Duda referred the NRS bill to the illegal Constitutional Court

On Friday, the chief of the presidential law firm, Małgorzata Paprocka, informed that president Andrzej Duda had now directed the illegal Constitutional Court in the preventive review of the National Judicial Council (CRS) Act. This step of the president has sparked large interest and many controversy. In this article, we will look at precisely what this amendment envisages and what changes it introduces to the functioning of the KRS.

Direct election of CoR judges

One of the main objectives of the amendment is to change the way 15 judges are elected. Under the fresh rules, they are to be elected in direct elections and in a secret ballot by all judges in Poland. These members are presently elected by the Sejm, which, according to the authors of the amendment, limits the independency of the judiciary.

Independence of the KRS

The Ministry of Justice, which prepared the amendment, emphasises that its aim is to make the KRS independent from the legislative authority. This is 1 of the fundamental changes that aims to reconstruct the regulation of law in Poland. The independency of the KRS is to be guaranteed by separating the selection process for members of the Council from political influence.

Limiting the right to stand as a candidate

Another crucial point of the amendment is the limitation of the right to stand as a associate of the National Court Register. The fresh provisions supply that this right will not be granted to judges who were appointed after the revision of the KRS government in 2017. This is simply a step to destruct possible conflicts of interest and guarantee that members of the National Courts actually represent the full judicial community.

Supervision of the selection of KRS judges

As amended, the work for organising the elections of the CoR judges will be entrusted to the State Election Commission. The Commission will be liable for verifying applications, printing ballot cards and conducting the electoral process itself. The intent of this amendment is to guarantee transparency and fairness of the elections and to represent judges at all levels of the CoR.

Controversy

Addressing the amendment to the Constitutional Court has caused many controversy. In an interview with PAP, Małgorzata Paprock, head of the President's Chancellery, stated that the amendment of the KRS Act is "so brightly contrary to the constitution that it is not acceptable" and that "there is no reason to differentiate judges on the basis of the date of their appointment". This indicates deep divisions in the assessment of the proposed changes.

Political context and publication of the Constitutional Tribunal’s contradictions

Regardless of the course of the trial and its outcome, it is almost certain that the judgement given by the Constitutional Tribunal will not be published in the diary of Laws. To date, there has not been any publication of the decision of the Court of the Republic of Moldova given after 6 March 2024, that is to say, following the resolution of the Sejm concerning the recovery of the Court.

We would like to remind you that the Constitutional Tribunal is presently deprived of the characteristics of the court established by the law due to the deficiency of a decently appointed president and the judges of the doubles (the unknown word of the Constitution), as well as of judges appointed in violation of Article 178(3) of the Polish Constitution. Consequently, any judgement given in a composition established in violation of the basic rule applicable to the selection of judges of the Constitutional Court infringes the essence of the right to a court established by the Act.

Daniel Głogowski

Expert in his field – Publicist, author and social activist. The first articles were published in 1999 for global publishers. For more than 30 years, he has gained his experience through cooperation with the largest editorial offices. In his articles, he seeks to address controversial topics and present first viewpoints that allowed for a deeper knowing of the issues discussed.