Poland's constitutional court split as judges declare a disputed quorum
Eight judges of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal, led by Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, declared on Tuesday that they formed a quorum without the court's suspended president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and two other judges, AP and other outlets report. The legality of the move is disputed, deepening a long fight over the court between Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government and allies of the previous government, including President Karol Nawrocki. Tusk offered to meet the president. Read at AP News →
The Constitution of 3 May 1791
What happened then
On 3 May 1791 the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth adopted a written constitution, Europe's first modern codified national constitution and the world's second after the American one. It separated legislative, executive and judicial power and abolished the liberum veto, which had let a single deputy break up the parliament.
What caused it
For decades the Commonwealth had been paralyzed by deadlock and by neighbors, above all Russia, who used its weak institutions to control it. Reformers wanted a government that could actually function.
How it was resolved
Magnates opposed to the reforms formed the Targowica Confederation in 1792 with Russian backing, and Russia invaded. Poland lost the war of 1792, and King Stanisław August joined the confederation.
How it turned out
The constitution was overturned, and Poland was carved up in the partitions of 1793 and 1795 and vanished from the map until 1918. The May 3 Constitution is still celebrated in Poland as a national holiday and a symbol of self-government.
What the philosophers say
Montesquieu, whose ideas shaped both the American and Polish constitutions, wrote in The Spirit of Laws that “there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive.” His point cuts in every direction: courts must be independent of the politicians of the day, whoever they are. That is why fights over who controls a constitutional court matter so much, and why citizens on all sides should want its legitimacy beyond doubt.
Sources: Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws XI.6 (tr. Nugent, Constitution Society) · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Montesquieu
Sources: Wikipedia: Constitution of 3 May 1791 · Wikipedia: Targowica Confederation
Further reading: The Last King of Poland by Adam Zamoyski