Some comments on constitutional regulation of apoliticality of judges in Poland

One of the established standards of modern democratic countries is the apoliticality of judges. This standard is also referred to by the Constitution, which has been in force in Poland since 1997, which prohibits judges from belonging to political parties and trade unions, as well as from conducting public activities incompatible with the principles of the independence of courts and judges. However, in political practice the issue of apoliticality of Polish judges raises disputes regarding detailed matters, which in connection with statutory changes concerning the judiciary, in particular in recent years, have been gaining momentum. These disputes partly result from the not completely clear nature of the constitutional provisions, which refer to the principle of apoliticality of judges, but partly also from the wrong perception of this constitutional principle by some. The purpose of this article is to attempt to present the basic issues related to these problems in the context of applicable constitutional norms