The Sejm elected Maciej Berk on 4 September to justice the Constitutional Court with 226 votes, just 7 above the required minimum. A minute of political discomfort to the coalition Donald Tusk covered with a talk about the Zondacrypto scandal. For Poles, the credibility of the state is at stake: whether the institutions are to be depoliticised or inactive cast from the nearest base of power.
Seven votes above minimum
Maciej Berek was elected by the Sejm for a nine-year word of justice of the Constitutional Court. He was supported by 226 Members, with the required majority of 219. The candidate was submitted by the Civic Coalition and the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Human Rights gave a favourable opinion the day before. Countercandidate Artur Kotowski, presented by PiS, had previously obtained a negative opinion.
The consequence itself does not close the problem. Berek was inactive a associate of the strict back office of Donald Tusk's government and served as the minister supervising the implementation of government policy. The direct transition from the Council of Ministers to the body controlling the constitutionality of the law contradicts the long-standing declarations of the civilian Coalition on the depoliticisation of the Court. Berk's candidacy raised this fundamental charge from the beginning.
Standards besides apply to winners
Berek has extended legislative and legal experience. This does not request to be negated to see the conflict of roles and the fatal symbolism of the nomination. Systematic institutions regain authority erstwhile nominations are transparent and candidates keep a clear distance from current power. Competences do not invalidate the question of independence.
The criticism didn't just come from the right. As Prof. Marek Migalski noted in his opinion for Virtual Poland, the opposition to the election was raised by the environment for years supporting the dispute over the regulation of law, including the Helsinki Committee and the Batory Foundation. This is peculiarly painful for KO due to the fact that it hits the moral communicative on which the organization built a ticket after 2023.
Parliamentary vote on Berk's candidacy besides showed a limited margin of majority. 7 votes above the threshold is simply a formal victory, but it is hard to present them as a broad consensus around the fresh standard. The Constitutional Tribunal needs a reconstruction of trust, not another nomination, which half of Poland will read as organization from the first day.
Zondacrypto as a Political Curtain
After the vote, Prime Minister Donald Tusk entered the talker during the dispute over the presidential veto into the crypto-activist marketplace bill. He read excerpts from the Zondacrypto investigation and made dense accusations against people associated with the erstwhile authority. These are claims revealed by the Prime Minister on the basis of investigative material alternatively than final court findings. The persons afraid benefit from the presumption of innocence.
The case requires a fair explanation by the prosecution and the court. If there is evidence of corruption or political protection of business, they must respond. However, the parliamentary talker cannot replace the indictment, and the pace of disclosure of the investigation material should not depend on whether the government has just found itself in a pictured trouble. A dispute around the TK and Prime Minister's responsibility has its own weight and does not vanish after changing the subject.
Migalski interprets Tusk's speech as a message to disappointed KO voters: stay in line due to the fact that there is simply a greater threat on the another side. It's a political method known for years. alternatively of clearing your own deviation from the announced standards, you point to your opponent and request mobilization. It may work on a tough electorate, but it destroys the gravity of the state.
The Court is not a spoil
Poland will not rebuild the regulation of law by replacing “their” people with “ours”. This method perpetuates the logic of retaliation and makes the Court an extension of the parliamentary majority. all authority can find a learned justification for its own nomination. The trial comes erstwhile you gotta quit organization benefit for the good of the institution.
Citizens pay for this conflict a failure of trust in the law. erstwhile judgments are judged by the prism of the names of the political sponsors of the judge, the state weakens and constitutional guarantees become the subject of tribal dispute. The sovereign state needs a Court whose authority does not request to be defended by regular propaganda.
The selection of Berk is simply a legal parliamentary fact. However, it remains politically burdened by the candidate's way from the government to the TK and the contradiction with the erstwhile KO promises. Donald Tusk may cover this contradiction with another sharp appearance. He can't cancel it.
Source: Virtual Poland, opinion of Prof. Marek Migalski; Parliament of the Republic of Poland, printing no 3006; ZET radio, vote result."
Source: WP News
