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We, the undersigned Supreme Court judges, oppose the practice of the Prosecutor’s Office of requesting for authorisation for criminal prosecution of judges based on allegations related to decision-making process and execution of judgments by the court’s staff. The alleged crimes committed by judges are not supported by compelling evidence. Moreover, the requests for waiver of judicial immunity are directed against judges who publicly express negative opinions about the state of the rule of law in Poland.

We oppose hearing the mentioned requests by the Disciplinary Chamber – a body whose independence and impartiality have been effectively compromised in the case-law of the Court of Justice, the Supreme Court, and ordinary courts. The Disciplinary Chamber ought to refrain from processing all cases pending before it until delivery of the final judgment of the Court of Justice.

The practice of requesting for waiver of judicial immunity shows how law can be exploited to discredit judges who express their criticism over changes in the justice system. At the same time, it is an attempt to create a ‘chilling effect’ on other judges by discouraging them from issuing rulings that can be perceived by the authorities as unpleasant, and from defending the rule of law.

We would like to draw the attention of the domestic and international public to the sustained dismantlement of democracy and the rule of law in the Republic of Poland.

The following Supreme Court judges signed this statement until it was made public

Civil Chamber

Dariusz Zawistowski – President

Teresa Bielska-Sobkowicz

Dariusz Dończyk

Tadeusz Ereciński

Józef Frąckowiak

Jacek Gudowski

Irena Gromska-Szuster

Paweł Grzegorczyk

Wojciech Katner

Monika Koba

Marian Kocon

Iwona Koper

Anna Kozłowska

Zbigniew Kwaśniewski

Grzegorz Misiurek

Barbara Myszka

Anna Owczarek

Władysław Pawlak

Henryk Pietrzkowski

Krzysztof Pietrzykowski

Agnieszka Piotrowska

Marta Romańska

Krzysztof Strzelczyk

Maria Szulc

Roman Trzaskowski

Katarzyna Tyczka-Rote

Bogumiła Ustjanicz

Karol Weitz

Tadeusz Wiśniewski

Kazimierz Zawada

Tadeusz Żyznowski

Criminal Chamber

Michał Laskowski – President

Stanisław Zabłocki

Tomasz Artymiuk

Jacek Błaszczyk

Krzysztof Cesarz

Małgorzata Gierszon

Jerzy Grubba

Przemysław Kalinowski

Jarosław Matras

Waldemar Płóciennik

Zbigniew Puszkarski

Andrzej Siuchniński

Barbara Skoczkowska

Dariusz Świecki

Małgorzata Wąsek-Wiaderek

Eugeniusz Wildowicz

Paweł Wiliński

Labour and Social Security Chamber

Józef Iwulski – President

Małgorzata Gersdorf

Teresa Flemming-Kulesza

Bohdan Bieniek

Jolanta Frańczak

Katarzyna Gonera

Beata Gudowska

Halina Kiryło

Roman Kuczyński

Jerzy Kuźniar

Dawid Miąsik

Maciej Pacuda

Piotr Prusinowski

Krzysztof Rączka

Romualda Spyt

Małgorzata Wrębiakowska-Marzec

Andrzej Wróbel