Poland: Current Debates on the Supervision over the Administrative Activity of the Common Courts

Abstract

This article examines the institution of the supervision over the administrative activity of the courts of general jurisdiction (the so-called common courts) in Poland. This kind of supervision is performed in Poland by the Minister of Justice, judges seconded to the Ministry, as well as the presidents of the courts. The author considers the basic constitutional principles referring to the status of the judiciary and draws the reader's attention to the discussion on the current regulations concerning such supervision. The problem, first of all, lies in the ambiguous wording of the statutory regulations, which makes it difficult to clearly distinguish administrative tasks in a strict sense from duties connected with the dispensation of justice. Despite the friendly attitude of the Constitutional Tribunal towards the supervisory competences of the Minister of Justice, the author argues, like many scholars and judges in Poland, that the administrative activity of the common courts should instead be controlled by judicial organs (i.e., the First President of the Supreme Court on his own or with the cooperation of the Judicial Council of the Judiciary). At the same time, the author is convinced on the necessity of pending general debates concerning the competence of executive power towards the judiciary in future.