General courts: these are district, regional, and appeal courts. They adjudicate in the areas of civil, criminal, family and labour law.
Military courts: these are circuit and garrison courts. They deal with matters relating to crimes committed by soldiers in active service, civilian employees in military units, and prisoners of war.
The Supreme Court is the court of last resort of appeal against judgements in the lower courts. It also passes resolutions to clarify specific legal provisions and resolve disputable questions in specific cases. These however are not legally binding.
Appointment of judges
The President of Poland appoints Supreme Court judges for an indefinite period. This is done upon a motion of the National Council of the Judiciary. The President also selects the First President of the court from candidates presented by the General Assembly of the Supreme Court. The First President holds office for a six-year term, though he or she may be dismissed by the Sejm upon a motion by the President if found convicted of a crime. In July 2018 a new law came into force which lowers the mandatory retirement age from 70 to 65. The introduction of this law is contested and the constitutionality of the law is being assessed. Critics have argued the law is aimed at removing non-pliant judges and installing PiS-led government appointees.
In 2017 the Polish government passed a law which would have forced all Supreme Court judges into mandatory retirement apart from those granted an extension by the Minister of Justice. The bill was passed in the Polish Sejm and the Senate however following mass protests against the bill it was ultimately vetoed by President Andrzej Duda on 24 June 2017. A revised bill reduced mandatory retirement age of judges from 70 to 65. The bill was later signed by President Duda and came into force in July 2018. The law effectively retires 40% of the Supreme Court bench including the First President of the Supreme Court, Malgorzata Gersdorf. Polish opposition parties, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Polish Supreme Court, and the National Council of the Judiciary have claimed the law is unconstitutional because it violates the principles of the independence of the judiciary. In August 2018 the Supreme Court sent questions to the European Court of Justice regarding the reforms. Under Union law the court can prevent the State law from coming into force if it undermines the treaties of the European Union regarding judicial independence. On 17 December 2018, President Duda signed a law that will reinstate the judges who had been forced out of their jobs. On 8 April 2020 the EU Court of Justice ruled in a court case that the state of Poland "had failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law". As a result, the Court granted "the Commission’s application for interim measures" which will likely be realised with monetary fines.
