Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz proposes renewing tribunal’s composition — Interia

In Poland, Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, on behalf of the Polish People’s Party, presented a draft constitutional amendment intended to resolve the dispute surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal. As Interia reports, the key idea of the initiative is an “extraordinary renewal” of the composition of this body.

The draft provides for ending the mandates of all current Constitutional Tribunal judges and granting them retired judge status. It then proposes forming a new, transitional composition of the tribunal. Its members are to have terms of three, five and nine years.

PSL proposal

Kosiniak-Kamysz said that the proposed mechanism should not determine a winner in the dispute. According to him, the party seeks to simultaneously confirm the correctness of the judges’ selection and take into account the position of those who have doubts about this process.

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The deputy prime minister also stressed that judges elected by the Sejm of the current term should be allowed to work. He warned that the emergence of two Constitutional Tribunals would deprive Poland of an institutional mechanism that could be used in disputed situations.

Participation of the KRS and the president

According to Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland’s National Council of the Judiciary, the KRS, should participate in preparing the final decision. He also noted that the Marshal of the Sejm, who will nominate candidates for the new composition of the tribunal, must obtain confirmation of the president’s consent in advance.

PSL lawmaker Krzysztof Paszyk said that the initiative aims at a long-term restoration of the authority and trust in the Constitutional Tribunal, rather than merely settling the situation for the duration of the current parliamentary coalition’s work.