Zbigniew Ziobro’s schoolmate and simultaneously the head of the politicised NCJ, Dagmara Pawełczyk-Woicka, will not have to pay a fine. The decision was made in bizarre circumstances, with one of the judges reporting the suspicion of the court ruling having been illegally influenced.

It is clear to us that ODIHR should devote the maximum possible time and effort to observing the parliamentary election next year in Poland including on election day. Given that the election campaign has already begun, this overview could, as much as possible, include political processes taking place before the official start of the campaign – 13 Polish NGOs call on OSCE/ODIHR to monitor 2023 elections

 Igor Tuleya, a symbol of the free courts, filed a complaint with the ECtHR because the court presidents nominated by Ziobro are not implementing the judgments ordering his return to work. Tuleya will also request a fine of PLN 15,000 and the arrest of the minister’s nominee

No representative of any non-governmental organisation supporting the authorities was chosen for the National Recovery Plan Monitoring Committee, which is supposed to supervise the spending of EU money. So the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy decided to re-select its members from the beginning.

Minister Ziobro’s people step up the repression of independent judges. Piotr Schab has just taken steps against former First President of the Supreme Court Małgorzata Gersdorf for allowing legal Supreme Court judges to pass a historic resolution undermining the legality of the neo-NCJ and the Disciplinary Chamber.

Kozielewicz is a legitimate judge of the Supreme Court, so the President’s gesture should be viewed in the context of the dispute of the PiS authorities with the EU over the rule of law. Meanwhile, acting President of the Supreme Court Małgorzata Manowska is taking steps that could lead to 30 legal judges being thrown out of the Supreme Court. This is a new development in the attempt by the current government and its nominees to take complete control over the still legal part of the Supreme Court and another attempt to pacify the old Supreme Court judges.

The electoral process is overseen by all courts – from district courts to the Supreme Court. And they are all tainted by their unconstitutional design and staffed by the politicised National Council of the Judiciary, so they do not provide basic guarantees of fair and honest voting.

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.

‘This is a show of contempt for the work we do. The authorities are proving that they can do anything they like with a judge,’ commented Judge Marzanna Piekarska-Drążek of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw in an interview with Onet on the decision to move her to the labour and social insurance division after 30 years of adjudicating in the criminal division. On Monday, after returning from her holiday, she found out that she is to work in a completely different place from next week.