Statement of Deans of Law Faculties of Polish Universities regarding the Constitutional Tribunal’s conclusion of 7 October 2021 in case K3/21

As deans of law faculties at public and private universities, we fully support the position expressed in the resolution of Committee of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences no 04/2021 from 12 October 2021 concerning the Constitutional Tribunal’s conclusion of 7 October 2021. The conclusion of the Constitutional Tribunal was made in violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, with the participation of persons not authorised to adjudicate and in fact exceed the scope of cognition of the Constitutional Tribunal, which does not include the control of judicial decisions, including decisions of the Court of Justice of the EU. 

This conclusion restricts the application of EU law in Poland, deprives Polish citizens of some of their rights resulting from Poland’s membership of the European Union, and undermines the fundamental assumptions of the functioning of the European Union and Poland’s presence in it, as adopted by the Sovereign in the accession referendum. It also undermines the independence of the judiciary, perpetuating changes in the Polish judiciary that violate the principle of the division and balance of powers and the principle of the rule of law.

dr hab. Adam Bodnar, Professor at the SWPS University, Dean of the Faculty of Law in Warsaw, SWPS University 

dr hab. Monika Bogucka-Felczak, Professor at the University of Łódź, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Łódź 

dr hab. Ewelina Cała-Wacinkiewicz, Professor at the University of Szczecin, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Szczecin 

Prof. dr hab. Tomasz Giaro, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw 

dr hab. Andrzej Herbet, prof. at the Catholic University of Lublin, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administration, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

dr hab. Monika Lawendowicz-Machnikowska, Professor at the SWPS University, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Social Communication in Wrocław, SWPS University

prof. dr hab. Czesław Martysz, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Silesia

prof. dr hab. Tomasz Nieborak, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

dr hab. Bartłomiej Nowak, Professor at the Koźmiński University in Warsaw, Dean of the College of Law, Koźmiński University in Warsaw 

prof. dr hab. Hanna Paluszkiewicz, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Zielona Góra

prof. dr hab. Jerzy Pisuliński, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, Jagiellonian University 

prof. dr hab. Anna Przyborowska-Klimczak, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin

prof. dr hab. Jan Widacki, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Administration and International Relations, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Academy in Kraków

prof. dr hab. Zbigniew Witkowski, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń

dr hab. Wojciech Zalewski, Professor at the University of Gdańsk, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Gdańsk

Translated by Jakub Jaraczewski