Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk has appointed Dariusz Korneluk as the new national public prosecutor, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office has announced on Thursday.
The appointment is set against a tangled argument between the government and the President, Andrzej Duda, over who controls the National Prosecutor’s Office.
Adam Bodnar, the justice minister and prosecutor general, sacked Korneluk’s predecessor, Dariusz Barski, from the post on January 12. Bodnar argued Barski’s appointment by the former justice minister in the Law and Justice (PiS) government, Zbigniew Ziobro, was illegitimate.
The justice ministry explained that laws in force at the time of Barski’s appointment, in 2022, barred persons who had retired, such as Barski, from returning to active service.
Adam Bodnar, the justice minister and prosecutor general, sacked Korneluk’s predecessor, Dariusz Barski, from the post on January 12. Bodnar argued Barski’s appointment by the former justice minister in the Law and Justice (PiS) government, Zbigniew Ziobro, was illegitimate.
The justice ministry explained that laws in force at the time of Barski’s appointment, in 2022, barred persons who had retired, such as Barski, from returning to active service.
At the same time, Bodnar appointed Jacek Bilewicz as acting national public prosecutor.
Duda reacted to Bodnar’s decision to remove the national publicprosecutor from office, calling it a breach of law.
He met Tusk to discuss changes at the helm of the National Prosecutor’s Office, which he argued may only take place after consultation between the prime minister and the president, and require the president’s written consent. On January 15, Duda moved to file for a competence dispute between him, the prime minister and the prosecutor general with the Constitutional Tribunal (TK), the country’s top court.
The request was filed with the TK “in connection with an attempt to illegally remove” the national public prosecutor, the president’s office said.
Duda wrote in his request to the TK that the steps by the Polish government and the prime minister’s decision of January 12 were undertaken “in obvious violation of the provisions of competence and procedure, and ipso facto in violation of the constitution.”
On the same day, the TK, manned mainly by those loyal to the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government, blocked Barski’s removal from the national public prosecutor’s position and suspended the appointment of Bilewicz as acting national public prosecutor.
But Jan Grabiec, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, told the state-owned broadcaster TVP Info on Thursday, that Tusk had “appointed a new national public prosecutor today, Mr Dariusz Korneluk, because the duties entrusted to Prosecutor Bilewicz as the [PAP] national public prosecutor ended yesterday, and such an important institution as the National Prosecutor’s Office must function continuously.”
He added that the president did not express an opinion on the change in the position of the national public prosecutor, although he was obliged to do so by law.
“The President’s Office has informed us that the president does not intend to express an opinion, that he will wait for the decision of the [Constitutional Tribunal of Julia] Przyłębska on the alleged competence dispute regarding the invalidation of the appointment of the previous prosecutor by [former Justice Minister Zbigniew] Ziobro,” he said.
Grabiec argued that the president has no legal basis to question or refuse an opinion in such a situation.
“The act obliges the president to issue such an opinion immediately... but this opinion is not binding on the government,” he said.
Duda reacted to Bodnar’s decision to remove the national publicprosecutor from office, calling it a breach of law.
He met Tusk to discuss changes at the helm of the National Prosecutor’s Office, which he argued may only take place after consultation between the prime minister and the president, and require the president’s written consent. On January 15, Duda moved to file for a competence dispute between him, the prime minister and the prosecutor general with the Constitutional Tribunal (TK), the country’s top court.
The request was filed with the TK “in connection with an attempt to illegally remove” the national public prosecutor, the president’s office said.
Duda wrote in his request to the TK that the steps by the Polish government and the prime minister’s decision of January 12 were undertaken “in obvious violation of the provisions of competence and procedure, and ipso facto in violation of the constitution.”
On the same day, the TK, manned mainly by those loyal to the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government, blocked Barski’s removal from the national public prosecutor’s position and suspended the appointment of Bilewicz as acting national public prosecutor.
But Jan Grabiec, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, told the state-owned broadcaster TVP Info on Thursday, that Tusk had “appointed a new national public prosecutor today, Mr Dariusz Korneluk, because the duties entrusted to Prosecutor Bilewicz as the [PAP] national public prosecutor ended yesterday, and such an important institution as the National Prosecutor’s Office must function continuously.”
He added that the president did not express an opinion on the change in the position of the national public prosecutor, although he was obliged to do so by law.
“The President’s Office has informed us that the president does not intend to express an opinion, that he will wait for the decision of the [Constitutional Tribunal of Julia] Przyłębska on the alleged competence dispute regarding the invalidation of the appointment of the previous prosecutor by [former Justice Minister Zbigniew] Ziobro,” he said.
Grabiec argued that the president has no legal basis to question or refuse an opinion in such a situation.
“The act obliges the president to issue such an opinion immediately... but this opinion is not binding on the government,” he said.
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