On Friday, March 13, the Sejm is to elect six judges of the Constitutional Tribunal. Two PiS candidates are unlikely to pass. The sure candidates are the candidates of the ruling coalition. They will be the ones who will argue over the oath with President Karol Nawrocki.
The Constitutional Tribunal consists of fifteen judges elected by the Sejm for a nine-year term. This is what follows from Art. 194 of the constitution. Currently, there are six vacancies at the Constitutional Tribunal.
In addition, another two seats will become vacant this year, in September the terms of judges Andrzej Zielonacki and Justyn Piskorski will end, and in January 2027, judge Jarosław Wyrembak will leave. This means that judges elected by the government coalition may still have a majority this term. So far, however, the coalition has not allowed for the election of further judges. Now that's changing.
See also: Politicians caused the crisis and should stop it, but they are not allowed to dismiss judges. RPO on challenges for 2026
Coalition candidates for Constitutional Tribunal judges
The Presidium of the Sejm recommended six candidates accepted by all coalition parties. They are the ones who have a chance to be elected, but not necessarily to take office (in alphabetical order).
Magdalena Bentkowska
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Synoradzki, Bentkowska i Partnerzy Law Firm
Magdalena Bentkowska, lawyer, in the past, she represented cardiac surgeon Mirosław G. in a high-profile court case against Zbigniew Ziobro. A graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, a scholarship holder of De Paul University in Chicago, she practiced in American law firms. In the years 2016-2023, she was a pro bono defender in political trials, and in 2023, a legal consultant on the correctness of conducting parliamentary elections.
Marcin Dziurda
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own archive
Marcin Dziurda, legal advisorborn in 1973, graduate and professor. University of Warsaw, graduated in law and journalism, lectures at the Department of Civil Procedure at the Faculty of Law and Administration. In 2005-2006, as the plenipotentiary of the Council of Ministers, he organized the General Prosecutor's Office of the State Treasury, which he headed in 2006-2012. From 2017 to 2023, he was a member of the Supreme Court's Office of Studies and Analyzes.
Anna Korwin-Piotrowska
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MS
Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, president of the District Court in Opole appointed by Minister Adam Bodnar in 2024. In 2017, she was dismissed from the position of vice-president of this court by fax. She appealed and the case went to the European Court of Human Rights, but in January 2022 she reached a settlement with Poland. Founding member and, from 2024, president of the main board of the Association of Judges. A graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University of Wrocław.
Krystian Markiewicz
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Andrzej Iwanczuk/REPORTER / East News
Krystian Markiewiczborn in 1976, judge i prof. University of Silesia, where he graduated in law, obtained his doctorate, and then habilitation. From 2016 to 2025, he was the president of the Association of Polish Judges Iustitia. He specializes in civil law, from 2012 to 2015 he participated in the work of the Civil Law Codification Commission at the Minister of Justice. He started his career in 2003 at the District Court in Katowice. In the years 2007-2009 he was an assistant to a judge of the Supreme Court, now he is a judge of the Katowice District Court.
Dariusz Szostek
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Wolters Kluwer
Dariusz Szostekborn in 1973, legal advisor and professor at the University of Silesia, where he graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration. He obtained his habilitation at the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics of the University of Wrocław. He specializes in cybersecurity and new technologies, including artificial intelligence. He is an expert of the Minister of Science and Higher Education on cybersecurity, an expert of the Artificial Intelligence Observatory of the European Parliament, and a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Telecommunications. Co-author of the e-court concept, originator of electronic confirmation of receipt. As we read in the justification of the Presidium of the Sejm, “the experience of the Professor will enable the Tribunal to respond to contemporary challenges in the field of new technologies.”
Maciej Taborowski
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Tomasz Jastrzebowski/REPORTER / East News
Maciej Taborowski, advocate and professor at the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, born in 1978. He is an expert in European Union law and international law. He appeared before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the Constitutional Tribunal, the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court. In the years 2019-2022, he served as Deputy Ombudsman, and from 2023, Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TVP. Privately, from 2011 to 2014 he was the husband of journalist Magda Mołek.
Law and Justice also nominated its candidates. These are:
- professor dr hab. Artur Kotowski from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
- Dr. Michał Skwarzyński from the Catholic University of Lublin in Lublin.
So far, however, the Sejm has not supported any of the candidates repeatedly put forward by the opposition.
See also: The Constitutional Tribunal responds to the CJEU judgment. The decision is disputed
The fight to take office
To take up the office of a Constitutional Tribunal judge, each of them should take an oath before the president:
While performing the duties entrusted to me as a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, I solemnly swear to serve the Nation faithfully, to guard the Constitution, and to fulfill the duties entrusted to me impartially and with the utmost care.
This results from the Act on the status of judges of the Constitutional Tribunal adopted in 2016 by PiS. However, such a requirement also existed in the preceding act.
In 2015, President Duda did not take the oath of office from judges elected by the Sejm by a majority of PO votes. As a result, the judges chosen by PiS to replace them were considered doubles. Even during the times of President Andrzej Duda, it was considered taking the oath via… a megaphone in front of the Presidential Palace or in writing, in the presence of a notary, which would then – after signing – be sent to the president.
Now these ideas are coming back in case President Karol Nawrocki does not take the oath of office from the new judges of the Constitutional Tribunal.
