right|thumb|260px|The seat of the Tribunal, Warsaw
right|thumb|260px|The seat of the Tribunal, Warsaw (2006)
The Constitutional Tribunal ( ) is the constitutional court of the Republic of Poland, a judicial body established to resolve disputes on the constitutionality of the activities of state institutions; its main task is to supervise the compliance of statutory law with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
Its creation was a request of the Solidarity movement following its 1981 National Congress that took place a few weeks before the introduction of martial law. Due to the brevity of the introduced article 33a, it was decided that a law must be brought forth that would outline the proceedings of the Constitutional Tribunal. This became an intricate process with 15 drafts developed, and the final act was ratified by the Sejm on 29 April 1985 which allowed for the formal commencement of the Tribunal's judicial proceedings on 1 January 1986.
On 24 January 1986 the first motion, reference U 1/86, was brought before the Constitutional Tribunal on behalf of the Presidium of the Provincial National Council in Wrocław. Then on 8 October 2015, two weeks before the election, the Sejm elected these 5 judges. The new President Duda refused to let any of them take their oaths of office. After PiS won the elections and a majority of seats, they nominated a different set of five judges who were immediately sworn in.
This ignited a fierce partisan struggle, as the remaining judges in the Tribunal, most of which had been nominated by PO majorities, ruled out 3 of the 5 PiS nominees, validating instead 3 PO nominees, In February 2020, former Constitutional Tribunal judges, including former presidents of the tribunal Andrzej Rzepliński, , , and Andrzej Zoll, stated,
!Sejm
!Term as a Justice
!Term length
|-
! colspan="7" |Presidents
|-
|1.
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1989
|
|
|IX (PRL)
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1989
|
|-
|2.
|1 December 1989 – 19 November 1993
|
|
|X (PRL)
|1 December 1989 – 17 June 1994
| (resigned)
|-
|3.
|19 November 1993 – 1 December 1997
|Andrzej Zoll
|
|X (PRL)
|1 December 1989 – 1 December 1997
|
|-
|–
|1 December 1997 – 6 January 1998
| colspan="5" |vacant
|-
|4.
|6 January 1998 – 5 November 2006
|
|
|III
|5 November 1997 – 5 November 2006
|
|-
|5.
|6 November 2006 – 25 June 2008
|
|
|III
|25 June 1999 – 25 June 2008
|
|-
|6.
|26 June 2008 – 2 December 2010
|
|
|IV
|2 December 2001 – 2 December 2010
|
|-
|7.
|3 December 2010 – 19 December 2016
|Andrzej Rzepliński
|
|VI
|19 December 2007 – 19 December 2016
|
|-
|–
|20 December 2016
| rowspan="2" |Julia Przyłębska
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |VIII
| rowspan="2" |9 December 2015 – 9 December 2024
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|8.
|21 December 2016 – 29 November 2024
|-
|–
|29 November – 9 December 2024
| colspan="5" |vacant
|- style="font-weight:bold;background-color:#EDEDFF;"
|9.
|9 December 2024 – present
|Bogdan Święczkowski
|
|IX
|16 February 2022 – present
|
|}
Vice Presidents
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
!No.
!Start and end date
!Full name
!
!Sejm
!Term as a Justice
!Term length
|-
! colspan="7" |Vice Presidents
|-
|1.
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1993
|
|
|IX (PRL)
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1993
|
|-
|2.
|1 December 1993 – 1 December 2001
|
|
|II
|1 December 1993 – 1 December 2001
|
|-
|3.
|2 December 2001 – 1 December 2006
|
|
|III
|1 December 1997 – 1 December 2006
|
|-
|4.
|2 December 2006 – 2 March 2010
|
|
|III
|2 March 2001 – 2 March 2010
|
|-
|5.
|3 March 2010 – 2 December 2010
|
|
|IV
|2 December 2001 – 2 December 2010
|
|-
|6.
|3 December 2010 – 26 June 2017
|
|
|VI
|26 June 2008 – 26 June 2017
|
|-
|–
|27 June – 4 July 2017
| colspan="5" |vacant
|-
|7.
|5 July 2017 – 5 July 2023
|
|
|VIII
|2 December 2015 – 2 December 2024
|
|-
|–
|6 July 2023 – 20 February 2025
| colspan="5" |vacant
|- style="font-weight:bold;background-color:#EDEDFF;"
|8.
|21 February 2025 – present
|
|
|IX
|9 April 2020 – present
|
|-
| colspan="7" |
|-
| colspan="7" |
|-
| colspan="7" |
|-
| colspan="7" |
|-
| colspan="7" |
|-
| colspan="7" |
|-
|}
Justices
Current
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%;"
|-
! No.
! Full name
!
!Sejm
!Votes
! Start date
!Term length|| Comment
|-
|68.
|
|
| rowspan="4" |VIII
|227
| 28 June 2017
|
|
|-
|69.
|
|
|248
| 18 September 2017
|
|
|-
|70.
|
|
|228
| 30 January 2018
|
|
|-
|71.
|
|
|228
| 8 April 2019
|
|
|-
|73.
|
|
| rowspan="5" |IX
|230
| 5 December 2019
|
|
|-
|74.
|
|
|233
| 5 December 2019
|
|239
| 7 January 2020
|
|
|-
|76.
|
|
|234
| 9 April 2020
|
|
|-
|77.
| Bogdan Święczkowski
|
|233
| 16 February 2022
|
|
|-
|78.
|
|
| rowspan="6" |X
|236
|1 April 2026
|
|
|-
|79.
|
|
|237
|1 April 2026
|
|
|-
|80.
|
|
|237
|9 April 2026
|
|
|-
|81.
|
|
| 236
|9 April 2026
|
|
|
| 236
|9 April 2026
|
|
|
| 237
|9 April 2026
|
| The Constitutional Tribunal is expected to judge on 3 August 2021 whether it will comply to the ruling or not; this is interpreted as a decision on whether the European or Polish courts are sovereign. In a 14 July 2021 ruling, the Tribunal rejected the constitutionality of any attempt by the ECHR to suspend the Polish tribunals, as such competence has never been transferred by any treaty.
Length of tenure
This graphical timeline depicts the length of each current justice's tenure on the Court:
Former
thumb|Marek Safjan, first President elected after the [[fall of communism in Poland]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%;"
!No.
! width="200px" |Full name
!
!Sejm
! width="230px" |Term as a Justice
!Term length
|-
|1.
|prof. Henryk de Fiumel
|
| rowspan="13" |IX (PRL)
|1 December 1985 – 17 June 1986
| (died in office)
|-
|2.
|prof. Kazimierz Buchała
|
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1989
|
|-
|3.
|prof. Natalia Gajl
|
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1989
|
|-
|4.
|dr Adam Józefowicz
|
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1989
|
|-
|5.
|dr Andrzej Kabat
|
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1989
|
|-
|6.
|prof. Alfons Klafkowski
|
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1989
|
|-
|7.
|prof. Stanisław Pawela
|
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1989
|
|-
|8.
|dr Czesław Bakalarski
|
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1993
|
|-
|9.
|prof. Kazimierz Działocha
|
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1993
|
|-
|10.
|prof. Henryk Groszyk
|
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1993
|
|-
|11.
|prof. Leonard Łukaszuk
|
|1 December 1985 – 1 December 1993
|
|-
|12.
|Remigiusz Orzechowski
|
|1 December 1985 – 13 August 1993
| (died in office)
|-
|13.
|Maria Łabor-Soroka
| -
|25 November 1986 – 30 November 1993
|
|-
|14.
|Antoni Filcek
|
| rowspan="6" |X (PRL)
|1 December 1989 – 31 October 1992
| (resigned)
|-
|15.
|prof. Mieczysław Tyczka
|
|1 December 1989 – 17 June 1994
| (resigned)
|-
|16.
|prof. Janina Zakrzewska
|
|1 December 1989 – 27 May 1995
| (died in office)
|-
|17.
|prof. Tomasz Dybowski
|
|1 December 1989 – 1 December 1997
|
|-
|18.
|prof. Wojciech Łączkowski
|
|1 December 1989 – 1 December 1997
|
|-
|19.
|prof. Andrzej Zoll
|
|1 December 1989 – 1 December 1997
|
|-
|20.
|Ferdynand Rymarz
| -
|I
|19 February 1993 – 19 February 2001
|
|-
|21.
|dr hab. Błażej Wierzbowski
|
| rowspan="8" |II
|1 December 1993 – 30 November 1998
| (resigned)
|-
|22.
|prof. Wojciech Sokolewicz
|
|1 December 1993 – 31 May 1999
|
|-
|28.
|Jadwiga Skórzewska-Łosiak
|
|21 July 1995 – 21 July 2003
|
|-
|29.
|prof. Teresa Dębowska-Romanowska
|
| rowspan="9" |III
|5 November 1997 – 5 November 2006
|
|-
|30.
|prof. Marek Safjan
|
|5 November 1997 – 5 November 2006
|
|-
|33.
|prof. Biruta Lewaszkiewicz-Petrykowska
|
|1 December 1997 – 1 December 2006
|
|-
|36.
|Jerzy Stępień
|
|25 June 1999 – 25 June 2008
|
|-
|37.
|Janusz Niemcewicz
|
|2 March 2001 – 2 March 2010
|
|-
|38.
|prof. Marian Grzybowski
|
| rowspan="6" |IV
|2 December 2001 – 2 December 2010
|
|-
|39.
|dr hab. Marek Mazurkiewicz
|
|2 December 2001 – 2 December 2010
|
|-
|43.
|prof. Adam Jamróz
|
|22 July 2003 – 22 July 2012
|
|-
|44.
|dr hab. Maria Gintowt-Jankowicz
|
| rowspan="7" |V
|6 November 2006 – 6 November 2015
|
|-
|45.
|Wojciech Hermeliński
|
|6 November 2006 – 6 November 2015
|
|-
|48.
|dr hab. Teresa Liszcz
|
|8 December 2006 – 8 December 2015
|
|-
|49.
|Lidia Bagińska
|
|8 December 2006 – 12 March 2007
| (resigned)
|-
|50.
|prof. Mirosław Granat
|
|27 April 2007 – 27 April 2016
|
|-
|51.
|prof. Andrzej Rzepliński
|
| rowspan="9" |VI
|19 December 2007 – 19 December 2016
|
|-
|52.
|prof. Stanisław Biernat
|
|26 June 2008 – 26 June 2017
|
|-
|53.
|prof. Sławomira Wronkowska-Jaśkiewicz
|
|6 May 2010 – 6 May 2019
|
|-
|54.
|Stanisław Rymar
|
|3 December 2010 – 3 December 2019
|
|-
|55.
|prof. Piotr Tuleja
|
|3 December 2010 – 3 December 2019
|
|5 January 2011 – 5 January 2020
|
|-
|58.
|prof. Andrzej Wróbel
|
|29 May 2011 – 24 January 2017
| (resigned)
|-
|59.
|prof. Leon Kieres
|
|23 July 2012 – 23 July 2021
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |
|prof. Roman Hauser
|
| rowspan="5" |VII
|7 November 2015 – 7 November 2024<br/>
|<br/>
|-
|prof. Krzysztof Ślebzak
|
|7 November 2015 – 7 November 2024<br/>
|<br/>
|-
|prof. Andrzej Jakubecki
|
|7 November 2015 – 7 November 2024<br/>
|<br/>
|-
|prof. Bronisław Sitek
|
|(3 December 2015)<br/>
|<br/>
|-
|prof. Andrzej Sokala
|
|(9 December 2015)<br/>
|<br/>
|-
|60.
|prof. Henryk Cioch
|
| rowspan="8" |VIII
|2 December 2015 – 20 December 2017
| (died in office)
|-
|61.
|prof. Lech Morawski
|
|-
|63.
|Piotr Pszczółkowski
|
|3 December 2015 – 3 December 2024
|
|-
|64.
|Julia Przyłębska
|
|9 December 2015 – 9 December 2024
|
|-
|65.
|dr hab. Zbigniew Jędrzejewski
|
|28 April 2016 – 28 April 2025
|
|-
|66.
|dr hab. Michał Warciński
|
|20 December 2016 – 20 December 2025
|
|-
|67.
|dr hab. Grzegorz Jędrejek
|
|27 February 2017 – 19 January 2020
| (died in office)
|-
|72.
|Krystyna Pawłowicz
|
|rowspan="1" |IX
|5 December 2019 – 5 December 2025
| (resigned)
|-
!No.
!Full name
!