Poland's parliament plans to swear in judges after president's delay, escalating constitutional standoff

Poland’s long-running rule-of-law crisis entered a dangerous new phase on Thursday after the government moved to swear in four Constitutional Tribunal judges before Parliament rather than the president, prompting President Karol Nawrocki’s office to warn that such a move would be invalid. [ . . . ] The government argues that the president has no constitutional right to choose which judges approved by Parliament can take office. Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek has accused Nawrocki of unlawfully blocking the appointments and said the government was considering “various options,” including an oath before Parliament, to make the appointments effective. Nawrocki last week accepted the oath of only two of the six judges chosen by the Sejm: Magdalena Bentkowska and Dariusz Szostek. His office said it was still analyzing whether the other four had been elected properly and argued that swearing in two judges was sufficient to allow the tribunal to function with a full bench. Bogucki said the remaining four appointments raised “serious doubts” about the parliamentary procedure used to elect them and warned that any attempt to bypass the president would amount to a constitutional violation.
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