Five Constitutional Tribunal judges reject claim of a competence dispute over their oath

On Friday, five members of the Constitutional Tribunal appointed by the Sejm released a joint declaration challenging the argument that a competence dispute between the President and the Sejm speaker prevents them from hearing cases. The judges—Maciej Berek, Marcin Dziurda, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, Krystian Markiewicz and Maciej Taborowski—pointed out that each took the constitutional oath exclusively before the President, as documented in notarized acts delivered to the President and shown on television.

They contend that the Sejm speaker does not claim any authority over the oath and that the President’s office misapplies article 86 of the Tribunal law, which only halts proceedings during a competence dispute, not the judges’ admission. Furthermore, they explain that the technical steps required to admit judges are not a distinct legal process. With five of the fifteen judges currently barred from participating, the dispute hampers the quorum needed for the Tribunal to resolve competence issues, which requires at least eleven judges.