What will happen with Maciej Berek’s oath? ‘There are serious doubts’

Maciej Berek is waiting to learn whether President Karol Nawrocki will invite him to take the oath after his election as a judge of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal. “The vote was on Friday. It is Monday morning, so I think we still need to wait a little,” Berek told reporters after meeting Sejm Marshal Włodzimierz Czarzasty.

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The vote was on Friday. It is Monday morning, so I think we still need to wait a little.

Czarzasty, the only member of the Left club to vote against both candidates for the Tribunal, met Berek in the Sejm on Monday. The rest of the club supported Berek, who was nominated by Civic Coalition lawmakers, and opposed Artur Kotowski, the candidate put forward by Law and Justice deputies.

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deeply believes that we will act in accordance with the law and with what the regulations provide.

Berek said questions about an invitation to take the oath should be directed to the Presidential Chancellery. Asked what he would do if he was not invited, he said he “deeply believes that we will act in accordance with the law and with what the regulations provide.” He rejected requests to discuss what might happen if the president failed to carry out an official action, saying he would wait until September 15 or 16.

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the Sejm elects the judges of the Tribunal.

Berek also said the same process should apply to him as to four Constitutional Tribunal judges elected in March, stressing that “the Sejm elects the judges of the Tribunal.” Presidential chief of staff Paweł Szefernaker said analyses were under way and that there were “serious doubts.” He accused Berek of responsibility for the current situation surrounding the Tribunal, including the non-publication of its rulings, and raised what he called formal and political concerns about a governing-party politician joining the court.

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There are serious doubts.