ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jerzy Zajadło

Professor of Philosophy of Law, University of Gdańsk. Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Author of, among others, the recently published books “Judges and Slaves. Sketches from the Philosophy of Law” and “Lord Mansfield. To Be a Judge!” and “Minima Iuridica. Reflections on Certain Legal (Un)commonplaces”.

POSTS BY Jerzy Zajadło

19 February 2024

Restoration of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal as Reading the Constitution Forward

The question of how to restore the fallen and degenerated body that once was the Polish Constitutional Tribunal is finally to make its way to the Parliament this week. The stakes are clear: If we get lost in legalese and accept half-baked solutions, it will taint all ambitions and legislative projects aimed at restoring the rule of law in Poland. To avoid this mistake, the “fake court” should be “zeroed out” and newly appointed. Continue reading >>

06 January 2023

Jerzy Zajadło, Tomasz Tadeusz Koncewicz

Hostile Constitutional Interpretation

What to do with the façade institution that was once known as the Polish Constitutional Court in a way that would respect the Constitution? A recent and important proposal has argued that the judges who were legally elected by the current Parliament though they have supported the politicization of justice should enjoy the same right to retire as their legal predecessors. We have serious doubts as to the long-term desirability of such a solution. We need a theory that explains why also these lawfully elected judges should be let go as a result of their blatantly unconstitutional adjudication, and why the entire unconstitutional body should be extinguished, rather than simply be tinkered with here and there. Continue reading >>