The ruling, adopted on Tuesday, followed a request by the judges, who were elected by parliament on March 13 but have not been allowed to fully assume their roles.
In its decision, the Strasbourg-based court instructed Polish authorities to ensure that relevant bodies refrain from hindering the judges from taking up and exercising their duties, state news agency PAP reported.
The order effectively requires that four judges—Krystian Markiewicz, Maciej Taborowski, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska and Marcin Dziurda—be allowed to participate in the tribunal's work without delay.
The court also asked Poland to provide information on the judges' situation and urged the tribunal to comply promptly with legal obligations governing the status of its judges. It said the measure was intended to safeguard the tribunal’s proper functioning.
Six newly elected Constitutional Tribunal judges took their oaths in Poland’s parliament on April 9 in the absence of the president, intensifying a political and legal standoff over the top court. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
Poland's parliament elected six judges to the Constitutional Tribunal in March. President Karol Nawrocki has sworn in two of them, Magdalena Bentkowska and Dariusz Szostek.
The remaining four took their oaths before parliament on April 9 in the president's absence. However, Constitutional Tribunal head Bogdan Święczkowski has said they cannot take office because the ceremony did not constitute a valid oath.
Polish prosecutors on April 22 opened an investigation into whether presidential officials may have helped Nawrocki fail to fulfill his duty to receive the oaths by advising him that refusing to do so was lawful, according to Anna Adamiak, spokeswoman for the prosecutor-general.
The probe is also examining whether officials at the Constitutional Tribunal failed to carry out their responsibilities and violated the judges’ employment rights by not providing working conditions, pay or case assignments, Adamiak told reporters last month.
The investigation follows an April 13 order by Justice Minister and Prosecutor-General Waldemar Żurek and a complaint filed by Bentkowska and Szostek.
Żurek has said potential criminal liability should be examined in relation to staff at the president's office who advised Nawrocki not to receive the oaths, adding that the president and his aides may have failed to carry out their duties.
In December, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal had violated key principles of EU law by failing to respect the EU court's judgments and did not meet standards of independence due to irregularities in judicial appointments.
After that ruling, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it gave a "green light" to reform the tribunal after years of legal disputes.
In January, Żurek called for cross-party talks on restoring a tribunal that is lawful, independent and trusted.
Under Poland's constitution, tribunal judges are elected by parliament for nine-year terms.
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Source: IAR, PAP