MAIN POINTS
1
In late September, the Polish Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek sent letters to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, in which he called on judges appointed since 2018 to cease adjudicating, threatening that otherwise they would face financial and even criminal consequences.
2
The conduct of Minister Żurek is not only devoid of any factual or legal basis, but moreover constitutes an almost textbook example of an unlawful threat within the meaning of the provisions of the Criminal Code.
3
This action prompted a broad response from the relevant authorities: the College of the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) and the Presidium of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) adopted relevant resolutions, the President of the Republic of Poland addressed it in a letter, while the First President of the Supreme Court (SN) filed a notification of a possible criminal offense.
Pressure from Minister Żurek on the judges of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court
The distinctive attitude of the current Polish Minister of Justice, Waldemar Żurek, toward the principles of the independence of the courts and judicial independence is certainly well known to the regular readers of our Rule of Law Observer. It stems in part from the conflict over the reform of the Polish judiciary, undertaken by the previous United Right coalition government led by Law and Justice (PS). In this conflict, the EU institutions, overstepping their authority, clearly sided with the then left-liberal opposition, which today governs under the leadership of former European Council President Donald Tusk.
At the end of last month, however, the current ruling coalition crossed yet another line. Poland’s Minister of Justice has sent letters to the Supreme Court (SN) and to the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA), in which he called on judges who have sat on both courts of last resort since 2018 to cease violating the law, that is, in practice, to resign from the positions they hold. If they failed to heed this appeal, Minister Żurek threatened them with the possibility of being held civilly or even criminally liable.
(…)
Source of cover photo: Adobe Stock
