Judiciary of Poland

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The judiciary of Poland (Polish: sądownictwo w Polsce [sɔn.dɔvˈɲi.t͡stfɔ v ˈpɔl.st͡sɛ]) are the authorities exercising the judicial power of the Polish state on the basis of Chapter 8 of the Constitution of Poland.^[a] As in almost all countries of continental Europe, the Polish judiciary operates within the framework of civil law.

The Constitution formally divides the judiciary into the courts (sądy) and the tribunals (trybunały). The courts process the vast majority of cases and are tasked with administering justice (wymiar sprawiedliwości). Administrative courts (sądy administracyjne) review complaints challenging the legality of administrative proceedings. Military courts (sądy wojskowe) serve as criminal courts for the military. All other cases (including cases where jurisdiction is not specifically mentioned) are processed in common courts (sądy powszechne). The Supreme Court is the court of last resort in all non-administrative cases, but is technically distinct from the common or military courts;^[1] the Supreme Administrative Court is the top court for administrative matters. Everyone has a guaranteed right to appeal to a court of higher instance, but appeals and cassations to the apex courts are limited by law; therefore, only a fraction of cases may reach them.

There are currently two tribunals, which are separate from the rest of the judiciary. The Constitutional Tribunal (Trybunał Konstytucyjny) rules on the compliance of challenged statutes with the Constitution and is the only court in Poland that can strike down unconstitutional provisions.^[2] The State Tribunal (Trybunał Stanu) has exclusive jurisdiction over indictments for crimes committed by the highest state officials, but it convenes very rarely.

Court judges are appointed by the president of Poland upon nomination by the National Council of the Judiciary (Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa), an auxiliary body established for this purpose by the Constitution, and serve until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 65 or 70.^[b] They are assisted or supplemented by various other judicial officials in the court, including court assessors, law clerks (asystent), registrars (referendarz) and lay judges (ławnik). Professionals such as bailiffs (komornik sądowy) and probation officers (kurator sądowy) act on the court's behalf to enforce judges' orders. In contrast to the court judges, the ones sitting in tribunals (with the exception of those sitting there ex officio) are elected by the Sejm with a simple majority of its deputies.

Several issues plague the Polish judiciary. The courts are widely seen to be too slow, and the trust in the court system is low among the general population. Changes to the judiciary carried out from 2015 by the ruling United Right coalition, ostensibly aimed at remedying these handicaps, caused much controversy and provoked an ongoing constitutional crisis.^[3][4][5] The conservative government is generally accused, in Poland as well as internationally, of trying to take over the courts,^[6] which created a deep conflict between judges appointed before the Law and Justice-led coalition made changes to the judiciary and their supporters and those appointed by the new rules. The Constitutional Tribunal, widely seen as captured by the Law and Justice party, has issued decisions aiming to thwart the application of the unfavourable rulings of the ECJ and the European Court of Human Rights by asserting they were issued outside the courts' competences and without regard to the Polish Constitution.

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