Tag: Zbigniew Ziobro

Independent Judge Piotr Gąciarek from Warsaw has been removed from adjudicating in important criminal cases. He will be assigned to a quieter division in the court. This is a demotion for him and a punishment for his bold speech in court in defence of the free courts. Ziobro’s disciplinary commissioner is also taking an interest in Gąciarek

In precedent-setting judgments, the Supreme Administrative Court undermined the validity of the selection of the new Supreme Court judges. It ruled that the recruitment to the Supreme Court was defective from the outset, while the new NCJ, which gave the nominations, was dependent on the politicians. The Supreme Administrative Court’s judgments have now opened the door to declaring the new Supreme Court judges illegal.

National Prosecutor Bogdan Święczkowski has demanded that the Supreme Court hand over the files of cases heard by the Criminal Chamber. They are needed by the prosecutors from the internal affairs department of the National Prosecutor’s Office. This is a special unit that was supposed to combat pathologies in the judiciary, and has recently been involved in prosecuting judges

Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro declared that he does not recognise the justification of the CJEU ordering the “disregard of the order of national law”. The Court of Justice of the European Union today assessed Andrzej Duda’s disregard of the measure issued by the Supreme Administrative Court in the autumn of 2018, which prohibited the appointment of new Supreme Court judges.

President Andrzej Duda has given a high promotion to Deputy Minister of Justice Anna Dalkowska. The President also promoted 58 people to Poland’s largest court, including Ziobro’s nominees and associates, as well as spouses and partners of the ‘good change’ judges

In the Ministry of Justice, convicted persons without a higher education degree will be able to supervise courts and judges. An amendment to this end, using the insertion method, has been included in PiS’s draft amendment to the act on misdemeanours.

The special internal department of the National Prosecutor’s Office has called for a special investigation into seven judges from Cracow. All of them issued judgments concerning the prosecutor Mariusz Krasoń, who has been persecuted for displaying independence. This is a case of clear interference in the judges’ work, and of putting pressure on one of them.

The current authority will have increasingly greater control over the Supreme Administrative Court, which is at the same level of importance as the Supreme Court. This is because judges and lawyers who have decided to cooperate with the authorities and Minister Ziobro’s ministry are applying for positions in that court.

The chief disciplinary commissioner, Piotr Schab, has been nominated to the office of president of the Regional Court in Warsaw. Schab is known for prosecuting independent judges. If this information is officially confirmed, it will mean a stricter course for Poland’s largest court.

Increasingly more people are involved in prosecuting and repressing independent judges. Not only have other judges joined Schab’s, Radzik’s and Lasota’s team of disciplinary commissioners, but so have assistants. The costs of employing them are also increasing, because they spent PLN 156,000 on travel and accommodation alone last year.