Sławomir Patyra sworn in as Polish Constitutional Tribunal judge, immediately refuses to adjudicate in solidarity with four blocked colleagues

Oath and immediate boycott

President Karol Nawrocki accepted the oath of Sławomir Patyra as a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal on Tuesday, 28 July 2026. Patyra had been elected by the Sejm on 11 June to fill the seat of Andrzej Zielonacki, whose nine-year term expired on 28 June. For over a month, Patyra waited for the president to schedule the ceremony, writing twice to the chancellery without receiving a reply. He told TVN24 he did not attribute the delay to any particular intention, suggesting it was a matter of the president's calendar.

Moments after the ceremony in the Presidential Palace, Patyra appeared before the Tribunal building and announced he would refuse to adjudicate. He said he would submit a formal statement of refusal and would not take part in any proceedings, including organisational matters, until four other judges elected by the Sejm in March are permitted to take office.

I intend to submit a statement of refusal to adjudicate, because I cannot imagine that today, taking the oath to uphold the constitution, I would break that constitution tomorrow. It is absolutely inconsistent with my beliefs about what the ethos of a Constitutional Tribunal judge should be.

The four blocked judges

The dispute centres on six judges elected by the Sejm in March 2026: Magdalena Bentkowska, Dariusz Szostek, Maciej Taborowski, Marcin Dziurda, Krystian Markiewicz and Anna Korwin-Piotrowska. President Nawrocki accepted oaths from Bentkowska and Szostek in April. The remaining four took an oath in the Sejm Column Hall on 9 April, using a formula that stated they were swearing "before the president," and sent the signed texts to the presidential chancellery.

TK president Bogdan Święczkowski ruled that the Sejm ceremony could not be treated as a valid oath taken before the president, and the four judges have not been allowed to assume their duties. A presidential motion concerning a competence dispute over the matter has been pending before the Tribunal since April.

Patyra's reasoning

Patyra described the exclusion of the four judges as legally unfounded and said he was acting in solidarity with them. He stated that the current composition of the Tribunal does not allow it to function fully, because omitting four legally elected judges from judicial panels taints every decision the body makes.

Because omitting today in the procedure of appointing judicial panels four legally elected judges casts a shadow of illegality on all decisions that the TK will make today.

He stressed that he took the oath "in the Presidential Palace, but before the nation," pointing to the wording of the oath that requires allegiance to the nation and the constitution. He said he and the judges elected in March form a team that is fully mobilised to restore the Tribunal to its proper constitutional and systemic shape, and that their professional biographies would bring added value to matters concerning the guarantees of the rule of law.

I assess it from a legal point of view as a very unfortunate event - I am talking about the four judges who are waiting for the possibility of taking office and establishing an employment relationship.

What happens next

Patyra is the seventh judge elected to the Tribunal this year and the third from whom Nawrocki has accepted an oath. His boycott means the Tribunal's already strained composition faces further disruption. The four judges remain unable to take up their posts, and the presidential competence motion is still unresolved. Patyra said he would not engage in political speculation but described his entry into the Tribunal as a difficult and somewhat thankless role under the current circumstances.