Polish president blocks judicial nominations in latest clash with government

WARSAW – Nationalist Polish president Karol Nawrocki has said he will refuse to approve 46 judicial nominations – arguing that the candidates support pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government’s “unconstitutional actions.”

In a new escalation between Nawrocki – backed by opposition nationalist PiS – and Tusk’s pro-European ruling coalition, the president invoked his prerogative to block the appointments.

“This is no longer just a verbal signal, but a concrete decision,” he wrote on social media, vowing not to promote judges “who challenge the constitutional and legal order.”

Government spokesman Adam Szłapka condemned the move as “a power grab and an effort to weaken the justice system.”

He said judges have the right “to challenge the status of other judges through rulings,” accusing Nawrocki of trying to undermine judicial independence.

The European Commission and Poland have already long clashed over rule-of-law issues – particularly judicial reforms introduced under the former PiS government between 2015 and 2023 which Brussels said undermined judicial independence and breached EU treaties.

The dispute led to multiple infringement procedures and the freezing of billions in EU recovery funds until Warsaw committed to reversing the contested changes after Donald Tusk was appointed Prime minister in 2023.

Among its most controversial actions, the former PiS government restructured the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) – the body that nominates judges – resulting in the appointment of around 2,500 magistrates under PiS-aligned President Andrzej Duda.

These so-called “neo-judges” are now considered illegitimate by many “old judges” and by the current government, which argues that the KRS’s politicisation under PiS compromised judicial independence.

(cs)