Main points
1
Unlawful dismissals. Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar removed Judge Piotr Schab from the positions of President of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw and Disciplinary Prosecutor for Judges of the Common Courts, in violation of the law and in disregard of rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal. The Supreme Court does not recognize these dismissals.
2
Police attacks on the NCJ. In July 2024, armed police officers forcibly broke open armored filing cabinets at the seat of the National Council of the Judiciary, and in January 2026 the files of disciplinary cases were seized — with no legal basis given.
3
Takeover of the judiciary. The unlawful replacement of court presidents across Poland enabled Donald Tusk’s government to assign cases selectively and to eliminate independent judges, especially in the strategically important Warsaw appellate court.
4
A politicized prosecutor’s office. Since 2024, the prosecutor’s office has effectively been subordinated to the executive branch, although some prosecutors are refusing to take part in politically motivated actions.
5
A threat to the constitutional order. Judge Schab assesses that the actions of the Tusk government meet the elements of offenses that strike at the constitutional order of the state, and he regards the European Commission’s favorable rule of law reports on Poland as the product of political manipulation.
Judge Piotr Schab, the lawful President of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw and Disciplinary Prosecutor for Judges of the Common Courts, speaks with Olivier Bault, Communications Director of the Ordo Iuris Institute, describing the behind-the-scenes story of his unlawful removal from both positions, the police operations at the seat of the National Council of the Judiciary, and what he considers the systematic destruction of the independence of the Polish judiciary by the current executive branch.
Dismissal in violation of the law
In his conversation with Olivier Bault, Judge Schab recalls that Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar removed him from the position of President of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw at the very start of 2024, despite an unfavorable opinion from the court’s college of judges and in defiance of a protective order of the Constitutional Tribunal. Under the applicable provisions, in the event of an unfavorable opinion from the college of judges, the minister was required to submit a motion to the National Council of the Judiciary — which he did not do. “The minister ignored the National Council of the Judiciary, despite the college of judges’s opinion being unfavorable to him. The protective order of the Constitutional Tribunal was entirely ignored,” Judge Schab assessed.
The judge was deprived of physical access to his office and to the records from mid-March 2024, when his locks were changed, his access to the court’s IT network was cut off, and his belongings were removed from the office. “It was done in a brutal manner. A usurper was installed, who knew perfectly well that he was breaking the law,” he stated bluntly. In an analogous manner, over the following months, the presidents and vice-presidents of the vast majority of appellate, regional, and district courts across Poland were replaced.
As for the position of Disciplinary Prosecutor for Judges of the Common Courts, Minister Bodnar issued a decree dismissing Judge Schab in April 2025, having a month earlier attempted to dismiss Judge Przemysław Radzik in the same way, and in July 2025 — Judge Michał Lasota from the position of Deputy Disciplinary Prosecutor for Judges of the Common Courts. Judge Schab stressed that the term of office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor is set by statute and makes no provision for removal — precisely in order to preclude any effective influence by the Ministry of Justice over the person holding that function. That is why, despite the government’s decrees, the Supreme Court consistently recognizes the standing of Judge Schab and his deputies to perform the duties of the prosecutor, and does not recognize the new appointees of Donald Tusk’s government.
Police with drills at the NCJ
Judge Schab described in detail two attacks on the seat of the National Council of the Judiciary. In July 2024, thirty police officers, armed and equipped with crowbars and drills, broke open and destroyed armored filing cabinets — with the clear aim of producing a chilling effect and intimidating judges who would not yield to the authorities. In January 2026, police and prosecutors forcibly seized the files of disciplinary cases conducted by the prosecutor, while being unable to point to any clear legal basis for their actions. “They stole those files from us. The police officers were laughing at the prosecutors; the prosecutors were scared of their own shadows,” Judge Schab recounted, calling the entire operation a humiliation for the authorities.
Why the Court of Appeal in Warsaw?
Judge Schab explained why the political takeover of the administration of justice began precisely with the capital’s appellate court. It is the largest court of appeal in Poland, hearing cases of the highest public importance: criminal cases involving politicians, the largest proceedings concerning organized crime and abuses of power. Demolishing this structure — by installing the authorities’ own presidents, assigning cases selectively, and eliminating inconvenient judges — amounts, in his words, to “the complete political domination of Warsaw’s administration of justice.” As an example, he cited Judge Dariusz Łubowski, an outstanding specialist in international criminal law, who was removed from adjudicating solely for words critical of those in power.
“A creeping coup d’état”
Responding to the statement by the President of the Constitutional Tribunal, Bogdan Święczkowski, about a “creeping coup d’état,” Judge Schab confirmed that there is a violation of the provisions of the Criminal Code concerning attacks on the constitutional order of the state (Articles 127 and 128 of the Criminal Code), and he stressed that he is in a position to demonstrate it. He called last year’s European Commission rule of law report scandalous, as it assessed the situation in Poland favorably — despite, as he emphasizes, glaring violations of the Constitution. He invoked the thesis of the historian Professor Andrzej Nowak about propaganda in a Stalinist mold, based on the inversion of concepts: what is lawlessness is to be called democracy and the rule of law.
Source of cover photo: iStock
