Resolution of the Supreme Court on the validity of the election of the President of the Republic of Poland published in the Journal of Laws. With annotation...

On Friday, the Journal of Laws published a resolution of the Supreme Court confirming the validity of the election of Karol Nawrocki as President of the Republic of Poland. A note was added to the resolution stating that the case law of European tribunals does not allow for the Supreme Court's composition in this case to be considered a "court established by law."

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court, in a panel of the entire Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs, confirmed the validity of the election of Karol Nawrocki as President of the Republic of Poland, made on 1 June this year. The resolution of the Chamber was adopted by all 18 judges. The content of the resolution and the justification of the decision were read by the president of this Chamber, Krzysztof Wiak. Three judges submitted separate opinions - two to the entire resolution, and one to the justification.

In his justification, President Wiak indicated that the large number of election protests filed – approximately 54,000 – did not increase the gravity of the allegations raised therein, and none of the established irregularities had an impact on the overall result of the elections.

The session was attended by the head of the National Electoral Commission, Sylwester Marciniak, as well as Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar and his deputy, prosecutor Jacek Bilewicz. At the beginning of the session, Bodnar requested that the issue of the validity of the elections be considered by the Supreme Court's Chamber of Labor and Social Security. In the justification for the motion, he indicated that the Chamber of Extraordinary Control "does not meet the requirements of independence and impartiality", and he also requested that the judges of that Chamber be excluded from the case.

Referring to the PG applications, President Wiak said that they had no basis in the applicable law and informed that they had been left without consideration.

According to the regulations introduced in 2018 during the PiS government, the Supreme Court’s Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs Chamber, established at that time, is responsible for considering election protests and determining the validity of elections. It is composed of persons appointed after 2017 to the office of judge at the request of the National Council of the Judiciary, established in accordance with the procedure specified in the provisions of the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary of 2017. For this reason, the status of this Chamber is being questioned by the current government, which cites, among others, the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU and the European Court of Human Rights. Before 2018, electoral issues were considered by the then Chamber of Labor, Insurance and Public Affairs.

On Friday evening, the Supreme Court resolution adopted on July 1 was published in the Journal of Laws.

The resolution - in its published form - was preceded by a note. "In accordance with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (...), as well as in accordance with the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (...), the National Council of the Judiciary established under the Act of 8 December 2017 (...) does not guarantee independence from the legislative and executive authorities, and irregularities in the process of appointing judges do not allow the Supreme Court - adjudicating in panels in which a person appointed to the office of a judge by the President of the Republic of Poland at the request of the National Council of the Judiciary established in the manner specified in the provisions of the Act of 8 December 2017 (...) - to be recognized as a court established under the Act" - reads the note.

On Tuesday, July 1, the Speaker of the Sejm, Szymon Hołownia, announced that he would convene the National Assembly on August 6 and take the presidential oath from Karol Nawrocki.

At the same time - also on Friday - an earlier resolution of the Supreme Court, adopted on 14 May this year by the entire Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs, was published in the Journal of Laws. It confirmed the validity of the Senate by-elections in constituency no. 33 in Kraków held on 16 March this year. This resolution in the Journal of Laws was also annotated in the same way as the resolution on the validity of Karol Nawrocki's election. (PAP)

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