Polish Sejm elects Maciej Berek as Constitutional Tribunal judge despite coalition controversy

Maciej Berek won election to Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal after a vote that exposed disagreements inside the governing coalition. The Sejm backed his candidacy with 226 votes, while Artur Kotowski, nominated by the Law and Justice party, received 184.

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We were supposed to be different from PiS, we were supposed to do things differently, not exactly the same.

Berek’s nomination had already drawn criticism from coalition politicians. Members of The Left pointed to 2024 legislation intended to reform the Tribunal. Those measures did not take effect after then-President Andrzej Duda referred them to the Tribunal, but they included a proposed four-year waiting period for government members seeking judicial positions there.

Anna Maria Żukowska, a Left lawmaker, summed up the objection by saying, “We were supposed to be different from PiS, we were supposed to do things differently, not exactly the same.” She said she would not support Berek’s candidacy. The leader of Poland 2050 also said she would have opposed the nomination if she had been a lawmaker, while party parliamentary leader Paweł Śliz said he would vote against it and predicted that the club would split in the vote.

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One of the most outstanding Polish practicing lawyers.

Tusk had conditionally agreed to Berek’s departure from government and candidacy in August. He described Berek as “one of the most outstanding Polish practicing lawyers” and said Berek had made political independence and nonpartisanship his defining qualities. Tusk also said he knew no one better prepared to help repair the situation involving what he called a flawed Constitutional Tribunal.

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From his political independence and nonpartisanship he made a defining quality.

The prime minister acknowledged that Berek’s service as a minister created a problem. He said he still believed the Tribunal should contain no trace of politics, but accepted responsibility for the decision. Other governing-coalition politicians praised Berek’s qualifications, calling him a thoroughly educated lawyer with a strong understanding of how the state functions and saying his expertise prepared him for the judicial role.

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I still believe that there should be no smallest traces of politics in the Constitutional Tribunal.