"Today is the beginning of the end of the neo-KRS. We call on the 15 unlawful judges-members to resign." Thus Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz, MP for the Civic Coalition.
The KRS - the National Council of the Judiciary - is a key body of the Polish Constitution whose purpose is to protect the independence of the judiciary but which was politicised in 2017 by a controversial Act of the outgoing ruling coalition, headed by Law and Justice.
Voluntary resignation would simplify the legal conundrums facing the attempts to restore constitutional rule of law.
Professor Marek Safjan, currently Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg and former President of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal has said that the "Neo-KRS" should be removed by a Resolution of the Polish Sejm and that the disputed members may then reapply for their positions in new recruitment processes.
Gasiuk-Pihowicz would seem to agree with Safjan, adding today that the 15 contested judges "are not protected by the constitution" since they were nominated "by means of its violation".
The solution of a parliamentary resolution would avoid the possibility of a presidential veto, but has been disputed. (President Andrzej Duda is a former members of Law and Justice (PiS) who resigned his party membership on becoming President.) Professor Adam Strzeborz, former President of Poland's Supreme Court, has said that, rather than a "mere" resolution, an Act would be required - an Act that President Duda might veto.
Strzeborz continued that if a bill failed to pass into law, the disputed judges could be removed in disciplinary proceedings. This would be to respect the principle suggested by Professor of Law Marcin Matczak: in restoring the constitutional rule of law not to violate the separation of powers by using the executive and legislature to reform the judiciary.
Sources: gazetaprawna.pl, oko.press, tvp.info, Rzeczpospolita
pt