Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska announced on Friday that Poland's Constitutional Tribunal has resumed work on 100 of its oldest cases and rejected a prosecutor's request to lift the immunity of suspended president Bogdan Święczkowski.
Korwin-Piotrowska, who has directed the tribunal since October 30 when Święczkowski was suspended, said the cases were filed between 2013 and 2021. In many of them, she said, no action had been taken for nearly seven years. She ordered reporting judges and panel chairs to indicate almost immediately what steps they would take to move the cases forward. She said the tribunal is verifying all adjudicating panels in these cases and will correct them according to the alphabetical list of judges. She guaranteed that all the cases will soon be placed on the tribunal's dockets.
She also said she had refused to accept one of six requests from Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek to lift Święczkowski's immunity, citing formal deficiencies. Żurek welcomed the decision in a statement to the Polish Press Agency, saying: "Finally we have an independent and objectively acting Constitutional Tribunal." He said investigators would check how quickly the documentation could be supplemented.
The announcement came as Święczkowski issued a new order stating that from November 16 employees must perform their duties outside the tribunal's headquarters. The order also states that documents and orders issued by Korwin-Piotrowska do not bind employees and have no legal effect. It names only five officials, including Święczkowski, Vice President Bartłomiej Sochański and Judge Stanisław Piotrowicz, as authorized to assign tasks. He called on police and the State Protection Service to leave the building, calling the current actions unlawful.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced at a cabinet meeting that he would publish a resolution by the tribunal's General Assembly of Judges changing its internal regulations. Tusk called the decision the "beginning of a new era". He expressed hope it would be a symbolic end to the years-long dispute over the tribunal.
Korwin-Piotrowska said all judges and staff have access to the tribunal and from Monday are obliged to come to work. The power struggle began on October 30. Judges elected by the current parliament announced that Korwin-Piotrowska, the most senior judge, had taken over leadership. They suspended Święczkowski and Vice President Bartłomiej Sochański. On November 10, a three-person panel of the Supreme Court's Professional Responsibility Chamber annulled two of Korwin-Piotrowska's October 30 orders.
Żurek's six requests against Święczkowski, which total 307 pages, concern allegations including unauthorized use of operational control materials in the Pegasus investigation. They also cover abuse of powers regarding the purchase of the Hermes system when Święczkowski headed the National Prosecutor's Office. Some requests also seek consent to detain and arrest him.
Professor Michał Romanowski assessed that the Supreme Court had no grounds to annul the order suspending Święczkowski.
