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A motion to exclude a judge from the examination of a case, due to an allegation raised about the defective appointment of the judge by the President of the Republic, who acted upon the request of the National Council of the Judiciary P 22/19

Ref. No. P 22/19

JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND

Warsaw, 4 March 2020

The Constitutional Tribunal, composed of:

Julia Przyłębska – Presiding Judge, 2nd Judge Rapporteur
Zbigniew Jędrzejewski
Justyn Piskorski
Jakub Stelina – 1st Judge Rapporteur
Michał Warciński,

Recording Clerk – Krzysztof Zalecki,

having considered, at a hearing on 19 February 2020 – in the presence of the court referring the question of law as well as the Sejm and the Public Prosecutor-General – the question of law referred by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Poland as to whether:

Article 41(1) in conjunction with Article 42(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code of 6 June 1997 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2018, item 1987, as amended), applied accordingly on the basis of Article 741(1) of the Act of 6 July 1982 on Legal Advisers (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2018 item 2115, as amended) – construed in the way that what should be subject to consideration is a motion to exclude a judge from the examination of a case, due to an allegation raised about the defective appointment of the judge by the President of the Republic, who acted upon the request of the National Council of the Judiciary, composed of judges elected in line with the procedure provided for in Article 9a of the Act of 12 May 2011 on the National Council of the Judiciary (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2019 item 84, as amended) – is consistent with:

–     Article 45(1), in conjunction with Article 173, in conjunction with Article 175(1), in conjunction with Article 178(1) and in conjunction with Article 180(1) of the Constitution, and thus with Article 6(1), first sentence, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, done at Rome on 4 November 1950, amended by Protocols Nos. 3, 5 and 8 as well as supplemented by Protocol No. 2 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 1993 No. 61, item 284) and Article 19(1), second paragraph, of the Treaty on European Union (OJ C 202, 7.6.2016, pp. 13–388),

–     Article 179 in conjunction with Article 144(3)(17) of the Constitution,

adjudicates as follows:

Article 41(1) in conjunction with Article 42(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code of 6 June 1997 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2020, item 30), applied accordingly on the basis of Article 741(1) of the Act of 6 July 1982 on Legal Advisers (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2020 item 75)  insofar as it permits the consideration of a motion to exclude a judge from the examination of a case, due to the defective appointment of the judge by the President of the Republic, who acted upon the request of the National Council of the Judiciary, composed of judges elected in line with the procedure provided for in Article 9a of the Act of 12 May 2011 on the National Council of the Judiciary (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2019 items 84, 609, 730 and 914 as well as of 2020 item 190), is inconsistent with Article 179 in conjunction with Article 144(3)(17) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

Moreover, the Tribunal decides:

pursuant to Article 59(1)(3) of the Act of 30 November 2016 on the Organisation of the Constitutional Tribunal and the Mode of Proceedings Before the Constitutional Tribunal (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2019, item 2393) to discontinue the proceedings as to the remainder.

The ruling was adopted by a majority vote.

Julia Przyłębska
Zbigniew Jędrzejewski
Justyn Piskorski
Jakub Stelina
(dissenting opinion)
Michał Warciński