NEWS

23/01/2020

19:06

Ministry of Justice: Supreme Court Resolution Issued in Gross Violation of Law, Invalid Ex Officio

Michał Olech

The resolution is invalid ex officio. It was issued in gross violation of the law. It violates Articles 179, 180(1), and 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Contrary to current statutory provisions, the Supreme Court adopted a resolution in proceedings concerning the challenge to the status of judges appointed with the participation of the current National Council of the Judiciary. These proceedings were suspended ex officio on January 22, 2020, upon the commencement of a competence dispute before the Constitutional Tribunal between the Supreme Court and the Sejm and the President of the Republic of Poland. No actions may be taken in this matter until a ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal. Therefore, the Supreme Court's resolution is invalid ex officio - the Ministry of Justice stated in a press release.
"In accordance with the Act on the Organization and Procedure before the Constitutional Tribunal, the commencement of a competence dispute causes the suspension ex officio of proceedings before the Supreme Court. All actions taken by the Court during the period of suspension are invalid. No actions may be taken in the matter until a ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal. A party to the dispute cannot assess on its own whether a dispute has arisen. The Constitution grants this authority solely to the Constitutional Tribunal. The essence of the dispute lies in the fact that no court may examine, let alone question, judicial appointments, or laws regulating the status of judges and the method of candidate selection. The Supreme Court, therefore, cannot encroach upon the competencies of the National Council of the Judiciary, the President of the Republic of Poland, or the Sejm, and by extension, even the Constitutional Tribunal, which has already dealt with the KRS matter and deemed the current wording of the law to be in accordance with the constitution. Proceedings before the Supreme Court should also have been suspended because a case concerning a provision of the Code of Civil Procedure, which this resolution pertains to (i.e., Article 379(4) of the Code of Civil Procedure), is being heard before the Constitutional Tribunal. The resolution of the three chambers of the Supreme Court, being unlawful, does not produce legal effects. The Supreme Court is not authorized to examine or assess whether the participation of a judge from an ordinary court, military court, or Supreme Court, appointed to the position of judge by the President of the Republic of Poland at the request of the KRS after 2018, leads to the invalidity of the proceedings. No authority, including a judicial one, can question the appointment and investiture of a judge. Furthermore, after the entry into force of the Act of December 20, 2019, guaranteeing constitutional order in the judiciary and improving the work of courts, the Supreme Court's resolution will become even more irrelevant. This is because the new law removes recently emerging doubts regarding the possibility of questioning the status of judges appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland. It establishes the inadmissibility of such actions, in accordance with the jurisprudence of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Constitutional Tribunal."

Michał Olech