Kompetencja Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w zakresie powoływania sędziów : refleksje krytyczne

The article is devoted to the competence of the President to appoint judges on the motion of the National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ). Its aim is to present some arguments in favor of the thesis that constitutional and other legal (formulated in the acts of parliament) provisions cannot provide a basis for the President’s decision refusing to appoint judges. The Author offers some criteria of qualification and description of individual powers (competences) of the head of state. It is to emphasize, that among them, there is a competence to appoint judges which is the subject of the article. In 2007 and in 2016 President L. Kaczyński and President A. Duda altered the former practice not to contest the recommendations of NCJ. The NCJ, due to its constitutional authority, is a body which safeguards the independent position of courts and judges.