MAIN POINTS
1
The position of court president involves a range of powers that have a significant impact on the functioning of the justice system, which is why the possibility of dismissing a judge from this position is subject to a special procedure designed to protect the independence of the judiciary, requiring, among other things, the consent of the collegium of the court concerned or the National Council of the Judiciary.
2
The former Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, repeatedly attempted to circumvent the requirements of this procedure, which led to the Constitutional Tribunal issuing a ruling indicating that the procedure was partially unconstitutional.
3
Instead of amending the provisions challenged by the Constitutional Tribunal, the new Minister, Waldemar Żurek, decided to continue applying them and then openly announced that he also intended to violate the provisions that had not been challenged by the Constitutional Tribunal and dismiss the presidents despite the negative opinions of the court collegiums.
Attempts by the executive branch, in the person of the Minister of Justice, to exert extra-legal influence on the judiciary are, unfortunately, one of the main hallmarks of the so-called ‘restoration of the rule of law’ by the current government. This includes, in particular, attempts to take action without any legal basis or in serious violation of the law, contrary to the provisions of Article 7 of the Constitution (Public authorities shall act on the basis of and within the limits of the law).
Such actions, initially taken almost from the very beginning of his term of office by Minister Adam Bodnar and now continued by his successor, Waldemar Żurek, include announcing the dismissal of court presidents and vice-presidents. The function of the president of a given court is extremely important from the point of view of the daily work of the judiciary – in accordance with Articles 22 and 21 of the Law on the System of Common Courts, the president of the court, among other things, manages the court and represents it externally, ensures the proper internal functioning of the court, and is the superior of judges, assistant judges, court clerks and assistants to judges of the court, assigns and dismisses judges, assistant judges and court clerks, and (after consulting the court’s collegium) determines the assignment of judges, assistant judges and court clerks to court divisions, their duties, the manner of their participation in the assignment of cases, and the duty and substitution schedule. The latter competence is particularly important, as it has recently been used to circumvent the principle of random assignment of cases to judicial panels (Minister Żurek has recently presented a draft bill that directly restricts this principle, in a manner that is otherwise contrary to the law – if adopted, as we recently reported, the role of court presidents would become even more important).
It is therefore not surprising that ministers have attempted to influence the judiciary by dismissing presidents considered unfavourable to the government and appointing their own nominees in their place. The actions of Minister Bodnar, who, often guided by political motivations, attempted to announce the dismissal of court presidents, bending the applicable procedure, led to the Constitutional Tribunal issuing its ruling of 16 October 2024. K 2/24, which found that this procedure was partially unconstitutional. Meanwhile, Minister Żurek not only ignored this ruling entirely, but also openly and explicitly declared that he would not adhere to the applicable procedure set out in Article 27 of the Law on the System of Common Courts!
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Source of cover photo: Adobe Stock
