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Disputes over powers between the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and the Polish Supreme Court as well as between the President of the Republic of Poland and the Polish Supreme Court Kpt 1/20

DECISION
of 28 January 2020
Ref. No. Kpt 1/20

The Constitutional Tribunal, composed of:

Julia Przyłębska – Presiding Judge
Zbigniew Jędrzejewski
Leon Kieres
Mariusz Muszyński
Krystyna Pawłowicz – Judge Rapporteur
Stanisław Piotrowicz
Justyn Piskorski
Piotr Pszczółkowski
Jakub Stelina
Wojciech Sych
Michał Warciński
Rafał Wojciechowski
Jarosław Wyrembak
Andrzej Zielonacki,

in view of the application of 22 January 2020, lodged with the Constitutional Tribunal by the Marshal of the Sejm, with reference to:

1) settling a dispute over powers between the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and the Polish Supreme Court as to whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to introduce modifications in the legal situation regarding the organisational structure of the judiciary – also by means of a resolution referred to in Article 83(1) of the Supreme Court Act of 8 December 2017 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2019, item 825, as amended), adopted in connection with an international court ruling – or whether, pursuant to Art. 10(1) and (2), Art. 95(1), Art. 176(2), Art. 183(2), and Art. 187(4) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, such competence remains within the exclusive ambit of the legislator;

2) settling a dispute over powers between the President of the Republic of Poland and the Polish Supreme Court as to:

a) whether the competence referred to in Art. 179 in conjunction with Art. 144(3)(17) of the Constitution – which the Constitution vests in the President of the Republic of Poland –may be construed in the way that it is admissible to entrust the Supreme Court, and/or another court, with jurisdiction that is not provided for in the Constitution and that involves evaluating the validity of the appointment of a judge, and in particular – the jurisdiction to assess the validity of granting judicial powers to an appointed judge;

b) whether the Supreme Court may arrive at a binding interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution with relation to the Polish President’s exercise of the prerogative referred to in Article 144(3)(17) and Article 179 of the Constitution, and in particular whether the said Court may specify prerequisites for the valid appointment of a judge,

d e c i d e s:

pursuant to Article 86(2) 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 provisionally deal with the disputable matters, until the determination of the case ref. no. Kpt 1/20, namely:

I

the Supreme Court is to refrain from exercising its competence to adopt resolutions if the subject-matter thereof concerns the conformity, to domestic and international law as well as to the jurisprudence of international courts, of the following:

1) the determination of the composition of the National Council of the Judiciary, on the basis 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) as well as Article 187 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland;

2) the mode of presenting candidates for the office of a judge to the Polish President, which is regulated by the Act referred to in point 1 above as well as by Article 179 in conjunction with Article 144(3)(17) of the Constitution;

3) the Polish President’s exercise of his prerogative to appoint judges in accordance with the Act referred to in point 1 above as well as Article 179 in conjunction with Article 144(3)(17) of the Constitution;

4) the competence to hold the office of a judge by a person appointed by the Polish President – upon the request of the National Council of the Judiciary – provided for in the Act referred to in point 1 above, in accordance with the provisions of that Act as well as Article 179 in conjunction with Article 144(3)(17) of the Constitution;

II

the Supreme Court is to refrain from applying its resolution of 23 January 2020, issued jointly by the Court’s Civil Chamber, Criminal Chamber, as well as Labour Law and Social Security Chamber. This entails, in particular, that:

1) it is inadmissible to apply Article 439(1)(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code of 6 June 1997 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2020 item 30) as well as Article 379(4) of the Civil Procedure Code of 17 November 1964 (Journal of Laws – Dz. U. of 2019 item 1460, as amended) within the meaning adopted in the said resolution;

2) no restriction may be imposed on the judicial powers of a judge appointed by the Polish President, where the appointment was made upon the request of the National Council of the Judiciary, whose composition had been determined on the basis of the Act referred to in point I.1 above, in compliance with the procedure provided by the Act;

3) any rulings issued by the adjudicating benches that comprised the judges indicated in point 2 above are binding.

The ruling was adopted by a majority vote.

Julia Przyłębska
Zbigniew Jędrzejewski
Leon Kieres
(dissenting opinion)
Mariusz Muszyński
Krystyna Pawłowicz
Stanisław Piotrowicz
Justyn Piskorski
Piotr Pszczółkowski
(dissenting opinion)
Jakub Stelina
Wojciech Sych
Michał Warciński
Rafał Wojciechowski
Jarosław Wyrembak
(dissenting opinion)
Andrzej Zielonacki