At the beginning of last week, we reported on an interview given by Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar shortly after the presidential election. On that occasion, the Minister declared, among other things, that until the term of office of the judicial members of the current National Council of the Judiciary expires, he will not announce new competitions for judicial positions.
The Minister’s announcement, which is consistent with his actions to date, means that he completely disregards the welfare of citizens who, due to the significant number of vacancies in judicial positions, will be exposed (in fact, they already are, but will be even more so) to protracted proceedings involving them.
It should be recalled here that, pursuant to Article 45 of the Constitution:
Everyone shall have the right to a fair and public hearing without undue delay by a competent, independent and impartial court.
A similar right is also enshrined in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights:
Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law in the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him.
It should therefore come as no surprise that Minister Bodnar’s announcement was met with immediate criticism. In particular, yesterday (11 June 2025), the National Council of the Judiciary adopted a resolution calling on Minister Bodnar to immediately announce the vacant judicial positions. The resolution pointed out, among other things, that:
For many months, the Minister of Justice has not provided the National Council of the Judiciary with information on vacant judicial positions, the number of which may currently exceed 1,000 nationwide.
The KRS also recalled that:
The failure to announce competitions for judicial positions since December 2023 is contrary to the statutory obligation […].
– indeed, pursuant to Article 20a § 4. of the Law on the System of Courts of General Jurisdiction:
The Minister of Justice shall announce vacant judicial positions in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland, Monitor Polski.
It was emphasised that such action by the Minister:
undermines the fundamental rights of citizens to have their cases heard quickly, violates citizens’ trust in the Republic of Poland and leads to the complete obstruction of the foundations of the state, including the judiciary.
The Council also stated that if the Minister continues his obstruction in this regard and fails to perform his statutory duties, his actions will be:
contrary to the principle of service of state authorities towards citizens and will lead in the near future to the destruction of the justice system, which the National Council of the Judiciary, as the guardian of the independence of the courts, cannot agree to.
The above situation was best summarised by representatives of the Lawyers for Poland Association in a post on their profile on the X platform:
In light of Article 45(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which guarantees everyone the right to a court, and Article 178(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which imposes on the state the obligation to ensure the fair administration of justice, the National Council of the Judiciary rightly asked Minister Bodnar today to immediately announce over 1,000 vacant judicial positions. The lack of staff for these positions leads to longer court proceedings, limits citizens’ access to an independent and impartial court, and negatively affects the effectiveness of the protection of individual rights. The introduction of new competitions for judicial positions is therefore not only an expression of the implementation of constitutional provisions, but also a necessary step towards improving the functioning of the judiciary. From the perspective of citizens and the entire legal system, the priority should be to fill the judicial positions as soon as possible in order to ensure the uninterrupted exercise of judicial power and strengthen public confidence in the judiciary.
One can only hope that Minister Bondar will, as soon as possible, either cease the above activity, which is not only contrary to his statutory duties but also significantly infringes on the rights of citizens and is destructive to the entire justice system, or resign from his position.
Image source: Adobe Stock.
