The Tribunal is for citizens, not for usurpers who try to introduce politics into law, not for those who issue judgments on political orders, but for independent, impartial judges - emphasized Waldemar Żurek in a recording posted on the X platform on Wednesday evening.
Heat before the Constitutional Tribunal
Last Friday evening, representatives of the group elected as Constitutional Tribunal judges in this term of the Sejm provided information that Anna Korwin-Piotrowska - as the oldest judge - had become the head of the Constitutional Tribunal and issued an order to suspend the activities of the President of the Constitutional Tribunal, Bogdan Święczkowski, and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański.
The protest in front of the Constitutional Tribunal's headquarters then intensified. President Karol Nawrocki then interrupted his trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw late on Friday evening and met, among others, with the First President of the Supreme Court, Zbigniew Kapiński, and then came to the seat of the Constitutional Tribunal. On Saturday morning, the president issued a statement saying, among other things, that "there was a violation of the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland and a forcible takeover of a constitutional organ of the state."
Żurek: The Tribunal is not a stadium
Minister Żurek referred to these events in Wednesday's recording, saying that "in recent days we have seen shocking scenes." The President of the Republic of Poland, who is supposed to be, according to the constitution, the guardian of this constitution, brutally broke into the Constitutional Tribunal building and brutally and rudely pushed away the Constitutional Tribunal judges standing there, said Żurek.
The judges wanted to talk to the president, but the president used the hooligan method. But the office of the President of the Republic of Poland is not a fan act, and the Constitutional Tribunal is not a stadium, Żurek emphasized.
As he noted, "the law of the Republic of Poland will not be determined by pincers, gate-cutting machines, night attacks on the gate, or physical fights with referees." This is unacceptable. The Tribunal is a separate judicial authority, independent of other authorities. The president does not understand the principle of separation of powers. His actions show the methods by which he exercises his office today. Not by conversation methods, not by conciliation methods, but by brute force. This is unacceptable, said the head of the Ministry of Justice.
"Mr. Święczkowski must appear before an independent court"
On Tuesday, Żurek informed that a total of six applications to waive Święczkowski's immunity and one to waive Sochański's immunity had already been submitted to the Constitutional Tribunal. The requests to waive Święczkowski's immunity concern, among others, the Pegasus and Hermes systems, preventing Constitutional Tribunal judges from performing their functions and delegating prosecutors contrary to the regulations while Święczkowski was the national prosecutor.
We will not give up on restoring the rule of law. Citizens have the right to an independent, impartial constitutional court, and Mr. Święczkowski must appear before an independent court. He cannot decide about himself. It is the other judges of the Constitutional Tribunal, at a legal meeting, who should decide whether he should continue to hide behind immunity or whether he should appear before an independent court, Żurek said.
A constitution for the president
Żurek, addressing the president in the recording, emphasized that he was to ensure that the constitution and its observance were observed.
Therefore, I will submit to the president's office a copy of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland with four provisions marked: Art. 10 on the separation of powers, art. 126 on the limits of your competences, art. 173 on the independence of courts and tribunals from your office and Art. 194, which clearly states that judges of the Constitutional Tribunal are elected by the Sejm, the minister said.
Nawrocki: Tusk bears full responsibility
The topic of judicial power and recent events related to the Constitutional Tribunal was emphasized by President Nawrocki during Tuesday's meeting of the National Security Council, the main topic of which was the permanent US base in Poland.
However, the actions of the government, headed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, last Friday mean that we are meeting today in unprecedented circumstances, in a situation of a serious constitutional crisis, which we cannot ignore today, said Nawrocki, opening Tuesday's Council meeting.
At the same time, the president assessed that "full responsibility for this entire situation, for every policeman at the Tribunal, for all illegal actions such as suspension of judges, illegal orders, entry to the Tribunal from the Prime Minister's office, rests with one man (...) Prime Minister Donald Tusk."
