During a session of the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Human Rights, the Ombudsman Marcin Wiącek addressed the status of judges appointed since 2018. He explained that those appointed from that year forward hold the constitutional status of judges, and that any modification to this status must be carried out under the constitutional provisions governing the judiciary. The remarks came amid questions about the procedure used to appoint Dariusz Korneluk as national prosecutor.
Members of the committee from Sovereign Poland asked Wiącek for his assessment of judges elected after 2018.
Wiącek explained that while the appointment process for those judges may have certain shortcomings, it does not strip them of their status as judges. He emphasized that persons appointed since 2018 retain the constitutional status of judges, and any modification to that status would be possible solely through the constitutional framework applicable to judges.
Wiącek has doubts
On the matter of Korneluk’s nomination as national prosecutor, Wiącek acknowledged that there are doubts. He noted that for a national prosecutor appointment two conditions must be met: a vacancy must exist, and the President must issue a decision in line with the law. In both respects, reservations persist. As a civil servant, he stressed his obligation to respect legal acts and the appointments of relevant state institutions. He added that having reservations does not grant the right to question the legality of a state authority, and that a Supreme Court decision, issued in due form and with the effect defined by current law, must be taken into account by the Court that posed the legal question.
Michał Woś, a member of Sovereign Poland, commented on these statements on the X platform.
The Commissioner for Human Rights, Prof. M. Więcek, speaking to the Justice Commission, asserted that judges appointed after 2018 are judges with no debate about that status. The doubts, he said, concern the actual appointment of Dariusz Korneluk, because the process did not include the President of the Republic of Poland’s opinion as required by law.