“The Constitution Binds Everyone.” Polish Lawyers Take a Stand in Defense of the Constitutional Tribunal

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On Wednesday, representatives of Polish organizations representing all the legal professions, together with representatives of patriotic circles, met at the seat of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw. The fruit of that meeting is a joint position statement in defense of the Tribunal’s independence and of the supremacy of the Constitution.

The meeting provided an occasion for joint reflection on the state of the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland, on the significance of the principle of the supremacy of the Constitution, on the independence of the constitutional organs of the state, and on the need to ensure that the Constitutional Tribunal is able to exercise its constitutional powers without disruption.

The representatives of the circles gathered there, regardless of differences of worldview, profession, or politics, pointed to one fundamental principle that ought to unite everyone taking part in public life: the Constitution of the Republic of Poland binds everyone. It is not the property of any political party, parliamentary majority, government, opposition, professional community, or any social group – it is the supreme law of the Republic of Poland and the foundation on which the entire apparatus of the state operates.

As the statement emphasizes, the protection of the constitutional position of the Constitutional Tribunal cannot be treated solely as a dispute concerning a single institution. It bears on the fundamental question of whether, in the Republic of Poland, the limits of public authority are determined by the Constitution and statutes, or whether those limits may be shifted by political decisions, de facto actions, or the practice of state bodies.

Adopted on September 16, the statement has at the same time become an appeal open for signature by all citizens, under an initiative of the Committee for the Defense of the Constitutional Tribunal. The appeal calls on the public authorities to abandon without delay any actions undermining the independence and the continuity of the Tribunal’s functioning, to fully respect its rulings, and to cease refusing to publish and to enforce the judgments it hands down. The document has already been signed by judges of the courts of appeal and of the regional courts, judges of the Supreme Court – including retired judges – prosecutors, legal scholars and university rectors, as well as representatives of legal organizations, including the Ordo Iuris Institute.

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Joint position statement of Polish legal organizations and patriotic circles

It is with deep concern and indignation that we take note of the unlawful interference in the work of the Constitutional Tribunal, and in particular of the announcements by the current political majority that it intends to seize control of the Tribunal by force. We express our categorical opposition to them. We call on all legal circles to defend constitutional standards.

The Tribunal is a constitutional organ holding a special position (Art. 188–197 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland). Its judgments are of universally binding application and are final (Art. 190(1) of the Constitution). Its judges are independent and subject only to the Constitution (Art. 195(1) of the Constitution).

The following in particular must be regarded as inadmissible and as striking at the constitutional order of the state:

– the refusal by the organs of executive power to publish the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal in the official journals and to respect them,

– the questioning of the status of the Tribunal’s judges and of its adjudicating panels,

– actions by services subordinate to the executive power that strike at the independence of judges and at the independence of the Constitutional Tribunal,

– attempts to shape the composition or the leadership of the Tribunal in a manner contrary to the Constitution and to statutes.

An unlawful seizure of control over the Tribunal would constitute an assault on the constitutional order of the state, on the principle of the separation of powers (Art. 10 of the Constitution), and on the principle of a democratic state ruled by law (Art. 2 of the Constitution).

We call on all organs of public authority to cease immediately any actions striking at the independence and the continuity of the Tribunal’s functioning, and to fully respect its judgments.

In defending the independence of the Constitutional Tribunal, we are standing in defense of the fundamental principles of the legal order. Under the principle of legalism expressed in Art. 7 of the Constitution, political power has its limits, and those limits are set by the Constitution and by the provisions of the law.

An independent Constitutional Tribunal is the indispensable guarantor of the supremacy of the Constitution.

On September 16, the appeal was signed by:

1.    Łukasz Bernaciński, Ph.D. – member of the Board of the Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture

2.    Adam Borowski – anti-communist activist, Civic Ombudsman

3.    Beata Dróżdż – Coordinator of the Gazeta Polska Clubs for the Łódź Voivodeship, Chair of the Gazeta Polska Club in Piotrków Trybunalski

4.    Dr. Jarosław Duś – retired judge of the Supreme Court

5.    Prof. Genowefa Grabowska – expert in international and European law

6.    Adam Jaworski, Ph.D. – judge, Nationwide Association of Judges “Sędziowie RP” (Judges of the Republic of Poland)

7.    Michał Lasota – judge of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw

8.    Prof. Anna Łabno – expert in the field of constitutional law, Tarnów Academy

9.    Joanna Pąsik – judge of the Regional Court in Warsaw

10.     Łukasz Konrad Piebiak, Ph.D. – judge, president of Lawyers for Poland

11.     Przemysław W. Radzik – Lawyers for Poland, member of the board, judge

12.     Marcin Rosiak, Ph.D. – prosecutor, Independent Association of Prosecutors “Ad Vocem”

13.     Michał Sopiński, Ph.D. – Rector-Commandant of the Academy of Justice

14.     Piotr Schab – judge of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw, President of the Board of the association Veritas et Ius – In the Service of the Nation

15.     Małgorzata Uzarska – president of the Polish Center for the Protection of Christians’ Rights

16.     Attorney Krzysztof Wąsowski – Lawyers for Poland (Warsaw Seminar on the Axiology of Administration)

17.     Paweł Wilkoszewski – prosecutor, Independent Association of Prosecutors “Ad Vocem”

18.     Kamil Zaradkiewicz, Ph.D. – judge of the Supreme Court, director of the Case-Law and Studies Department at the Office of the Constitutional Tribunal from 2006 to 2016

19.     Attorney Anna Żmijewska, Ph.D. – member of the Board of the Polish Center for the Protection of Christians’ Rights

See also:

• Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal Crisis Deepens: A Disputed New Judge and a Blocked General Assembly
• Unlawful “Swearing-In-of-Judges” Ceremony in the Polish Sejm – How the Tusk Government Is Trying to Take Control of the Constitutional Tribunal
• Constitutional Tribunal Appointments in Poland: Rule-of-Law Implications of a Flawed Sejm Vote
• CJEU Puts Itself Above National Constitutions in Landmark Case Against Poland
• “A deliberate blow aimed at OUR Constitutional Tribunal” – the position of Polish legal organizations on the CJEU’s ruling
• Luxembourg Overruled: Poland’s Top Court Says the EU Cannot Decide Who Counts as a Judge

Source of cover photo: iStock