Zawistowski was chosen on Thursday as chairman of the KRS, a constitutional body that plays a central role in recommending candidates for judicial appointments.
He was elected at the council’s first meeting in its new judicial composition, chosen by the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, in mid-May.
“You have placed considerable trust in me,” Zawistowski said after the vote. “I will try to properly perform the duties connected with the office of chairman. I will make every effort to ensure that the National Council of the Judiciary works as well as possible.”
Zawistowski sits in the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court. During a judicial career of more than 40 years, he has worked his way up from district court judge to president of the Supreme Court’s Civil Chamber, a post he held from 2016 to 2021.
He has also served on the KRS before. He was a member of the council from March 2014 to March 2018 and its chairman from November 2015 to January 2018. He resigned as chairman shortly before changes introduced by the then-ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) came into force, giving the Sejm the power to elect the council’s judicial members.
That change became one of the central issues in Poland’s long-running rule-of-law dispute. Critics said it weakened judicial independence by giving politicians greater influence over the body that helps shape the judiciary.
Zawistowski said on Thursday that the new council faced major challenges, including the large number of judicial vacancies.
“We must pay attention to judicial nomination procedures, because this is a pressing issue,” he said, adding that there were about 1,000 vacant judicial posts. He said those gaps were harming the performance of courts.
He also said the council would have to deal urgently with requests from judges seeking permission to continue adjudicating after reaching the age of 65.
The KRS also elected Judges Wojciech Buchajczuk and Aleksandra Wrzesińska-Nowacka as its deputy heads on Thursday, while Judge Jarosław Łuczaj was named the council’s spokesman.
The meeting was convened by Chief Justice Zbigniew Kapiński. At the start of the session, he said he hoped the council would work in a way that would prevent its resolutions from being challenged and would open “a new stage in the Polish judiciary.”
Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek said before the meeting that the government was “rebuilding the pillars of the rule of law in Poland.”
He listed the KRS, the Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Court among institutions that he said had been damaged under the previous government.
“For me, the most important thing is that competitions will begin and judicial posts will be filled by a properly elected National Council of the Judiciary,” Żurek said.
He said the first step would be to begin filling 50 vacancies, with several hundred more to follow. He added that the process should not be rushed because judicial appointments are effectively made until retirement.
Of the 15 judges elected to the KRS by the Sejm in May, 13 were indicated by parties in the governing coalition after earlier review by judicial assemblies and with support from some judges’ associations, including Iustitia and Themis.
One member, Łukasz Piebiak, was indicated by PiS, while another, Łukasz Zawadzki, was indicated by the Confederation party.
Zawistowski said he would present the results of Thursday’s meeting at a briefing on Friday. Further KRS meetings are planned for Monday and Tuesday.
Zawistowski received 18 votes in favor. Three members voted against him and two abstained.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP