Jarosław Kaczyński: “there is indeed a problem in Poland with the rule of law, but the main sources of this state of affairs are court judgments contra legem. It is our duty to ensure that these judgments made in conflict with the law are swiftly revoked and the judges who issue them held accountable on disciplinary charges and, consequently, removed from the profession.”

“The involvement of a judge, who speaks up on such public matters related to the rule of law is certainly not a political voice.” Prof. Marek Safjan, judge of the Court of Justice of the EU and retired judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, comments on the reports that the disciplinary commissioners want to prosecute 1,200 judges throughout Poland who signed the letter to the OSCE asking it to oversee the postal presidential elections, which were to be held in May 2020.

The Regional Court in Amsterdam has already submitted a second enquiry to the Court of Justice of the EU regarding the performance of a European Arrest Warrant to Poland. Until the receipt of an answer from the CJEU, no person suspected or convicted of a crime by a court in Poland will be extradited from the Netherlands.

Przemysław Radzik’s letter to the local disciplinary commissioners at the district and appellate courts shows that Ziobro’s people are heading for a total attack on defiant judges. This is because such record-breaking disciplinary action is absurd and will be extensively commented on in the EU.

The paper shows how deterioration of the law-making standards enabled the adoption of laws that amplified the constitutional crisis and undermined confidence in Polish courts’ independence.

The Commissioner for Human Rights Adam Bodnar’s five-year term of office ends on 9 September. It is likely that PiS will treat the election of the new Commissioner as a show of hegemony and a symbolic retaliation against Bodnar as well as lawyers and civil society activists involved in the defence of the rule of law, which means there will be a ‘trench warfare’ between the Sejm and Senate in the autumn

Disciplinary Commissioner Przemysław Radzik attacks the authorities of an informal group of judges, which helps defend the independence of the courts and provides support to repressed judges. The commissioner pressed disciplinary charges against them, including the chairperson of this group, Bartłomiej Starosta, and Judge Waldemar Żurek

Judges from all over Poland are reporting themselves to the disciplinary commissioners. This is how they are supporting judges from Piotrków Trybunalski, who are being prosecuted for signing a letter to the OSCE, as well as the head of the largest association of judges in Poland, Krystian Markiewicz.

The Chamber of Labour has asked the CJEU to consider the status of the ‘new’ Supreme Court judges, as well as the bans on judges in the ‘muzzle’ act adopted by PiS. It has also requested the CJEU to consider its preliminary questions under an accelerated procedure

The day after the presidential election, you could hear announcements from the government camp that its national-Catholic revolution will be completed. In the first wave, there will be a reckoning with the free media, and the courts will have their final takeover. The government could also take control of schools and universities