The exclusion of a Supreme Court judge from the examination of a case P 13/19
Ref. No. P 13/19
JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
Warsaw, 2 June 2020
The Constitutional Tribunal, composed of:
Michał Warciński – Presiding Judge
Stanisław Piotrowicz
Julia Przyłębska – Judge Rapporteur
Bartłomiej Sochański
Rafał Wojciechowski,
having considered, at a hearing on 2 June 2020 – in accordance with Article 92(1)(1) 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) – the question of law referred by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Poland as to
whether Article 49 of the Civil Procedure Code of 17 November 1964 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2018 item 1360, as amended) – insofar as a court considers 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,
is consistent with:
– Article 45(1) as well as Article 175(1), Article 179 in conjunction with Article 187(1) and (3) of the Constitution,
– 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),
– Article 47, first and second sentences of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (OJ C 202, 7.6.2016, pp. 389–405) in conjunction with Article 6(1) of the Treaty on European Union (OJ C 202, 7.6.2016, pp. 13–388),
adjudicates as follows:
Article 49(1) of the Civil Procedure Code of 17 November 1964 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2019 item 1460, as amended) – insofar as it permits the consideration of 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 – is inconsistent with Article 179 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
Moreover, the Tribunal decides:
pursuant to Article 59(1)(2) and 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 unanimous.
Michał Warciński
Stanisław Piotrowicz
Julia Przyłębska
Bartłomiej Sochański
Rafał Wojciechowski