President Nawrocki sets 28 July for swearing-in of Constitutional Tribunal judge Patyra, ending month-long wait

Announcement of the date

On 22 July, Zbigniew Bogucki, head of the President's Chancellery, announced on X that President Karol Nawrocki will receive the oath from Prof. Sławomir Patyra on Tuesday, 28 July, acting under Article 4(1) of the Act on the Status of Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal. Bogucki added that the president will hand over appointments to four new Supreme Court judges the same day. Next week, the president also plans to appoint 211 assessors for district courts and 18 assessors for voivodeship administrative courts.

The month-long wait

Patyra was elected by the Sejm on 11 June to fill the seat of Judge Andrzej Zielonacki, whose nine-year term expired on 28 June. Patyra's own term began on 29 June, but without the presidential oath he could not take up his duties. He sent a first letter to the president on 3 July, receiving no reply. On 20 July, he told TVP Info that he had written to the president asking for a date but had received no answer. On 21 July, he sent a second letter, and on 22 July the date was set.

My term began on 29 June, because Judge Zielonacki's term ended on 28 June. The days of waiting are fewer, but they are indeed there. I wrote a letter to the president asking for a date when I could appear at the Chancellery. So far I have received no answer.

In his second letter, Patyra wrote that as a citizen and a constitutionalist with over 31 years of experience in teaching respect for legal institutions, he wished to take the oath before the president. He stressed that his request was made in good faith to demonstrate the diligence required of a Constitutional Tribunal judge.

I wish to clearly emphasize that the reflections expressed above are formulated solely in good faith, that is, to demonstrate on my part the due and required diligence of a Constitutional Tribunal judge, obliged by the act of election to serve the Nation by adjudicating in the process of constitutional review of law.

Political pressure

The delay drew intervention from Sejm Marshal Włodzimierz Czarzasty, who a week earlier sent a letter to the president urging immediate steps to allow Patyra to assume his mandate. The standoff echoes an earlier episode in April, when Nawrocki allowed only two of six previously elected TK judges to take the oath, deepening the dispute over the tribunal's composition.

Who is Sławomir Patyra?

Patyra is a habilitated doctor of law, a professor at the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Faculty of Law and Administration at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) and at the University of Radom. He was nominated for the TK by the KO, PSL, Lewica, and Centrum parliamentary clubs and elected by the Sejm on 11 June 2026.

What happens next

The swearing-in on 28 July will allow Patyra to formally begin his nine-year term on the Constitutional Tribunal. The simultaneous appointment of four Supreme Court judges and 229 assessors marks a large batch of judicial nominations from the president's office.