The President’s appointment of a judge upon recommendation by the National Council of the Judiciary – construed as a prerequisite for the judge to be recused by statute P 7/23
Rep. No. P 7/23
JUDGMENT
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
Warsaw, 25 November 2025
The Constitutional Tribunal, composed of:
Bogdan Święczkowski – Presiding Judge
Krystyna Pawłowicz
Stanisław Piotrowicz
Justyn Piskorski – Judge Rapporteur
Jarosław Wyrembak,
Recording Clerk – Grażyna Szałygo,
having considered, at a hearing on 25 November 2025 – the Supreme Court’s question of law as to:
whether Article 48(1)(1) of the Civil Procedure Code of 17 November 1964 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2021, item 1805, as amended) – “construed in the way that what constitutes a prerequisite for a judge to be recused by statute is the appointment of the said judge by the President of the Republic of Poland upon recommendation by the National Council of the Judiciary” – is consistent with Article 179 in conjunction with Article 144(3)(17) as well as with Article 190(1) of the Constitution,
adjudicates as follows:
Article 48(1)(1) of the Civil Procedure Code of 17 November 1964 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2021, item 1805, as amended) – construed in the way that what constitutes a prerequisite for a judge to be recused by statute is the appointment of the said judge by the President of the Republic of Poland upon recommendation by the National Council of the Judiciary – is inconsistent with Article 179 in conjunction with Article 144(3)(17) as well as with Article 190(1) of the Constitution of the republic of Poland.
The ruling was unanimous.
Bogdan Święczkowski
Krystyna Pawłowicz
Stanisław Piotrowicz
Justyn Piskorski
Jarosław Wyrembak