Not true of Minister Paprocka. Applies to dubler judges

The day after the Constitution Day of May 3, politicians in journalistic programs discussed that this most important act in Poland in the context of Andrzej Duda's speecheswhich he delivered during state celebrations and answers to them the prime minister Donald Tusk.

The president pointed out that his successor chosen in the upcoming elections would be supervising the observance of the constitution. “He will therefore be obliged that in cases where someone will misuse the Polish Constitution, Polish law, when he is breaking the law, regardless of who he is, he will be required to pay attention to him and say loudly that the law is broken, that he acts illegally, that he violates the principles that he is destroying the principles of destroying Polish democracy and that this is a violation of the rule of law.” After these words, Donald Tusk wrote in social media: “To celebrate the constitution's holidays, the president was able to do like no one. And even better the constitution itself (original spelling).”

MP Paweł Spóźniuk from the Civic Coalition reminded on May 4 in “Rymanowski Breakfast” in Polsat News the issue of the election in 2015 of the judges of the Construction Court and the role of Andrzej Duda. “The president not only allowed, but took part in how the constitution was broken. There was a judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal, it is a matter of establishing doubles judges. And the President of Poland, unfortunately, appointed doubles of doubles who had no legal basis for sitting in the Constitutional Tribunal, because the Constitutional Tribunal ruled. politician. Finally, he picked up: “These examples, really, where during the rule of the United Right, the rulers violated the law, and above all the constitution can be mentioned a lot. However, the pre -employed and such a source of dismantling of the state of law in Poland was the swearing of the duplers' judges who were called to their functions unlawfully.”

Minister Małgorzata Paprock, head of the office of President Andrzej Duda, referred to these words of the twin, as well as the above entry. She said that the “brawl for the Tribunal” was started by MP of Platforma Obywatelska Robert Kropiwnicki, who made an amendment enabling the choice of “inventory” of three judges of the Constitutional Tribunal. “There was no choice of doubles judges. The judges were sworn in before the adjudication of the Constitutional Tribunal.

“I would send you in your place – I don't know, I don't have the opportunity to check now – but you adopted a majority resolution in the Sejm, in which you yourself found that all the judges you chose in 2015 were elected with a gross violation of the law.” Bliźniuk repeated several times that Paprock was saying untruth.

Let us remind you what the dublers judges were about and what role President Andrzej Duda had in the takeover of the TK by Law and Justice.

On October 8, 2015, during the last sitting of the Sejm of the 7th term (the Parliamentary majority had the Civic Platform coalition and the Polish People's Party), five parliamentary resolutions of Roman Hauser, Krzysztof Ślebzak, Andrzej Jakubecki (with cadence from November 7, 2015), Bronisław Sitek and Andrzej Sokal (with terms from 3 and 9 December 2015) were elected. Constitutional Tribunal. They were to replace five judges, whose terms ended on November 6, 2015 and December 2 and 8, 2015

The basis for the choice was the new Act on the Constitutional Tribunal of June 25, 2015. The project was reported by the then President Bronisław Komorowski. During the work of Platforma Obywatelska, Robert Kropiwnicki reported an amendment, which the entire Sejm later agreed. It allowed the Sejm of the 7th term, where the majority had the PO -PSL coalition, to choose two judges of the CT, although their terms began after the autumn parliamentary elections in 2015, i.e. during the next – VIII term of the Sejm. The choice of these two judges 17 days before the election was somehow “in stock”. The ruling coalition could expect an election defeat, because a few months earlier Andrzej Duda was supported by PiS.

After the Parliamentary elections won by Law and Justice, the Sejm of the 8th term gathered for the first meeting on November 12, 2015. Four days later, President Andrzej Duda swore a new government with Beata Szydło at the forefront.

The new Sejm, in which the majority had PiS, quickly began to change in the Constitutional Tribunal. Already on November 19, 2015, the Sejm changed the Act on the Constitutional Tribunal enabling, among others Repeated selection of CT judges. A day later, the Senate took care of the law – he did not make amendments. On the same day, i.e. on November 20, it was signed by the president. The act had a 14-day vacatio legis. She entered into force on December 5, 2015. However, the majority ruling in parliament did not want to wait.

On the night of November 25-26, 2015, PiS adopted the invalidity of the October election of judges made by the Sejm of the previous term. The October resolutions were to be adopted in violation of the law, which is why they are invalid. It was argued that the procedure of choosing judges by the previous composition of the Sejm was not completed, because President Duda did not take the oath from them, and a new Sejm gathered. The choice of all five is therefore subject to a discounting principle. This principle is constitutionalist prof. Marek Zubik describes as follows: “Parliament's work has started, and not completed in a given term of office, is considered closed” (although there are exceptions from it). On November 26, 2015, the Sejm also changed its regulations to be able to quickly choose CT judges in extraordinary situations, including After the onset of vacancy.

On December 2, 2015, the Sejm chose Henryk Cioch, Lech Morawski, Mariusz Muszyński, Piotr Pszczółkowski and Julia Przyłębska to the judges of the Constitutional Tribunal.

What judgment did the Constitutional Tribunal talk about in the television studio Bliźniuk and Paprock? It is a decision of December 2015, when Andrzej Rzepliński was headed by TK. The Constitutional Tribunal then ruled that the provision on the basis of which three judges were elected in the 7th term (Roman Hauser, Krzysztof Ślebzak, Andrzej Jakubecki) was consistent with the Polish Constitution, i.e. persons who were later elected to their places should not sit at the Constitutional Tribunal. In the justification of the judgment, the Tribunal pointed out that the resolutions of the Sejm of November 25, 2015 about the election of CT judges are not the subject of control in this proceeding. However, he referred to their legal nature. He assessed that they had not influenced the legal power of the resolutions of the Sejm of the 7th term regarding the election of the judges of the Tribunal. According to the Constitutional Tribunal, they could not have any legal effect in this respect. The Constitutional Tribunal assessed that, by virtue of the constitution of the Sejm resolution on the election of CT judges, they are final and no one could move them.

On December 9, 2015, i.e. a week after the VIII Sejm chose five judges, the Constitutional Tribunal found the unconstitutionality of the amendment to the Constitutional Tribunal Act of November 19, 2015.

According to these two judgments in the last months of 2015, in accordance with the law, three judges were elected by the Sejm of the 7th term. However, representatives of the then authorities argued that the Sejm on December 2, 2015 had already elected, and the Constitutional Tribunal is included. In place of the judges correctly elected by the Sejm of the Constitutional Tribunal, the president swore Henryk Cioch, Lech Morawski and Mariusz Muszyński.

And they were just duplera judges because they replaced the judges of Hauser, Ślebzak and Jakubecki. Cioch and Morawski died in 2017, he chose the Sejm at the time Jarosław Wymbak and Justyna Piskorski. Muszyński ended the nine -year term in December 2024. Currently, there are two in the Constitutional Tribunal of Dubler Judges: Wymbak (his term of office will end on January 30, 2027) and Piskorski (the term of office will expire on September 18, 2026).

To sum up: contrary to the words of the head of the office of Andrzej Duda, the president swore three judges of the Constitutional Tribunal to the places already taken. This was not changed by the earlier resolution of the Sejm, because those about the election of CT judges – according to the Constitutional Tribunal – are final and no one can move them by constitutional.