MAIN POINTs
1
On July 2, 2026, Poland’s Supreme Court (Supreme Court) overturned the order of Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek imposing an immediate break in the official duties of Judge Łukasz Piebiak, a member of the National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ), finding that it had no justified grounds.
2
The Supreme Court thereby confirmed the assessment we have presented from the outset: the conditions of Article 130 § 1 of the Law on the System of Common Courts were not met, and the Minister’s decision was an act of repression for the judge’s protest against the questionable actions of the new NCJ.
3
This is not the Minister’s last defeat before the Supreme Court — on July 7, 2026, the Supreme Court also refused to waive the immunity of Judge Piotr Schab, the Disciplinary Prosecutor for Judges of the Common Courts, in a case concerning the alleged defamation of Waldemar Żurek.
On July 2, 2026, Poland’s Supreme Court overturned the order of Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek of June 15 immediately suspending from official duties Judge Łukasz Piebiak, who is also a member of the NCJ. As the presiding judge, Judge Marek Siwek, stated, the order “has no justified grounds” and does not meet the conditions laid down in the Law on the System of Common Courts.
Let us recall the context: the order was issued just days after Judge Piebiak — elected to the Council without the backing of the ruling majority — protested against the political resolution of the new NCJ, in which the Council groundlessly challenged the mandate of its own previous composition, and against the Council’s endorsement of the Minister’s unlawful narrative about the dismissal of the Disciplinary Prosecutor, Judge Piotr Schab. The Presidium of the NCJ — without any legal basis whatsoever — also suspended the judge’s access to the Council’s documents.
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Source of cover photo: Ordo Iuris
