The National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) selected on Tuesday, in two rounds of vote, 7 candidates to fill the seats in the Civic Chamber of the Supreme Court. The KRS will move on to examine the candidates for the Chamber of Extraordinary Supervision and Public Affairs.
During Tuesday's session, the KRS adopted a resolution to send a request to President Andrzej Duda to appoint seven judges of the Supreme Court's Civic Chamber, who would fill the seven vacant seats. The Council received 30 applications for the Civic Chamber.
The chief of the tellers Joanna Kołodziej-Michałowicz announced that the candidates who received the absolute majority of votes (11 out of 21) and thereby got the recommendation are: President of the Court of Appeals in Gdańsk Jacek Grela, judge from Warszawa-Praga District Court Beata Janiszewska, solicitor Marcin Krajewski, director of the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution and a judge from Warsaw Appeal Court Małgorzata Manowska, as well as another judge from Warsaw Appeal Court Tomasz Szanciło.
Due to the fact that the number of successful candidates was lower than the number of seats in the Civic Chamber, another vote had to be held. Three cadidates with the highest number of votes, but who didn't get the requires majority were taken into consideration: judge Joanna Misztal-Konecka, director of Administrative Law Department in the Ministry of Justice Asst Prof. Kamil Zaradkiewicz, as well as a councillor from The General Counsel to the Republic of Poland Office, Marcin Gocłowski.
In the second round of vote, the KRS gave its recommendation to Joanna Misztal-Konecka and Kamil Zaradkiewicz.
During the session, the longest discussion pertained the candidacy of Kamil Zaradkiewicz. Law and Justice MP Krystyna Pawłowicz disapproved of his application. Also present at the KRS session was the Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro who supported Zaradkiewicz.
As a member of the KRS, judge Jarosław Dudicz has told the journalists, still on Tuesday, the Council is expected to fill 20 seats in the Supreme Court's Chamber of Extraordinary Supervision and Public Affairs. The judges are also planning to hold a discussion regarding the European Network of Judiciary Council's (ENCJ) plan to suspend the Polish member. The ENCJ is expected to decide over Poland's membership on 17 September.
In the end of June, an announcement regarding 44 free seats in the Supreme Court was published by the President in "Monitor Polski" (Official Gazette of the Republic of Poland).
Last week, 4 teams of KRS judges interviewed nearly 200 candidates in order to fill 44 seats in the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the KRS convened to fill 16 seats in the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. The Council made a decision to send a request to President Andrzej Duda to appoint 12 judges. Four seats remain unfilled, as none of the remaining candidates received the minimum of required votes.
On Friday, after examining 5 applications, the KRS recommended a judge from Poznań District Court, Wojciech Sych for the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: The National Council of the Judiciary