Poland’s Supreme Court lacked a quorum for a resolution on the Constitutional Tribunal — RMF24

Poland’s Supreme Court lacked a quorum for the General Assembly of Judges to adopt a resolution on the situation at the Constitutional Tribunal. As RMF24 reports, the extraordinary meeting on Tuesday was convened by the First President of the Supreme Court, Zbigniew Kapiński.

Some judges did not take part in the assembly

Before the assembly began, 28 judges stated that they would not take part in it. According to Kapiński, due to the position of some judges appointed before 2017, there was no quorum in the Civil and Criminal Chambers of the Supreme Court.

At the same time, the 55 judges who gathered on Tuesday supported the resolution of the Supreme Court College. This body adopted a position on the events surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal, which was published on the Supreme Court’s website simultaneously with the start of the extraordinary General Assembly.

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Position of the Supreme Court College

The College expressed strong protest against actions that, in its view, undermine the constitutional foundations of the functioning of the judiciary. In particular, the resolution refers to an attempt to remove the President of the Constitutional Tribunal, Bogdan Święczkowski, from work. The College believes that these actions took place without the necessary legal basis and outside established procedures.

The document also states that the judge with the longest tenure may manage the work of the Constitutional Tribunal only if the positions of president and deputy president are vacant. In the College’s view, there are no such grounds, and therefore the exercise of the president’s powers was entrusted to an unauthorized person.

The College also stated that there is a risk that decisions involving judges elected by the Sejm but who have not taken an oath before the President of Poland may not be recognized as decisions of the Constitutional Tribunal. The resolution states that the legal status of such judges has not been sufficiently clarified. The College called on all state bodies to comply with the Constitution and laws and not to take actions that could deepen the constitutional crisis.