The General Assembly of Judges of the Supreme Court, convened by the First President of the Supreme Court, Zbigniew Kapiański, will start at 2:00 p.m. An hour and a half later, at 3:30 p.m., the General Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal, convened by Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, also starts.
Both meetings indirectly concern the crisis surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal, which, according to many politicians and some lawyers, may mean shaking the foundations of the rule of law in Poland.
The Supreme Court is not silent: Sharp reaction to the events in the Constitutional Tribunal
The extraordinary meeting at the Supreme Court was convened without the standard 7-day deadline - as President Kapiański emphasized, the situation required immediate action. There is only one item on the agenda: discussion of threats to the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland. This is a response to the confusion related to the Constitutional Tribunal and - as the President of the Supreme Court suggests - an attempt to take over this institution by force by the executive power.
Kapiański does not hide the seriousness of the situation. In public statements, he emphasized that "silence in the face of activities that undermine the independence of constitutional bodies means consent to practices that threaten the foundations of the political order of the Republic of Poland." And it leaves no doubt - the Supreme Court must take a clear position, and the apolitical nature of the courts and the independence of the judiciary are the foundations, the violation of which may result in constitutional chaos.
The Constitutional Tribunal is in the heat of dispute
Almost simultaneously with the meeting in the Supreme Court, the General Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal will also start its session. The order to convene it was issued by Anna Korwin-Piotrowska - the oldest judge, de facto temporary head of the Tribunal, after she removed President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański.
The main official topic of the meeting is to be the adoption of the budget plan for 2027. Among other things, the following is raised: the issue of quorum in the General Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal. According to the constitution, the Constitutional Tribunal consists of 15 judges. According to the Act on the organization and procedure of proceedings before the Constitutional Tribunal, "the General Assembly adopts resolutions by an absolute majority of votes, in the presence of at least 2/3 of the total number of judges of the Tribunal" - with a total number of 15 judges of the Constitutional Tribunal, this is 10 people.
According to, among others, President Święczkowski and the presidential side, there are currently 10 judges in the Constitutional Tribunal, including three elected by the Sejm of the current term. President Karol Nawrocki did not take the oath from the other five people elected by the Sejm in this term, and therefore Święczkowski did not allow them to adjudicate.
In turn, according to, among others, on the government side, after the Sejm elected eight people as judges of the Constitutional Tribunal this term, the composition of the Tribunal was increased to 15 people, with two judges: Święczkowski and Sochański suspended from their duties. Moreover, it is argued that Jarosław Wyrembak does not have the status of a Constitutional Tribunal judge, because he took up the function in place of a person "faultily" elected to the Constitutional Tribunal - journalistically referred to as a "double judge".
Protests, consultations, investigations - the dramatic behind-the-scenes of the crisis
The last few days have been filled with heated events. President Karol Nawrocki interrupted his trip to Senegal and returned to the capital, where he met the president of the Supreme Court, and then appeared in front of the Tribunal's headquarters, where a crowd of protesters had gathered.
In a special speech, Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasized that the new panels of Constitutional Tribunal judges were legally elected, but they are prevented from performing their functions. He recalled that, according to the ECtHR's ruling, the authorities' actions aimed at blocking new judges are inconsistent with European standards.
In turn, the Chancellery of the President clearly assessed the situation as a "brutal violation of the law."
