Poland omits Constitutional Tribunal from 2027 draft budget after procedural dispute

Government decision on 2027 budget

On 28 August 2026, the Polish Council of Ministers adopted the draft state budget for 2027 without allocating funds for the Constitutional Tribunal. Finance Minister Andrzej Domański announced after the cabinet session that the ministry did not receive a legally valid financial plan from the court, leaving tribunal revenues and expenditures completely absent from the bill. Deputy Finance Minister Hanna Majszczyk confirmed that the allocation stands at zero in the government text, noting that only parliament retains the authority to create or modify budget lines when statutory requirements are not met by the submitting body. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek stated on X that the tribunal would not receive state funds because its internal assembly process violated statutory rules.

From our point of view, we simply did not receive a document that would allow us to transfer budget funds to this body, which some call the Constitutional Tribunal.

Quorum dispute in the General Assembly

The procedural rift stems from internal conflict within the Constitutional Tribunal over judicial appointments. Under the Act on the Organization and Proceedings before the Constitutional Tribunal, the court financial plan must be adopted by the General Assembly of Judges before submission to the executive branch. The assembly requires a quorum of at least 10 judges, but scheduled meetings in July failed to reach this threshold. Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski refused to admit four judges (Krystian Markiewicz, Maciej Taborowski, Marcin Dziurda, and Anna Korwin-Piotrowska) who took their oaths before the Sejm in the presence of a notary after President Karol Nawrocki declined to swear them in.

Tribunal defense of budgetary autonomy

The Constitutional Tribunal issued a formal statement rejecting the cabinet position and describing the exclusion as devoid of legal grounds. The tribunal stated that Bogdan Święczkowski submitted the spending plan on 30 July 2026, prepared by the Director of the Chancellery in accordance with the Finance Ministry regulation of 16 July 2026. According to the court, this procedure aligns with 30 years of established practice. The tribunal argued that Article 139(2) of the Public Finance Act assigns the Finance Minister a purely technical role in incorporating judicial budgets into the national draft, a mechanism designed to protect institutional independence from the executive branch.

The president is the person who is obliged to present the draft budget, but he cannot do it individually, only on the basis of a resolution of the General Assembly of Judges of the Tribunal.

Operational consequences and parliamentary review

The omission of court funding affects operational expenses, administrative salaries, and judicial pensions. Tribunal records indicate that 38 retired judges draw monthly benefits of approximately 40,000 PLN gross, while 6 entitled families receive around 35,000 PLN gross each month. Former Tribunal President Andrzej Zoll observed that while the court struggles to operate without a functioning General Assembly, funding for administrative staff remains necessary. The draft budget bill now moves to the Sejm, where lawmakers will decide whether to introduce amendments restoring funding before the 2027 budget passes into law.