Constitutional Tribunal. The Sejm did not appoint candidates to replace the departing judges

Three new judges should start working in the Constitutional Tribunal at the beginning of December, but no one is fighting for the vacant seats because politicians have not appointed anyone. – This is an absolutely stalemate situation – says constitutionalist Dr. Dominika Haczkowska.

Judges may be nominated to the Tribunal by the Presidium of the Sejm, i.e. the Speaker and his deputies, or a group of at least 50 Deputies. The ruling coalition announced that it would not name any candidates.

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– We won't report it. Even if they could be found, which I highly doubt, because no self-respecting lawyer would go to an institution with such a reputation today – says the Marshal of the Sejm. Szymon Hołownia. – However, even if it were possible to find it, we believe that after the president vetoes a good bill on the Constitutional Tribunal, we need to pause and wait until we introduce regulations that this Constitutional Tribunal they will begin to heal, he adds.

The biggest surprise is the fact that PiS did not nominate candidates either, because while the government does not recognize and publish the judgments of the politicized Tribunal, PiS refers to them at every possible opportunity – including in the case of the Pegasus commission, which, according to the Constitutional Tribunal judges, is illegal and should stop working.

– This type of obstruction is an example of the destruction of the rule of law. I hope that my colleagues from parliament, representing today's ruling coalition, will reflect and change their decision – says the PiS MEP. Michal Dworczyk. To the comment that PiS also did not nominate a candidate within the required deadline, he replied: – I am so focused on European affairs that this date escaped me.

The deadline for submitting candidates is 30 days before the expiry of the judge's term of office, which happened at the beginning of November. – The fact that Law and Justice MPs did not submit any candidacies proves that they also believe that there is a problem with the Constitutional Tribunal, which they caused, says the Minister for European Union Affairs Adam Szłapka.

MP Jan Kanthak from PiS responds to the deputy minister and says more directly: “PiS is in the opposition and does not have a majority.” – Dear colleagues from the December 13 coalition, PiS does not have a majority and therefore did not field candidates – he adds.

Jan Dziedziczak from PiS assures that his party recognizes the Constitutional Tribunal. – He operates in accordance with the law – he emphasizes. – Law and Justice there is no majority in this parliament, so he is not nominating candidates for the Tribunal, at least for now, he explains.

At the beginning of December, the terms of office of Julia Przyłębska as a judge, understudy judge Mariusz Muszyński and Piotr Pszczółkowski end. According to lawyers and constitutionalists Julia Przyłębska she stopped being the president of the court two years ago.

Theoretically, Julia Przyłębska can still convene a general assembly of judges of the Constitutional Tribunal who will elect her successor. The candidacy must be approved by the president. Without the President, the functioning of the Tribunal is practically impossible.

– All duties related to the functioning of the Tribunal, convening the general assembly of judges, appointing panels of judges, presiding over the full bench, and so on. The president's competences are very great. If the president is absent and the general meeting of the Constitutional Tribunal is not convened, we will once again have an unprecedented situation in which this Tribunal will no longer function at all – explains Dr. Monika Haczkowska.

Although neither side of the political scene wants to nominate their candidates, the MPs will get one more chance. – My duty will be to take action, indicate an additional date and perhaps then some candidates will be found – says Szymon Hołownia.