Maciej Berek said he entered the Constitutional Tribunal judges’ room — Interia
In Poland, Maciej Berek, elected by the Sejm to the Constitutional Tribunal, said that he visited the institution’s judges’ room. On social media, he published a photo with Judge Magdalena Bentkowska and noted that the door to the room was open, also reporting the submission of further documents, Interia reports.
Berek also said that he would soon be able to begin regular judicial work.
Access to the judges’ room
According to the publication, the photo was taken in a room whose access had been blocked several days earlier by Constitutional Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski. Only Tribunal judges may use this room. Święczkowski and some opposition politicians believe that Berek does not have the status of a judge because he did not take the oath before President Karol Nawrocki.
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Commenting on the previous incident to TVN24, Bentkowska said that there was no scuffle or pushing. According to her, she and Judge Sławomir Patyra wanted to invite the Constitutional Tribunal judges elected this year to their offices. Święczkowski then stood in the doorway of the corridor leading to the offices and said that Berek would not enter.
Dispute over the oath
At the beginning of September, the Sejm elected Berek as a Constitutional Tribunal judge. He later took the oath in the office of the Marshal of the Sejm, using a formula stating that it was taken before the head of state, and submitted notarized documents to the president’s chancellery.
According to Berek, his term was supposed to begin in mid-September, but letters to the president went unanswered. Święczkowski stated that Berek had not entered into an official service relationship and would not be allowed to hear cases until the president’s position on the oath was received. Nawrocki, for his part, said that if Berek had not completed the formality of taking the oath before the president, then he was not a Constitutional Tribunal judge.
