favor of Julia Przyłębska – notes Krzysztof Kwiatkowski.

But, as lawyers remind us, if the candidates were selected by the votes of double judges, the election of Julia Przyłębska's successor is legally defective. – We are constantly facing a situation of unconstitutionality, we are adding new elements to this dispute – says constitutionalist, prof. Andrzej Jackiewicz.

Now, President Andrzej Duda will decide who will become the new president. – The President is an extremely important person when it comes to the functioning of the Constitutional Tribunal and I will try to implement it as soon as possible – the president announced on December 6.

The only question is what the person appointed by the president will actually be in charge of. Two seats on the Tribunal have been vacant since the beginning of December. – If we also subtract the fact that we have two double judges, there are de facto 11 judges. And if we look at the fact that Monday is the last day of office of Judge Julia Przyłębska, from Tuesday we will have 10 judges, which means, in fact, the Tribunal, one could say, is no more, notes Dr. Monika Haczkowska from the Polish Society of Constitutional Law.

There is also no money, because the ruling coalition has cut the funds for the Tribunal by PLN 10 million in the budget bill for next year. – It was decided to zero the chapter in the Tribunal's budget and the salaries of judges of the Constitutional Tribunal to zero – said Zbigniew Kuźmiuk from PiS at a conference in the Sejm. – There is a crime story in the future – says Michał Wójcik.

Vice-chairman of the Left Club, Tomasz Trela, says: – If someone is a masquerader, if someone represents a para-institution, then if they want to do it, they should do it for themselves or for charity. Taxpayers don't work hard to pay for such masqueraders.