There is a statement that a constitutional matter must be resolved by the Constitutional Tribunal within the framework of judicial independence, a view articulated on Polsat News by Małgorzata Paprocka, a minister in the president’s chancellery. The question asked was about who currently holds the presidency of the Constitutional Tribunal, and the response emphasized that only the General Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal has the power to nominate candidates for the presidency. It was suggested that any maneuver from outside this body would raise serious questions about legitimacy.
Paprocka also remarked that the ongoing dispute inside the Constitutional Tribunal should be resolved by the Tribunal itself. A few weeks prior, she noted, the judges of the Assembly passed a resolution by a two-thirds majority, indicating there was no need to convene another assembly to nominate candidates. The presence and adoption of that resolution were described as facts by Paprocka.
She underscored that this issue concerns the Court. The well-known line attributed to the President, which calls for arguing the Tribunal, may sound familiar but rests on a serious underlying reason, according to her interpretation.
Constitutional Tribunal, but also the President, we act within the law
Questions were raised about a government project proposed by the Pis party, which would change the full jury size of the Tribunal from eleven to nine judges. In practice, many years the term full session of the Tribunal had been understood to mean nine judges. The president emphasized that the most important objective is to maintain the Constitutional Tribunal’s pivotal role in a functioning democracy and to ensure that its rulings are not subject to doubt or political pressure.
Further comments addressed Sovereign Poland’s idea that the president should serve as a mediator between the judges who are at odds within the Constitutional Tribunal. The speaker argued that such mediation would be illegal given the precise legal framework that already defines the authority of the General Assembly alone and the duties the tribunal and the presidency must uphold. The overall stance was that every party bears responsibility for how it carries out its assigned tasks, and any mediation concept would need to fit within established legal boundaries.
The discussion was summarized as a matter of upholding the law and ensuring that the court’s independence remains intact throughout any internal debates or proposals for reform. The emphasis remained on the constitutional norms that govern the tribunal and the presidency, and on the necessity of respecting those norms when addressing disputes over leadership and composition.
tkwl/Polsat News
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Source: wPolityce