The temporary Chamber of Professional Liability assessed the decision of the Minister of Justice to suspend an independent judge for the first time. And held that Zbigniew Ziobro had groundlessly suspended Judge Marzanna Piekarska-Drążek for applying CJEU and ECtHR rulings

The old Supreme Court challenged the legality of the neo-judges in the Supreme Court. This is another such ruling issued despite the prohibition to examine their status. This ruling shows that the old Supreme Court judges will continue to apply the judgments of the ECtHR and the CJEU.

President Andrzej Duda attacked the organizations of judges for challenging the Polish National Recovery Plan before the CJEU. According to the President, judges want to govern. However, Duda does not understand how the separation of powers works and does not know that judges can protest and express their opinions. 

Piotr Schab, president of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw, confirmed that the transfer of two judges to different divisions is a penalty for applying judgments of the ECtHR and the CJEU. Schab and his deputy, Radzik, will face criminal liability in the future for the repressions.

The Sejm has elected 15 members of the new Nationa Council for Judiciary for a second term with the ruling coalition’s votes. They are mainly the members of the Council to date, but there are also a few new ones. The MPs were not discouraged by the fact that several judges belonged to a group on WhatsApp called Kasta/Antykasta.

‘A queer rainbow’, ‘perverts’ or ‘somehow, I stopped fu**ing caring’ – this is the atmosphere and language of the discussions between the supporters of the so-called good change, including Deputy Minister Łukasz Piebiak in the Antykasta [Anti-Caste] discussion group. We show how a member of the NCJ described the candidates for promotion before the Council as ‘my people’ without any inhibitions.

Acting First President of the Supreme Court Małgorzata Manowska has requested the opening of proceedings against three legal judges of the Supreme Court for wanting to assess the legality of neo-judges while implementing the judgments of the ECtHR, the CJEU and the Supreme Court. Professor Wróbel and Judge Matras, who is defending suspended judges, could face charges.

Three new disciplinary cases have been initiated against Judge Żurek. A judge who refused to disclose her child’s illness is also being prosecuted, while another has been transferred on disciplinary charges for applying EU law

The Law and Justice party (PiS) is continuing to breach the rule of law and exacerbate the conflict with the EU. The ruling party has already agreed on a list of 15 candidates for the neo-NCJ II, which gives nominations to judges. It will be even worse than the current one, because the list contains “hawks” headed by Łukasz Piebiak. 

Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro wants to remove the legal judges from the Supreme Court. The current Supreme Court is to be liquidated under the guise of implementing a CJEU ruling, to be replaced by a small Supreme Court with only 30 vetted judges. This radical plan is in conflict with Duda’s and PiS’s bills.