2023–2025: a Sejm resolution, unpublished judgments and a shrinking bench

Level of detail: Basics4 min read

What happened in 2023–2025

After the 15 October 2023 election, Donald Tusk formed a government of the Civic Coalition (KO), the Polish People's Party (PSL), Polska 2050 and The Left (Lewica). The new majority considered that the Constitutional Tribunal, which reviews laws against the Constitution, was not working properly. The Tribunal's leadership and President Andrzej Duda disagreed.

The Sejm resolution of 6 March 2024

The Sejm, the lower house, elects the Tribunal's judges. On 6 March 2024 it adopted a resolution stating that Mariusz Muszyński, Justyn Piskorski and Jarosław Wyrembak are not judges. They were elected in 2015–2018 to seats the Tribunal itself had held filled in December 2015. It also questioned Julia Przyłębska's presidency and urged the judges to resign.

The Sejm cited, among others, European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings (Xero Flor, 2021; M.L., 2023) that benches with these persons were not a "tribunal established by law" or fell short of the rule of law. The European Commission described the non-binding resolution as urging public bodies to stop cooperating with the Tribunal. On 28 May 2024 the Tribunal ruled it unconstitutional (U 5/24).

Unpublished judgments

Judgments are published in the official Journal of Laws; the Constitution requires this without delay. Since March 2024 Donald Tusk's government has refused to publish them. In resolution no. 162 (December 2024) the Council of Ministers, citing the Sejm resolution and European court rulings, stated that documents of an "unauthorised body" may not be published. The Tribunal maintains that non-publication releases no one from applying its judgments.

New laws

In July 2024 the Sejm passed two laws that would, among other things, have introduced election of judges by a three-fifths majority and a cooling-off period for politicians, ended the Tribunal President's term and voided rulings issued with the three persons the Sejm does not recognise as judges. President Duda referred them to the Tribunal before signing. On 29 July 2025 an eleven-member bench including Piskorski and Wyrembak (Kp 3/24) held the key provisions unconstitutional. According to the Tribunal, the President had to refuse to sign; the laws never took effect.

Money and empty seats

The 2025 budget allotted 0 zł for serving judges' salaries; staff and retired judges are still paid. Six people left in 2024–2025 and no one was elected: the coalition nominated no one, and according to the Sejm Chancellery opposition candidates failed to win support. Justice Minister Adam Bodnar said filling the vacancies would lend credibility to the Tribunal's questionable functioning.

When Krystyna Pawłowicz retired on 5 December 2025, fewer than the 11 judges needed for a full bench remained. On 1 January 2026 the Tribunal had nine members: seven judges and two persons elected in 2017–2018 to seats held filled in K 34/15, whom the Sejm does not recognise as judges.

Leadership and criminal matters

In late November 2024 Julia Przyłębska stepped down from leading the Tribunal; the Sejm and the government considered that her term as President had ended in 2022. On 9 December 2024 President Duda appointed Bogdan Święczkowski, one of two General Assembly candidates and a former National Prosecutor under PiS, to lead it.

In February 2025 Święczkowski filed a complaint against the Prime Minister and ministers, calling their actions a "zamach stanu" ("coup d'état"). On 11 February Minister Bodnar suspended Deputy Prosecutor General Michał Ostrowski, who was examining it, alleging unregistered proceedings. Its outcome is unknown. In September 2025 Waldemar Żurek, Bodnar's successor since July as Justice Minister and Prosecutor General, sought consent to prosecute Święczkowski over a 2020–2021 order to analyse surveillance material. On 15 October 2025 the General Assembly refused. No court has ruled on these allegations.

New President; CJEU judgment

Karol Nawrocki, an independent backed by PiS, won the 2025 presidential election and took office on 6 August. On 18 December 2025 the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) held that, owing to the election of three judges in December 2015 and of its President in December 2016, the Tribunal is not an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. The Tribunal replied that the CJEU lacks jurisdiction over it.

Why it matters

In 2024–2025 the government and the Tribunal disagreed on whether its judgments must be applied. Without a full bench, cases such as laws the President refers before signing cannot be heard.

Level of detail: For followers11 min read

Political context

After the Sejm election of 15 October 2023, Donald Tusk's third government, a coalition of KO, PSL, Polska 2050 and Lewica, took office on 13 December 2023.¹ Adam Bodnar was Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General until 24 July 2025, when Waldemar Żurek succeeded him.² Andrzej Duda was President of the Republic until Karol Nawrocki took office on 6 August 2025.^3,4

The Sejm resolution of 6 March 2024

On 6 March 2024 the 10th-term Sejm adopted a resolution on removing the effects of the 2015–2023 constitutional crisis regarding the Tribunal (print no. 226). The vote was 240 for, 197 against, no abstentions, with 22 not voting.⁵ Signed by Marshal Szymon Hołownia, it was published on 11 March 2024 (M.P. 2024 item 198).⁶

The Sejm stated that ten Sejm resolutions of 2015–2018 had been adopted in gross violation of the law and have no legal force. They concern the elections of Bronisław Sitek and Andrzej Sokala (8 October 2015), of Mariusz Muszyński, Henryk Cioch and Lech Morawski (2 December 2015), of Justyn Piskorski (2017) and Jarosław Wyrembak (2018), and three resolutions of 25 November 2015 on the election of Roman Hauser, Andrzej Jakubecki and Krzysztof Ślebzak.⁶

The Sejm stated that Muszyński, Piskorski and Wyrembak are not judges of the Tribunal and that their participation taints many rulings.⁶ On Julia Przyłębska, it wrote that she had led the Tribunal since 21 December 2016 without the required resolution of the General Assembly of the Tribunal's judges, and that even if her appointment were accepted, her six-year term as President expired on 21 December 2022.⁶ The Sejm found the Tribunal unable to perform its tasks under Articles 188 and 189 of the Constitution, called for new judges to be elected with the opposition's participation, and appealed to the judges to resign.⁶

The Sejm relied, among others, on K 34/15 (3 December 2015), in which the Tribunal held the basis for electing three judges on 8 October 2015 constitutional and for the two December seats unconstitutional, and held that the President must take an elected judge's oath without delay.^6,7 It also cited M.L. v. Poland (ECtHR, 14 December 2023), which found that K 1/20, given with Muszyński, Piskorski and Wyrembak sitting, fell short of rule-of-law requirements and that the latter two were elected to seats of judges chosen in the same defective procedure.^6,8

Maciej Berek, chair of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers (the cabinet), said that from the date of the resolution state bodies should in practice disregard the Tribunal's rulings.⁹ PiS (Law and Justice) leader Jarosław Kaczyński said the resolution had no legal effect.⁹ The European Commission wrote in its July 2024 report that the resolution is not legally binding and calls on public bodies to stop cooperating with the Tribunal.¹⁰

Judgment U 5/24

On 28 May 2024 the Tribunal, on an application by a group of MPs, unanimously (the bench is not established in the notes) held the resolution incompatible with Article 7 read with Article 87(1), and with Article 10 read with Articles 173 and 190(1) of the Constitution; the remainder of the case was discontinued.¹¹ According to OKO.press, the Tribunal stated that relying on the resolution may give rise to constitutional, criminal or disciplinary liability; the Prosecutor General took no position.¹²

The 2024 Tribunal bills

On 6 March 2024 MPs tabled two bills: a Constitutional Tribunal Act (print no. 253) and an implementing Act (print no. 254).^13,14 On 24 July 2024 the Sejm passed them by 242 to 202 and 242 to 200.^13,14,15 After Senate amendments the Sejm finalised them on 13 September 2024 – hence "the Acts of 13 September 2024".^13,14

According to TVN24, the implementing Act repealed three 2016 statutes and declared rulings issued with "persons not authorised to adjudicate" void.¹⁵ The European Commission also listed ending the Tribunal President's term, annulling the appointment of three judges to occupied seats, electing judges by a three-fifths majority, a four-year cooling-off period for politicians and a month for the other judges to retire.¹⁰ According to Notes from Poland, nearly 100 rulings would be affected, and an oath not taken by the President within 14 days could be taken before a notary.¹⁶

The President's referral and judgment Kp 3/24

On 7 October 2024 President Andrzej Duda referred both Acts to the Tribunal for preventive (pre-signature) review.^13,14 According to Notes from Poland, he said the Acts contained elements incompatible with the Constitution, and his Chancellery warned of systemic chaos.¹⁶

On 29 July 2025 the Tribunal delivered judgment Kp 3/24 as a full bench of eleven presided over by Bogdan Święczkowski (rapporteur Bartłomiej Sochański); Jakub Stelina, Wojciech Sych and Andrzej Zielonacki dissented.¹⁷

The Tribunal held unconstitutional, among others, the provisions on a "person not authorised to adjudicate", the early termination of the Tribunal President's function, the oath deadlines, and the role of retired judges in disciplinary proceedings.¹⁷ It ruled that some of these are inseparable from the Acts as a whole; according to the Tribunal's press release, the President was obliged to refuse to sign both Acts.^17,18 The bench included Piskorski and Wyrembak, elected to seats held filled in K 34/15; the resolution of 6 March 2024 does not recognise them as judges, and the Tribunal held it unconstitutional (U 5/24).^17,6,11

Non-publication and Council of Ministers resolution no. 162

Under Article 190(2) of the Constitution, the Tribunal's rulings must be published without delay in an official journal, such as the Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw).¹⁹ According to the European Commission, from 13 December 2023 the government published the Tribunal's judgments with an explanation where an irregular bench had issued them, and after the resolution of 6 March 2024 stopped publishing any.¹⁰

On 18 December 2024 the Council of Ministers adopted resolution no. 162 on counteracting the negative effects of the constitutional crisis in the judiciary (M.P. 2024 item 1068).²⁰ Citing the Sejm resolution and ECtHR (including Xero Flor, M.L., Wałęsa) and CJEU judgments, it states that the Tribunal in its current composition cannot perform its tasks under Articles 188–189 of the Constitution and that "it is not permissible to publish documents issued by an unauthorised body".²⁰ For acts of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) and the Supreme Court, by contrast, it recommends publication with an annotation.²⁰

The European Commission noted in 2025 that the Sejm and the government had also stopped taking part in proceedings before the Tribunal.²¹

The Tribunal maintains that non-publication does not release anyone from the duty to apply its judgments.¹² Its President, Święczkowski, asked prosecutors and a deputy disciplinary officer to bring proceedings against judges who refuse to apply the Tribunal's rulings.²¹ The Venice Commission, according to Deputy Minister D. Mazur's account, stated in December 2024 that the judgments should be published, possibly with an annotation.²²

Budgets for 2025 and 2026

On 6 December 2024 the Sejm passed the 2025 budget; the Tribunal had requested 63.4 million zł, which was cut by 10.8 million zł, with 0 zł entered for the salaries of serving judges.²³

In its draft for 2026 the Tribunal entered about 3.685 million zł for salary arrears with interest, citing Article 16 of the Status Act and judgment K 2/25 of 6 May 2025.²⁴ The Sejm left the item in place; the Senate budget committee recommended cutting it.²⁴

Six vacancies and the decision not to fill them

Six people left the Tribunal in 2024–2025:^25,26,27

When the November 2024 deadline for the first three seats passed, no one, PiS included, had nominated candidates, according to Rzeczpospolita.³⁰ Marek Ast (PiS) explained that candidates would stand no chance because "we do not have a majority in the Sejm".³⁰ The coalition announced it would nominate no one; Minister Bodnar said filling the vacancies would legitimise the Tribunal's questionable functioning.^28,31 According to the Sejm Chancellery (April 2026), opposition MPs had nominated Marek Ast and Artur Kotowski, who failed to win support.³²

Membership fell from 15 to 12 in December 2024, to 11 in April 2025, and to 10 on 5 December and 9 on 20 December 2025.^25,17,27 As the Organisation Act requires at least 11 judges for a full bench, none could be formed from 5 December 2025.^33,34

Change of leadership

At the end of November 2024 Julia Przyłębska stepped down from leading the Tribunal; according to Notes from Poland, the Tribunal confirmed this on 2 December.²⁸ The Ministry of Justice maintained that the government did not recognise her legitimacy, as she took office without a General Assembly resolution and her term expired in 2022.²⁸ In 2022–2023 six Tribunal judges, including Święczkowski, had also held that her term ended in December 2022; Przyłębska said it ran until 9 December 2024.^35,36

On 6 December 2024 the General Assembly, with 13 participants, presented two candidates to the President of the Republic: Bartłomiej Sochański and Bogdan Święczkowski.^37,38 According to Gazeta Wyborcza (via OKO.press), Sochański received six votes and Święczkowski four.³⁸ On 9 December 2024 President Duda appointed Święczkowski – a former National Prosecutor (deputy to the Prosecutor General) and a Tribunal judge since 2022 – as President of the Tribunal.^31,38,21 Sochański became Vice-President in February 2025.^21,25

The "zamach stanu" complaint and the immunity request

According to Notes from Poland, around 5 February 2025 Święczkowski filed a complaint with Deputy Prosecutor General Michał Ostrowski, alleging that Prime Minister Tusk, Minister Bodnar and others were acting as an organised criminal group seeking to change the constitutional order; he described this as a "zamach stanu" ("coup d'état").³⁹ On 11 February 2025 Minister Bodnar suspended Ostrowski and opened disciplinary proceedings against him, alleging that he had run proceedings without registering them.³⁹ The notes establish neither what became of the complaint nor any court ruling on it.³⁹

On 30 September 2025 Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek asked the Tribunal for consent to prosecute Święczkowski over an allegation that he exceeded his powers as National Prosecutor in 2020–2021, in a matter concerning surveillance material.⁴⁰ On 15 October 2025 the General Assembly, chaired by Vice-President Sochański, refused consent; Święczkowski did not vote and the result was not disclosed.⁴¹ Święczkowski called the request a political spectacle showing ignorance of the law. No court has ruled on these allegations.⁴¹

The 2025 presidential election

In the runoff on 1 June 2025, Karol Nawrocki, an independent backed by PiS, won 50.89% against 49.11% for KO's candidate Trzaskowski.⁴ He took office on 6 August 2025.³

Other constitutionally significant rulings

• U 4/24 (10 September 2024) and U 2/24 (6 November 2024) – resolutions setting up two Sejm investigative committees held unconstitutional.²¹
• K 2/24 (16 October 2024) – dismissals of court presidents without a binding KRS opinion held unconstitutional.²¹
• U 4/25 (12 November 2025) – Justice Minister's regulation on case allocation; judgment unpublished.⁴²

European steps in brief

On 29 May 2024 the European Commission closed the Article 7(1) TEU procedure against Poland.^43,44 On 6–7 December 2024 the Venice Commission adopted opinion CDL-AD(2024)035 on the reform drafts.⁴⁵ On 18 December 2025 the Court of Justice of the EU held in C-448/23 that the Tribunal is not an independent and impartial tribunal established by law, citing the appointment of three judges in December 2015 and of its President in December 2016.⁴⁶

The position on 1 January 2026

Nine people who had taken the oath before the President sat on the Tribunal: Święczkowski (President), Sochański (Vice-President), Piotrowicz, Piskorski, Stelina, Sych, Wojciechowski, Wyrembak and Zielonacki; six seats were vacant.^47,34 Two of them, Piskorski and Wyrembak, were elected in 2017–2018 to seats held filled in K 34/15; the Sejm resolution of 6 March 2024 treats them as not being judges.^48,6 On 13 March 2026 the Sejm elected six people – see the article on 2026.⁴⁷

Who claims what

Level of detail: Expert28 min read

Scope and applicable law

This text covers the period from the election of 15 October 2023 to the Sejm (the lower and main chamber of Poland's parliament, which elects the Tribunal's judges) to 31 December 2025; the position on 1 January 2026 is described at the end.¹ Throughout, the Act of 30 November 2016 on the Organisation of the Constitutional Tribunal and the Procedure before It (the Organisation Act; consolidated text Dz.U. 2019 item 2393) and the Act of 30 November 2016 on the Status of Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal (the Status Act; consolidated text Dz.U. 2018 item 1422) were in force; the Acts of 13 September 2024 never entered into force.^2,3,4 Dz.U. is the Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw), Poland's official journal for legislation; M.P. is Monitor Polski, the official gazette.⁵

Key provisions of the Constitution of 2 April 1997: Article 190(1) (judgments universally binding and final), 190(2) (to be published without delay), 190(3) (loss of force on publication or on a date set by the Tribunal), 122(3)–(4) (preventive review and the duty to refuse signature), 194(1)–(2) and 144(3)(21) (election of judges by the Sejm; appointment of the Tribunal's President and Vice-President by the President of the Republic).^5,4

1. The Sejm resolution of 6 March 2024 (M.P. 2024 item 198)

Votes

At the 7th sitting of the 10th-term Sejm on 6 March 2024, a motion to reject the draft at first reading failed 195 to 244 (vote no. 5), a motion to proceed immediately to second reading passed 245 to 195 (no. 6), and a motion to reject it outright failed 197 to 239 (no. 7).⁶ In vote no. 8, at 17:59:02, the resolution passed by a simple majority: 240 for, 197 against, 0 abstentions, 22 not voting (437 MPs voted).⁶ According to Gazeta Prawna, Minister Adam Bodnar presented the draft together with representatives of the coalition's parliamentary clubs; the debate is recorded in the sitting's transcript.^7,8

Content

The preamble states the aim of bringing the Tribunal's functioning back into line with Articles 7 and 194(1) of the Constitution and Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and cites Tribunal judgments K 34/15 (3 December 2015) and K 35/15 (9 December 2015) and the European Court of Human Rights judgments Xero Flor (7 May 2021) and M.L. v. Poland (14 December 2023).⁹

In points 1–10 the Sejm states that the following were adopted in gross violation of the law and have no legal force: (1–2) the resolutions of 8 October 2015 electing Bronisław Sitek and Andrzej Sokala; (3–5) the resolutions of 25 November 2015 declaring the election of Roman Hauser, Andrzej Jakubecki and Krzysztof Ślebzak to have no legal force; (6–8) the resolutions of 2 December 2015 electing Mariusz Muszyński, Henryk Cioch and Lech Morawski; (9) the resolution of 15 September 2017 electing Justyn Piskorski; (10) the resolution of 26 January 2018 electing Jarosław Wyrembak.⁹

The Sejm states that Muszyński, Piskorski and Wyrembak are not judges of the Tribunal, that Cioch and Morawski previously took part in adjudication, that many rulings are flawed because of the participation of these persons, and that motions to exclude them were consistently dismissed.⁹

On the presidency, the Sejm states that Julia Przyłębska has led the Tribunal since 21 December 2016 on the President's entrustment, that she was appointed without the required resolution of the General Assembly of the Tribunal's judges, that even if the appointment were accepted the six-year term of the Tribunal's President under the 2016 Act expired on 21 December 2022, and that her procedural decisions, in particular the assignment of benches, may be challenged.⁹

The resolution refers to letters from seven Tribunal judges of 28 June and 5 December 2018 about manipulation of benches, and to the proceedings the European Commission opened on 15 February 2023 under Article 19 TEU.⁹ The Sejm finds that the violations prevent the Tribunal from performing its tasks under Articles 188 and 189 of the Constitution, calls for the Tribunal to be "re-created" with the opposition's participation and with elections spread over time, states that bodies applying flawed rulings may breach Article 7, and appeals to the Tribunal's judges to resign.⁹

Positions and the European Commission's assessment

Maciej Berek, chair of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers (the cabinet), said that from the date of the resolution state bodies should in practice disregard the Tribunal's rulings, that judges' terms could later be ended by constitutional amendment, and that the government would consider publication with an annotation or another approach.¹⁰ According to OKO.press, a government source said the resolution served mainly as a basis for the RCL's actions.¹⁰ Jarosław Kaczyński (PiS) said the resolution had no legal effect and called it a "comedy" (komedia).¹⁰

The European Commission, in its Rule of Law Report of 24 July 2024 (SWD(2024) 821, Poland chapter, p. 10, fn. 49), wrote that the resolution is not legally binding and calls on public authorities to stop cooperating with the Tribunal.¹¹

Judgment U 5/24 of 28 May 2024

On an application by a group of MPs, represented according to OKO.press by PiS MP K. Szczucki, the Tribunal unanimously held the resolution incompatible with Article 7 read with Article 87(1), and with Article 10 read with Articles 173 and 190(1) of the Constitution.^12,13 The remainder – including a complaint about the adoption procedure linked to the mandates of MPs Wąsik and Kamiński – was discontinued.¹² Stanisław Piotrowicz read out the judgment; the Marshal of the Sejm (its presiding officer) had asked for discontinuance and the Prosecutor General (an office held by the Minister of Justice) took no position.¹³ The European Commission confirms the date.¹¹

2. The Acts of 13 September 2024 and the draft constitutional amendment

Legislative history

The European Commission writes that the government submitted the drafts on 6 March 2024, whereas Sejm records show bills tabled by MPs; formally they were MPs' bills.^11,14 The Senate resolution is dated 1 August 2024 in the prints (delivered 2 August), but 31 July 2024 in the legislative-process data.¹⁶

Content

According to TVN24, the Acts extended the powers of the General Assembly, the range of bodies that may nominate candidates and the constitutional complaint; provided for disciplinary panels of serving and retired judges; repealed three 2016 statutes; and transferred the President's duties to the longest-serving judge; an amendment by Lewica allowing election by simple majority after two months without a three-fifths majority was rejected.¹⁸ The European Commission lists: annulling rulings issued by irregular benches, ending the term of the Tribunal's President, annulling the appointment of three judges to occupied seats, giving the other judges a month to retire, election by a three-fifths majority, and a four-year ban for persons who held political office.¹¹ According to Notes from Poland, nearly 100 rulings would have been affected, and the President would have had 14 days to swear in a judge, after which the oath could be taken before a notary.¹⁹

The draft constitutional amendment and the Venice Commission

The draft constitutional amendment was an initiative of coalition senators tabled in early March 2024; Senator Krzysztof Kwiatkowski announced the Senate's work on 2 May 2024, and the draft provided for decentralised constitutional review by the courts, a four-year cooling-off period for politicians and a three-year term for the Tribunal's President.²⁰ On 24 July 2024 it was still before the Senate, after a public hearing in early July.¹⁸ The European Commission described it as preventing mass elections of judges during a single Sejm term.¹¹

On 3 September 2024 Minister Bodnar asked the Venice Commission (the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional law) for an opinion on the draft constitutional amendment and both bills.^21,22,23 Opinion CDL-AD(2024)035 was adopted at the 141st plenary session on 6–7 December 2024; the researchers did not read its text.²⁴ According to Deputy Minister D. Mazur's account to PAP, the Commission opposed ending the terms of all sitting judges, accepted that the terms of persons elected to occupied seats could be ended by statute, recommended publishing judgments with an annotation, and considered a constitutional amendment politically unlikely.²⁵ The European Commission writes that the Venice Commission supported the aim but recommended milder measures than annulling all rulings involving irregularly appointed judges.²⁶

3. Judgment Kp 3/24 of 29 July 2025

Procedure and bench

The Tribunal joined the President's applications under Article 122(3) of the Constitution under the single case number Kp 3/24; hearings were held on 2 April and 29 July 2025 and the judgment was adopted by majority.⁴ Bench: Bogdan Święczkowski (presiding), Bartłomiej Sochański (rapporteur), Krystyna Pawłowicz, Stanisław Piotrowicz, Justyn Piskorski, Jakub Stelina, Wojciech Sych, Michał Warciński, Rafał Wojciechowski, Jarosław Wyrembak and Andrzej Zielonacki – eleven persons, a full bench.⁴ Stelina, Sych and Zielonacki dissented; the dissents were not examined.⁴

Operative part

• I. Tribunal Act: Art. 7(2)(10) read with Art. 54(1)–(2) – incompatible with Art. 2 read with Art. 188 and the principle of reliable and efficient public institutions, read with Art. 197 of the Constitution.⁴
• I. Art. 16(2) – incompatible with Art. 194(1) read with Art. 2, and with Art. 7; Art. 20(2)–(3) (oath deadline and procedure) – incompatible with Art. 7 read with Art. 126(2)–(3) and the principle of efficiency.⁴
• I. Arts. 34(1) and (4) and 35(2) read with (3) – incompatible with Arts. 194(1), 10 and 173 insofar as retired judges initiate and conduct disciplinary proceedings.⁴
• II. The provisions in points I.1 and I.4 are inseparable from the Act as a whole.⁴
• III. Implementing Act: Art. 10 – incompatible with Arts. 10, 173, 195(1), 190(1) and 7; Arts. 10, 11 and 12(2)–(3) – incompatible with Arts. 2 and 7; Arts. 10(1), 11(1), 12(2) and 15(2) – incompatible with Arts. 194(1) and 195(1) read with Art. 10 as regards the concept of a "person not authorised to adjudicate".⁴
• III. Art. 14(1) (early termination of the President's function) – incompatible with Arts. 7, 10, 173 and 194(2) read with Art. 144(3)(21); IV. inseparable from the Act as a whole; the remainder discontinued.⁴

Under Article 122(4) of the Constitution, the President refuses to sign a statute the Tribunal has found unconstitutional; the Tribunal's press release stated that the President was obliged to refuse to sign both Acts.^5,27 According to OKO.press, the Prosecutor General took no position, citing the Sejm resolution of 6 March 2024.²⁸ According to the same report, the Tribunal reasoned that treating the three persons as not authorised to adjudicate would shorten judges' terms and would require a constitutional amendment, and that voiding their rulings ex tunc would retroactively strip them of judicial status.²⁸

4. Publication of rulings

Sequence

According to the European Commission, from 13 December 2023 the government published the Tribunal's rulings with an explanation where they were issued by an irregular bench, and after the resolution of 6 March 2024 stopped publishing all of them (Rule of Law Report 2024, p. 10, fn. 48).¹¹ According to OKO.press, rulings involving persons elected to occupied seats had earlier carried an asterisk in Monitor Polski referring to ECtHR judgments.¹⁰ On 28 May 2024 OKO.press reported that since the resolution the Government Legislation Centre (Rządowe Centrum Legislacji, RCL), the office that had been publishing them, had published no Tribunal ruling; the RCL said that "legal analyses are ongoing".¹³

Council of Ministers resolution no. 162 of 18 December 2024 (M.P. 2024 item 1068)

• The preamble cites ECtHR judgments (Wałęsa – the 2023 pilot judgment, Reczkowicz, Dolińska-Ficek and Ozimek, Advance Pharma, Grzęda, Xero Flor, M.L.) and judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU: C-718/21 L.G. of 21 December 2023, C-326/23 of 7 November 2024).³¹
• § 1(1)–(2): on the basis of the Sejm resolution of 6 March 2024, the Tribunal in its current composition cannot perform its tasks under Articles 188–189 of the Constitution.³¹
• § 1(3)–(5): Article 7 of the Constitution also covers the publication of acts; only acts of an authorised body issued in the prescribed procedure may be published; further Tribunal decisions are not to be introduced into the legal system; publishing documents of an unauthorised body is not permissible.³¹
• § 2: the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), the body that proposes judicial appointments, as constituted since 2017 does not guarantee independence, and Supreme Court benches including judges appointed on its motion are not a court established by law; § 2(7) recommends a "non-confrontational" annotation for published acts of the KRS and the Supreme Court.³¹
• §§ 3–4: implementation entrusted to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice; in force on adoption.³¹

The European Commission's report of 8 July 2025 (SWD(2025) 921, pp. 7–8, fns. 27 and 35) states that since March 2024 the government has refused to publish the Tribunal's judgments in the Journal of Laws, as it does not regard the Tribunal as legitimate, and that the Sejm and the government stopped taking part in Tribunal proceedings.²⁶ Footnote 27 of that report dates the resolution "18 December 2022"; the annex and Monitor Polski give 18 December 2024.^26,31

Documented unpublished rulings

The European Commission lists U 4/24 (10 September 2024) and U 2/24 (6 November 2024) as unpublished, and in its 2026 report U 4/25 (12 November 2025).^26,32 The other rulings of 2024–2025 were not individually checked against the Journal of Laws or Monitor Polski in the research notes.³²

Positions of the Tribunal and other bodies

According to OKO.press, the Tribunal maintains that non-publication does not release anyone from the duty to apply its judgments and that relying on the resolution may give rise to constitutional, criminal or disciplinary liability.¹³ President Święczkowski asked prosecutors and a deputy disciplinary officer to bring proceedings against judges refusing to apply the Tribunal's judgments (Rule of Law Report 2025, fns. 33–34).²⁶ The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman, RPO) withdrew applications and participation in Tribunal cases, including by letters of 6 and 10 May, 10 June and 24 September 2024 and 30 October 2025; the letters' content was not examined.³³

5. Budget

According to OKO.press, in the 2025 Budget Act, passed by the Sejm on 6 December 2024, the Tribunal had requested 63.4 million zł (11% more than a year earlier) and the amount was cut by 10.8 million zł; 0 zł was entered for the salaries of serving judges, while staff and retired judges continued to receive payments.³⁸ Similar cuts affected the KRS (no members' allowances) and the Supreme Court (−25 million zł).³⁸ Headlines in TVP Info and money.pl state that President Duda signed the budget and referred some of its provisions to the Tribunal; the notes establish neither the date of his decision nor the case number.^39,40 TVP Info and Interia headlines concerned judges going unpaid, a statement by seven judges, and the Tribunal President's renewed demand to the Minister of Finance; the articles were not retrieved.^41,42

In its 2026 draft the Tribunal entered about 3.685 million zł for salary arrears with interest; in a letter to the Senate it said the Minister of Finance had granted no reserve funds in 2025, and cited Article 16 of the Status Act and judgment K 2/25 of 6 May 2025.⁴³ The Sejm left the item in place, and the Senate budget committee (chaired by K. Kleina) recommended cutting it; according to money.pl, President Nawrocki had not decided on the 2026 budget before December 2025.⁴³ The European Commission, by contrast, states that on 10 May 2025 the Tribunal held a cut to the KRS budget unconstitutional (K 2/25).²⁶

6. Vacancies and the size of the bench

Departures in 2024–2025

End of nine-year term: Mariusz Muszyński and Piotr Pszczółkowski (3 December 2024), Julia Przyłębska (9 December 2024), Zbigniew Jędrzejewski (28 April 2025) and Michał Warciński (20 December 2025); Krystyna Pawłowicz retired on 5 December 2025, before her term ended.^{44,45,46,47,48} The dates come mainly from a secondary source (en.wikipedia), confirmed for December 2024 by TVN24 and Notes from Poland and for December 2025 by OKO.press and TVP Info.^44,45,47,48

Nominations and the Sejm's decision

In November 2024 the nomination deadline (30 days before a term ends) passed; according to Rzeczpospolita no one, PiS included, nominated candidates, the Sejm's Information Centre said the procedure continued by operation of law, and Marshal Hołownia said that a veto of the Acts made it more likely that no successors would be elected.⁴⁹ The coalition announced it would not nominate anyone; Minister Bodnar said filling the vacancies would legitimise the Tribunal's questionable functioning.^46,50 The European Commission noted in July 2025 that the Sejm had stopped electing judges, considering that the Tribunal was not performing its constitutional functions, and that 11 judges sat on the Tribunal.²⁶

The Chancellery of the Sejm stated in April 2026 that at the end of 2024 three seats were vacant, that Marshal Hołownia had repeatedly set nomination deadlines (Art. 30(3)(5) of the Standing Orders of the Sejm), and that a group of opposition MPs had nominated Marek Ast and Artur Kotowski, who did not win support.⁵¹ In December 2025 a TVP Info headline reported that Marshal Włodzimierz Czarzasty planned a vote on two candidacies in January 2026; the article was not retrieved.⁵²

Membership on key dates

Article 37(2) of the Organisation Act provides that a full bench consists of at least eleven judges; the full bench hears, among other things, competence disputes and the President's applications under Article 122(3) of the Constitution (Article 37(1)(1)).² From 5 December 2025 that condition was not met; Polsat News and the Head of the President's Chancellery, Zbigniew Bogucki (April 2026), also referred to the minimum of 11 judges.^55,47

7. The Tribunal's leadership

The end of Julia Przyłębska's presidency

According to en.wikipedia, Przyłębska's presidency ran from 21 December 2016 to 29 November 2024.⁴⁴ According to TVN24, she signalled her resignation at the General Assembly on the Thursday before 2 December; Notes from Poland reported that Gazeta Wyborcza broke the news on the Friday, that the Tribunal confirmed it on 2 December, and that Przyłębska, as the longest-serving judge, oversaw the choice of her successor.^45,46 The Ministry of Justice maintained that she took office as President without the required General Assembly resolution and that her six-year term expired in December 2022.⁴⁶

The General Assembly of 6 December 2024 and the appointment

According to Interia, the General Assembly chose two candidates from four nominees – Sochański and Święczkowski; Przyłębska said the vote was secret and each participant had one vote.⁵⁴ According to Gazeta Wyborcza, as cited by OKO.press, 13 people took part, Sochański received six votes and Święczkowski four.⁵³ Under the Constitution, the President of the Republic appoints the Tribunal's President and Vice-President from candidates presented by the General Assembly (Art. 194(2)), as a prerogative not requiring countersignature (Art. 144(3)(21)).^5,4

Święczkowski's appointment was announced on 9 December 2024 (TVN24, OKO.press); the European Commission's 2025 report (p. 7, fn. 30) gives 7 December 2024 and notes that the Tribunal did not say whether judges elected to occupied seats took part in the General Assembly.^50,53,26 Święczkowski had been National Prosecutor (a deputy to the Prosecutor General) under the PiS government and was elected to the Tribunal by the Sejm of the 9th term in February 2022 with 233 votes.^50,44 Deputy Minister A. Myrcha said the Tribunal had long ceased to perform its role, and Minister Bodnar that filling vacancies would legitimise its questionable functioning.⁵⁰

The Vice-President

According to en.wikipedia, the vice-presidency was vacant from July 2023 (after Muszyński) and Sochański has been Vice-President since 21 February 2025; the European Commission confirms an appointment in February 2025.^44,26 Sochański appears as Vice-President in the Tribunal's press release on Kp 3/24 and chaired the General Assembly in October 2025.^27,56

8. The "zamach stanu" complaint (February 2025)

According to Notes from Poland, around 5 February 2025 the Tribunal's President filed a complaint with Deputy Prosecutor General Michał Ostrowski alleging that Prime Minister Tusk, Minister Bodnar and others were acting as an organised criminal group aiming to change the constitutional order, including by restricting the Tribunal, the KRS and the Supreme Court; he himself described this as a "zamach stanu" ("coup d'état").⁵⁷ Ostrowski questioned ten witnesses, including Mateusz Morawiecki and the First President of the Supreme Court, M. Manowska, without registering the proceedings.⁵⁷

According to the same source, on 11 February 2025 Minister Bodnar suspended Ostrowski (reportedly for six months) and opened disciplinary proceedings, alleging that he had opened proceedings without registering them and acted in the interest of a particular group of people; National Prosecutor Dariusz Korneluk demanded the files.⁵⁷ PiS politicians (Woś, Kaleta, Czarnek) said the prosecution service had become a tool of the Prime Minister and the minister.⁵⁷ PAP reported that a date had been set for questioning Święczkowski; the article was not retrieved.⁵⁸ The notes establish neither the legal classification nor the outcome of the complaint; no court ruling is recorded.⁵⁷

9. The request for consent to prosecute the Tribunal's President

Under Articles 20–23 of the Status Act, prosecuting a Tribunal judge requires the consent of the General Assembly; the request is filed with the Tribunal's President, and consent requires an absolute majority of the judges taking part in the vote, within one month.³

On 30 September 2025 Waldemar Żurek, Prosecutor General and Minister of Justice, requested such consent concerning Święczkowski; the request alleged that, as National Prosecutor in 2020–2021, he exceeded his powers by instructing prosecutor P. Wilkoszewski to analyse surveillance material on R. Giertych, including material covered by lawyer–client privilege, and to copy it to DVD; it relied on findings of the Pegasus investigation team.⁵⁹

On 15 October 2025 the General Assembly, chaired by Vice-President Sochański, refused consent; Święczkowski did not vote, a statement was issued on 16 October and the result of the vote was not disclosed.⁵⁶ According to Notes from Poland, Święczkowski described the request as a political spectacle showing ignorance of the law.⁵⁶ No court has ruled on these allegations.^56,59

10. The 2025 presidential election

In the first round on 18 May 2025, Trzaskowski (KO) won 31.4%, Karol Nawrocki (independent, backed by PiS) 29.5% and Mentzen (Konfederacja) 14.8%; in the runoff on 1 June Nawrocki won 10,606,877 votes (50.89%) to Trzaskowski's 10,237,286 (49.11%), on a turnout of 71.63%.⁶⁰ Nawrocki took office on 6 August 2025, taking the oath before the National Assembly (both chambers sitting jointly).⁶¹

The notes contain no documented, dated statements by Nawrocki on the Tribunal in 2025; his Chancellery's position was expressed on 1 April 2026 by Zbigniew Bogucki, who said the President had sworn in two of the six persons elected because two vacancies had arisen during his term (Pawłowicz and Warciński, December 2025).⁴⁷

11. Constitutionally significant Tribunal rulings, 2023–2025

The notes do not establish the benches, rapporteurs or dissents in U 5/24, U 4/24, U 2/24, K 2/24, K 10/24, K 2/25 or U 4/25.²⁶

12. The European dimension in brief

On 29 May 2024 the European Commission announced the closure of the Article 7(1) TEU procedure opened in December 2017, finding there was no longer a clear risk of a serious breach; on 22 May the member states had backed the step, with Hungary objecting.^62,63,64 The Rule of Law Reports of 24 July 2024 and 8 July 2025 describe non-publication and the vacancies; in an opinion of 11 March 2025 the CJEU's Advocate General supported the Commission's action in C-448/23.^11,26

On 18 December 2025 the CJEU (C-448/23 Commission v Poland, press release no. 157/25) upheld the action in full: Tribunal judgments of 14 July and 7 October 2021 breached the second subparagraph of Article 19(1) TEU and the principles of primacy, autonomy and effectiveness of EU law, and the appointment of three judges in December 2015 and of the Tribunal's President in December 2016 breached fundamental rules, so that the Tribunal is not an independent and impartial tribunal established by law.³⁴ According to the European Commission's 2026 report, the Tribunal responded that the CJEU lacks jurisdiction and that the judgment does not affect its functioning.³² Details are in the article on Europe and the Tribunal.

13. The position on 1 January 2026

According to Polsat News, from December 2025 six of the 15 seats were vacant, and the law requires at least 11 judges for a full bench.⁵⁵ The Sejm made no election in 2024–2025, so on that date there were no elected persons awaiting the oath.^26,49 The end-of-term dates come from a press report not verified on the Tribunal's website.²⁹

Disputed points

Open questions also remain as to whether a Sejm resolution can serve as a basis for not publishing judgments (the notes contain no European Commission assessment of that question; it described the resolution as not binding), and whether a judgment delivered by a bench including persons the Sejm disputes binds state bodies.^11,4,9

Evidentiary gaps

• Date of Święczkowski's appointment: 9 December 2024 (TVN24, OKO.press) versus 7 December 2024 (European Commission, Rule of Law Report 2025, fn. 30); 9 December is used as better documented; the text and Monitor Polski number of the President's decision were not established.^50,53,26
• A Bankier.pl headline says the Prime Minister was not publishing the decision appointing the new President of the Tribunal; the page was unavailable, so its content and date were not established.⚠ unverified⁷³
• K 2/25: money.pl (the Tribunal's letter) gives 6 May 2025 and Tribunal judges' salaries; the European Commission gives 10 May 2025 (a Saturday) and the KRS budget; both versions are given with attribution.^43,26
• The bills of 6 March 2024: the European Commission says the government submitted them; Sejm records show MPs' bills – the Sejm records are used.^11,14
• The European Commission's 2025 report (fn. 27) wrongly gives 2022 as the year of resolution no. 162; the correct date is 18 December 2024.^26,31
• OKO.press (1 April 2026) lists Piskorski instead of Pszczółkowski among the December 2024 vacancies; Piskorski sat in Kp 3/24, so Pszczółkowski is used.^47,4
• Nominations: Rzeczpospolita (November 2024) reports that no one nominated candidates; the Chancellery of the Sejm (2026) says the opposition nominated Ast and Kotowski, without a date; both versions are given with attribution.^49,51
• Pawłowicz: sources speak of a resignation (en.wikipedia) and of retirement (OKO.press, TVP Info); the legal basis was not established.^44,47,48
• The dates on which mandates expired come mainly from en.wikipedia; no official notices or Tribunal list of judges were available.⁴⁴
• End of Wojciech Sych's term: OKO.press gives 8 May 2028, while according to en.wikipedia (the note on 2018–2023) his term began on 8 April 2019, which with a nine-year term would give 8 April 2028; the discrepancy has not been resolved.^29,44
• Prawo.pl (May 2026) reported that in July 2025 the Tribunal held Article 37(2) of the Organisation Act unconstitutional in an unpublished ruling; the case number was not established.⚠ unverified⁷⁴
• Missing: the bench and rapporteur in U 5/24; the text of the President's applications of 7 October 2024; the reasoning in Kp 3/24 and the dissents; the print number of the constitutional amendment and Senate vote results.^12,4,20
• Missing: the date and case number of President Duda's application on the 2025 budget; the final 2026 amount for the Tribunal and President Nawrocki's decision.^39,43
• Missing: the legal classification and outcome of the "zamach stanu" complaint; the result of the General Assembly vote of 15 October 2025.^57,56
• Missing: the text of Venice Commission opinion CDL-AD(2024)035 (its conclusions are known only from reports); documented statements by Karol Nawrocki on the Tribunal in 2025.^24,25,47