Polish Sejm elects Maciej Berek as Constitutional Tribunal judge
On 4 September, Poland’s Sejm elected Maciej Berek as a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal. A total of 226 of the 437 lawmakers who took part in the vote supported his candidacy. In mid-August, Berek left the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, where he was responsible for overseeing the implementation of state policy, Notes from Poland reports.
Vote in the Sejm
Tusk had previously called Berek his “right-hand man” and said that he performed a technocratic, “apolitical and non-partisan” role. The prime minister also referred to Berek’s experience in constitutional law and the legislative process.
At the same time, some lawmakers from the ruling coalition did not support the candidacy. Four of its representatives voted against, including Civic Coalition lawmaker Klaudia Jachira and the leader of The Left party, Sejm Marshal Włodzimierz Czarzasty. Another 11 coalition lawmakers did not take part in the vote. The entire right-wing and far-right opposition voted against.
Dispute over the appointment
Critics of the nomination recalled that the parliamentary majority in 2024 approved a law that was intended to bar people who had been politicians within the previous four years from becoming Constitutional Tribunal judges. The law did not enter into force because it was effectively blocked by then-President Andrzej Duda and the tribunal itself.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Berek is to join the tribunal after the nine-year term of Judge Justyn Piskorski ends on 18 September. However, before taking office, the new judge must take an oath before the president. This year, President Karol Nawrocki refused to accept the oath from four judges elected by the parliamentary majority and has already expressed objections to Berek’s candidacy.
Quorum issue
Nawrocki said that the Constitutional Tribunal does not need another politician, especially a close associate of Tusk. The head of the presidential chancellery, Zbigniew Bogucki, also expressed doubts as to whether Berek meets the formal requirement of at least ten years of legal practice. Berek himself maintains that he meets this requirement.
Tusk’s government does not consider the tribunal’s current composition legitimate because of the presence of judges whom, according to the government’s position, were unlawfully appointed during the rule of the Law and Justice party and Duda. If Piskorski is not replaced after his term ends, the tribunal will have ten sitting judges, while the required quorum is 11 people.
