The head of Poland’s top court, the Constitutional Tribunal (TK), has resigned from her position, Polish media reported on Monday.
The legitimacy of Julia Przyłębska’s tenure had been questioned by many judges and constitutional experts who considered her term to have ended in December 2022, six years after she took up the position.
But she and the previous right-wing government argued that the six-year rule was not binding at the time she was appointed and that her term of office would last until she ceased to be a TK judge.
Following speculation in national media last week that she was no longer heading the tribunal, on Monday Przyłębska officially notified the court’s judges that she had stepped down.
The TK’s website changed her status from ‘president’ of the tribunal to ‘judge directing the tribunal’s work.’
The Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported that Przyłębska’s decision had been taken the previous Friday and on the same day the court had informed its judges that a General Assembly of TK Judges would be called for Friday, December 6, to select candidates to succeed her.
Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, will now appoint a new head of the Constitutional Tribunal from among the shortlist presented by the General Assembly.
Under the rules of the tribunal, in the absence of a TK president, the court work is directed by the judge with the longest total service, in this case Przyłębska.
Przyłębska’s term as a TK judge expires next Monday, December 9.
But she and the previous right-wing government argued that the six-year rule was not binding at the time she was appointed and that her term of office would last until she ceased to be a TK judge.
Following speculation in national media last week that she was no longer heading the tribunal, on Monday Przyłębska officially notified the court’s judges that she had stepped down.
The TK’s website changed her status from ‘president’ of the tribunal to ‘judge directing the tribunal’s work.’
The Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported that Przyłębska’s decision had been taken the previous Friday and on the same day the court had informed its judges that a General Assembly of TK Judges would be called for Friday, December 6, to select candidates to succeed her.
Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, will now appoint a new head of the Constitutional Tribunal from among the shortlist presented by the General Assembly.
Under the rules of the tribunal, in the absence of a TK president, the court work is directed by the judge with the longest total service, in this case Przyłębska.
Przyłębska’s term as a TK judge expires next Monday, December 9.
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