President Andrzej Duda swore in the judge early today only an hour before the same court convenes to rule on the legality of the appointments. (File Photo)
WARSAW:
Poland's president has sworn in the last of five judges named to the Constitutional Tribunal by the right-wing ruling party - nominations that are being called an illegal power grab by critics.
President Andrzej Duda swore in the judge early today only an hour before the same court convenes to rule on the legality of the appointments.
The developments are the latest in a complex legal drama gripping Poland.
The previous government, led by the Civic Platform party, made five nominations to the Constitutional Tribunal - the final arbiter of law in Poland - shortly before losing power. Three of those have been declared valid by the same court. But the new ruling party, Law and Justice, voided all five in order to place party loyalists on the court.