Polish president swears in fifth judge in Constitutional Tribunal controversy

Last week, the tribunal ruled that the appointment of two out of five judges by Poland's erstwhile centrist coalition government in the lead up to the 25 October general election was unconstitutional, as their election was premature.

However, the replacement of all five, as pushed through by the newly elected Law and Justice party (four new judges have already been sworn in by President Andrzej Duda, himself formerly of Law and Justice), has likewise been slammed by the Civic Platform party, which was voted out in October.

President Duda swore in Judge Julia Przyłębska at 8:00 am on Wednesday morning. In so doing, he chose not to wait for the Constitutional Tribunal's own ruling on whether amendments voted through parliament by Law and Justice allowing for the reshuffle of judges broke the constitution.

The president, himself a doctor of law and an associate professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, southern Poland (he has been largely on unpaid leave since 2006), has faced criticism from his alma mater.

Members of the law faculty at the university wrote a letter to the president on 30 November, expressing “deep unease” that the head of state had signed amendments to the law concerning the Constitutional Tribunal.

Nevertheless, Małgorzata Sadurska, head of the presidential office, argued on Tuesday that “parliament, which was elected in democratic elections, expressed the opinion that the appointment of five judges in October had no legal backing.” (nh/rk)