On Friday, April 12, 2024, Prime Minister Donald Tusk appointed members of the commission at the request of Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar. This is already the second codification commission established under the Ministry of Justice. At the beginning of April 2024, the Prime Minister appointed members of the codification commission for criminal law, which is tasked with reviewing this law and cleaning up the criminal codes after the times of Ziobro. Leading this commission is a legitimate judge of the Supreme Court from the Criminal Chamber, Prof. Włodzimierz Wróbel from Jagiellonian University.

The chairman of the codification commission for civil law is also known. It will be headed by the former president of the Constitutional Tribunal and judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Prof. Marek Safjan. Its members have not yet been appointed. There will also be a fourth commission for family law.

The codification commissions for criminal and civil law operated during the PO-PSL government, but they were dissolved by Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro. Minister Bodnar is reactivating them and appointing two new ones – for family law and the system of common courts and the prosecutor’s office.

All commissions are meant to help Bodnar reform the law – to clean it from the bad changes introduced during the PiS government, but also to adapt it to the present times. The commissions consist of recognized legal experts and authorities. The proposals developed by them will be presented for further consultations and legislative work.

On Friday, April 12, 2024, Minister Bodnar, while presenting the letters of appointment to the codification commission for the system of common courts and the prosecutor’s office, said: “Its establishment is of particular importance because such an institution did not exist before. Thanks to your work, it will be possible to introduce reforms and return to the rule of law in the field of Courts and the Prosecutor’s Office. The mission of the commission is to support reforms and repair reality so that the legislative solutions developed will function and lay the groundwork for further changes that will improve the operation of Courts and the Prosecutor’s Office for the years to come.”

And the chairman of this commission, Prof. Krystian Markiewicz from the University of Silesia – in the photo at the top – added: “We are facing a huge challenge. Courts and the Prosecutor’s Office must operate efficiently and fairly. This is our task, which we must fulfill.”

The task of this commission will be to develop draft legislative acts. It will also be responsible for providing opinions on draft legal acts sent to them for assessment by the Minister of Justice.

Minister Bodnar did not choose Prof. Krystian Markiewicz without reason. The largest association of Polish judges led by him, Iustitia, was a serious defender of the rule of law. It was thanks in part to Iustitia that Minister Ziobro, despite reprisals, did not break the judges.

This commission will indeed determine how the courts will ultimately be structured and how they will operate. It will decide on the new Supreme Court (SN), the new National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), and whether the Minister of Justice will continue to have administrative oversight over the courts. Judges are against this oversight because the times of Ziobro showed that it leads to control over the courts and judges.

This commission will also decide whether neo-judges will lose their appointments from the neo-KRS or whether they will be subject to verification. Finally, this commission will develop the independence of the prosecutor’s office from politics and the ultimate reform of the prosecutor’s office. That’s why there are also members of the association of independent prosecutors from Lex Super Omnia in the commission, who defended the independence of the prosecutor’s office.

The codification commission for the system of common courts and the prosecutor’s office faces a significant challenge. It not only has to clean up the justice system after years of Ziobro’s rule but also has to push the courts forward to make them more efficient, modern, and citizen-oriented. Members of Iustitia spoke about such courts a few days ago at their XXX congress. Prof. Krystian Markiewicz also speaks of such courts, emphasizing that there is no going back to the courts before 2015.

Here is the composition of the codification commission for the system of common courts and the prosecutor’s office, led by Prof. Krystian Markiewicz:

1. Bohdan Bieniek: Legitimate judge of the Supreme Court from the Chamber of Labor and Social Insurance. He was involved in defending the rule of law and chaired the adjudicating panel that confirmed the expiration of the parliamentary mandate of Mariusz Kamiński from PiS.

2. Dr. Maciej Czajka: Judge of the District Court in Krakow. He engaged in defending independent courts, for which he faced reprisals.

3. Dr. hab. Katarzyna Gajda-Roszczynialska: Judge of the District Court for Krakow Krowodrza.

4. Dr. Michał Węglowski: Prosecutor of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Gdańsk. He is a co-author of a competing draft law on the new prosecutor’s office, separate from Lex Super Omnia.

5. Dr. hab. Karolina Kremens: Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, Administration, and Economics at the University of Wrocław. She is the vice-chair of the commission.

6. Dr. Jarosław Matras: Legitimate judge of the Supreme Court from the Criminal Chamber. In recent years, he has defended the independence of the Supreme Court and advocated for the rights of persecuted judges.

7. Dr. Michał Mistygacz: Prosecutor of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw. He is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Systems at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Warsaw and a member of Lex Super Omnia.

8. Jarosław Onyszczuk: Prosecutor of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw. He is a member of Lex Super Omnia and has been actively involved in defending the independence of the prosecutor’s office. He advocates for persecuted prosecutors.

9. Dr. Małgorzata Szeroczyńska: Member of the National Council of Prosecutors, prosecutor of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Żyrardów. She is affiliated with Lex Super Omnia.

10. Dr. hab. Maciej Taborowski: Professor at the Institute of Legal Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He worked with Bodnar when he was the Ombudsman. He has been involved in defending the rule of law and specializes in European law.

11. Prof. dr hab. Piotr Tuleja: Head of the Department of Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw. He is a retired judge of the Constitutional Tribunal.

12. Dr. hab. Marcin Walasik: Professor at the Department of Civil Procedure at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. He is a judge of the District Court Poznań-Grunwald and Jeżyce in Poznań.

13. Dr. Bartosz Wołodkiewicz: Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Procedure at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw.

14. Aleksandra Wrzesińska-Nowacka: Judge of the Supreme Administrative Court, adjudicating in the Financial Chamber.

15. Dr. Tomasz Zalasiński: Legal advisor, member of the State Tribunal from 2019 to 2023.

The secretary of the Commission is Dr. Urszula Żółtak, a judge from the capital city, associated with Iustitia.

The article was published in Polish in OKO.press on 12 April 2024.