Tag: judicial independence

In its second report, the Civil Development Forum (FOR) evaluates measures used by the European Union, Council of Europe and other international actors to deal with the rule of law breakdown in Poland

‘If there is such a possibility, let’s prosecute the judge. Regardless of whether or not the allegations are real,’ says Irena Majcher about the actions of the prosecution service. The Disciplinary Chamber will decide on Wednesday whether to revoke the judge’s immunity so that the prosecutor can charge her

‘These are inquisitorial proceedings. This has nothing to do with a fair trial,’ said Judge Beata Morawiec’s defence attorneys. The judge can still appeal against the Disciplinary Chamber’s decision

Tomasz Kosakowski donated 12,500 zlotys to the PiS election fund and has just been appointed a judge by President Andrzej Duda. His former partner from the law firm paid 25,000 zlotys to the fund and is now applying for a position in the administrative court

‘The only way to contain the increasing lawlessness that we are witnessing in Poland is for your Commission to step up to the task it is given under the Treaties to enforce EU law. Do not further delay action in the name of dialogue. One simply cannot engage in dialogue with a pyromaniac who is actively adding fuel to a blaze. The rule of law in Poland is not merely being attacked. It is being destroyed in plain sight. ‘ – writes a dozen of law professors from across the globe to the European Commission President

‘Judge Morawiec does not even have the status of a suspect, yet she is visited at dawn. We want to express our solidarity with Beata Morawiec, judge of the District Court in Kraków, who was not afraid to stand up to Minister Zbigniew Ziobro’ – says Jakub Kościerzyński, judge of the District Court in Bydgoszcz.

The public prosecutor, assisted by the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CAB), entered Judge Beata Morawiec’s house a little after 6 a.m. on 18 September. Threatening to search the house, he took her official laptop containing sensitive data. Judge Morawiec is the president of the Themis association of judges, which defends the courts and criticizes the Minister of Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro.

The rule of law in Poland and other member states is important not only for the citizens of these countries, but also for the future of the European project as a club of countries with high-quality democratic institutions safeguarding human rights – says Civil Development Forum (FOR)

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.