The Constitutional Tribunal was established in Poland in 1982. The article presents an analysis of the qualifications of candidates and the procedure for selecting judges of this court. Judges are elected by the Sejm. Candidates are proposed by the Presidium of the Sejm or 50 deputies. Pursuant to the Constitution of 1997, judges must be distinguished by legal knowledge, which is an example of “legal empty words”. The current Act of 2016 on the status of judges of the Constitutional Tribunal provides that these judges should meet the same conditions as judges of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court. This means that a judge: 1) must have only Polish citizenship;2) may not be validly convicted of an intentional crime prosecuted by public indictment or convicted for committing an intentional fiscal crime or against whom a final judgment conditionally discontinuing criminal proceedings for committing an intentional crime prosecuted by public indictment or intentional fiscal crime has not been issued; 3) must be over 40 years old; 4) be of impeccable character; 5) must have completed higher studies in law in the Republic of Poland and have a master’s degree or a foreign law degree recognized in the Republic of Poland; 6) be distinguished by a high level of legal knowledge; 7) must be able, due to his health condition, to perform the duties of a judge; 8) have at least ten years of experience as a judge, prosecutor, President of the General Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Poland, its vice-president, counselor, or for at least ten years practiced the profession of an advocate, legal adviser or notary public in Poland; 9) could not in the years 1944–1990 serve, work or be a collaborator of the state security authorities. Disputes over the composition of the Constitutional Tribunal in 2015 initiated a constitutional crisis in Poland and led to the collapse of the authority of this body. In the ongoing discussion about the revival of its constitutional role, it includes, among others, proposals for changes in the manner of electing judges of the Constitutional Tribunal. First of all, it is proposed to extend the circle of entities proposing candidates, as well as to elect judges by a 3/5 majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of deputies.

Bibliography

Authored books

1. Chmaj M, Juchniewicz J, Komentarz do Konstytucji RP. Art. 120, 121, 122, 123, 124 (Warszawa 2022) (in Polish).

2. Garlicki L, Polskie prawo konstytucyjne. Zarys wykładu (wydanie 9, 2022) (in Polish).

Edited books

3. Garlicki L, ‘Uwaga 5 do art. 194’ w Garlicki L (red), Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Komentarz, t IV (2005) 4–5 (in Polish).

4. Garlicki L, ‘Uwaga 8 do art. 194’ w Garlicki L (red), Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Komentarz, t IV (2005) 10 (in Polish).

5. Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Komentarz (Tuleja P red, 2019) (in Polish).

6. Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, t II: Komentarz do art. 87–243 (Safjan M, Bosek L red, 2016) (in Polish).

Journal articles

7. Ławnikowicz G, Pilipiec S, ‘Nieskazitelność charakteru i nieposzlakowana opinia w prawie prawniczych samorządów zawodowych’ [2016] G (LXIII) Acta Univeritatus Mariae Curie-Skłodowska 235 (in Polish).

8. Rytel-Warzocha A, ‘Jak nie Trybunał Konstytucyjny to co? O rozproszonej kontroli konstytucyjności prawa w Polsce’ (2022) 3 Przegląd Prawa Konstytucyjnego 25–37.

9. Zoll A, ‘Sposób wyboru sędziów Trybunału Konstytucyjnego’ (2016) 1 Ruch Prawniczy, Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny 49 (in Polish).

Conference papers

10. Skotnicki K, ‘Ginč as dė l Lenkijos Konstitucinio Tribunolo sudė ties’ w Lietuvos ir Lenkijos konstitucines teises aktualios. Straipsnių rinkinys (Vilnias universitetas 2020) 105–14 (in Lithuanian).

11. Skotnicki K, Szmyt A, ‘Powoływanie sędziów sądu konstytucyjnego – przykład słowacki na tle polskim’ w Orosz L, Grabowska S, Majerčák T (red), Ústavné dni. Tretie funkčné obdobie Ústavného súdu Slovenskej republiky – VII. Ústavné dni, Zborník příspevkov, Kancelária Ústavného súdu Slovenskej republiky (Košice 2019) 122 (in Polish).

Websites

12. Radziewicz P, ‘Zasady i procedura wyboru sędziów polskiego Trybunału Konstytucyjnego’ <https://www.inpris.pl/wazne/omx-monitoring/omx-tk-poprzednie-wybory/procedurawyborusedziow-tk> (accessed: 13.04.2023) (in Polish).

13. Społeczny projekt ustawy o Trybunale Konstytucyjnym – geneza oraz zasadnicze kierunki projektowanych zmian (Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego, 2022) <https://www.batory.org. pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Spoleczny-projekt-ustawy-o-Trybunale-Konstytucyjnym. pdf> (accessed: 13.04.2023) (in Polish).