The President’s Chancellery and its legal team will keep a close watch on the draft amendment to the Constitutional Court law, which aims to reduce the court’s full panel. This was stated by Presidential Minister Małgorzata Paprocka on a national radio program on Polish Radio. The emphasis is on ensuring that the court continues to function and that its decisions remain grounded in the constitution.
Jarosław Sellin, deputy head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, who also appeared on the Saturday program Breakfast in Trójka, underscored that the Constitutional Tribunal faces challenges and that it is the duty of state authorities to remedy the situation. He noted that a legislature’s response is necessary when a vital organ of the state is not operating at full capacity.
On Thursday, PiS deputies in the Sejm submitted a draft amendment to the law governing the organization and procedure of the Constitutional Court. The authors argue the changes will improve the court’s work by reducing the minimum number of judges required to form the General Assembly and the full bench of the Constitutional Tribunal to nine judges. The amendments would apply to proceedings that began before the date the law takes effect and were not completed by then.
Paprocka highlighted that from the president’s perspective, the priority is twofold: first, ensuring the Tribunal functions effectively, and second, confirming there are no legal grounds to overturn its decisions. The Tribunal remains the only state body empowered to assess whether laws conform with the constitution. She also pointed out that the draft appeared on the Sejm’s website only recently and has not yet undergone a first reading.
She added that the President’s Chancellery, especially the legal services, would monitor the project closely as it progresses and assess how it might unfold in practice. The question remains how the bill will be processed and whether it will ultimately become law, but for now the president has not decided on the matter.
Sellin stressed that the legislature has a duty to respond when an important organ of the Polish state is not functioning as it should. He acknowledged the current stalemate and operational problems facing the Tribunal and argued that lawmakers must rectify the situation so the institution can operate as needed. His remarks echoed those of several Members of the European Parliament who view this initiative as essential to Poland’s constitutional framework.
On the commission side, Marek Ast, chair of the Sejm’s Justice and Human Rights Committee, told the public that at the next Sejm session scheduled for May 24–26 the committee would begin work on the draft amendment to complete the Tribunal’s composition. He suggested the process would be concise and not extend beyond a single session.
The Constitutional Tribunal has scheduled a hearing on the amendment to the Supreme Court law for May 30. The president’s request, filed under the preventive scrutiny procedure, will be considered by the full court, chaired by President Julia Przyłębska. Currently, a panel of at least 11 judges is required for a full court hearing. A dispute over Przyłębska’s term has prevented full meetings of the Tribunal for months. Some lawyers, including both former and current judges, contend that her term as President expired in December 2022, and that she could not reapply; Przyłębska and a number of experts contend that her term extends into December 2024 as a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal. The disagreement has fueled ongoing tensions within the court.
Earlier in the year, six judges, among them Vice President Mariusz Muszyński, sent a letter urging Przyłębska to convene the General Assembly and appoint a new president from among the judges. In early March, the Tribunal’s press service announced that Przyłębska had convened the General Assembly, which, by an absolute majority and in the presence of two-thirds of the judges, passed a resolution stating there was no reason to convene a meeting to select candidates for president. In early April, five judges expressed willingness to proceed with the president’s motion on the Supreme Court Act but stated that actions attributed to the President of the Constitutional Court were ineffective and contrary to law. They also called for convening the General Assembly to elect a new president. As noted by Judge Jarosław Wyrembak, these developments form part of a sequence of actions that threaten Poland’s constitutional order and legitimacy of judicial leadership.
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mly/PAP