The announcement came as Chief Justice Małgorzata Gersdorf was set to leave office after a six-year term.
Małgorzata Gersdorf. Photo: PAP/Piotr Nowak
“President Andrzej Duda has entrusted Supreme Court Judge Kamil Zaradkiewicz with the position of acting First President of the Supreme Court,” presidential spokesman Błażej Spychalski said in a social media post.
He added that Zaradkiewicz would remain in the role until a new chief justice is selected on a permanent basis.
Zaradkiewicz, 47, is expected to convene a general assembly of Supreme Court judges to nominate five candidates for the Polish president to select from.
The latest appointment comes amid a long-standing dispute and bitter wrangling over legal changes in Poland.
The changes have triggered a series of clashes between Warsaw and Brussels.
Earlier this year, senior Polish officials slammed a Supreme Court ruling that judges recently appointed by the country’s governing conservatives were illegitimate and should not be allowed to hear cases.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned at the time that if judges were allowed to question the appointment or verdicts of other judges, the Polish justice system could be engulfed by chaos.
On Wednesday, the European Union’s executive said it was opening a new legal case against Poland over disputed new rules to discipline judges, the latest step in a long-standing feud over alleged rule-of-law breaches.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR