““An attack by the executive authorities on the independence, autonomy and autonomy of the National Council of the Judiciary is an attack on the independence of courts and judges, an attack on fundamental civil rights,” reads the resolution of the Presidium of the National Council of the Judiciary.
The resolution called on “all state bodies, bodies of the European Union, the Council of Europe, Ministers of Justice and all entities guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary to take measures aimed at protecting the autonomy and independence of the National Council of the Judiciary, which is a constitutional organ of the state and guarantor of the independence of the courts and the balance of power, and for the explanation of all the circumstances of the incident.
Storm on the National Council for the Judiciary
On Wednesday, the National Council for the Judiciary announced on social media that “the police and the prosecutor entered the headquarters of the National Council for the Judiciary unannounced and demanded the release of the disciplinary spokesperson’s documentation in their absence.”
The spokeswoman for the Attorney General, Prosecutor Anna Adamiak, said at the time that the police and the prosecutor had not entered the headquarters of the National Council of the Judiciary, but only the rooms occupied by the deputy disciplinary prosecutors of the judges of the ordinary courts.
The National Council for the Judiciary rents out rooms for deputy disciplinary prosecutors. Therefore, prosecutors and police officers came to this place in connection with their activities in criminal proceedings.
– Adamiak explained.
Powerful actions
The resolution sent to the media and signed by the chairwoman of the National Council of the Judiciary, Dagmara Pawełczyk-Woicka, stated that “the Presidium of the National Council of the Judiciary – the body that monitors the independence of courts and judges – states that the forceful actions of the Prosecutor’s Office and the police that took place on July 3 this year at the headquarters of the National Council of the Judiciary were carried out in violation of the legal provisions and in violation of all fundamental principles of a democratic constitutional state.
They led to a violation of the independence, autonomy and autonomy of the National Council of the Judiciary and, consequently, to a violation of the constitutional legal order of the Republic of Poland, the principle of legalism and separate authorities, as well as the independence of the judiciary and judges, as well as the citizen’s right to effective judicial protection.
– added.
The resolution ruled that “the attack on the headquarters of the National Council for the Judiciary by a group of several dozen armed police officers led by a prosecutor directly subordinate to the Minister of Justice-Attorney General, and the destruction of state property under the pretext of performing procedural acts constitutes a denial of the principle of a democratic state governed by the rule of law.”
““An attack on a constitutional organ of the state”
According to the Presidium of the National Council for the Judiciary, there was also a violation of a number of provisions of criminal procedure by entering the Council’s headquarters without first notifying the Chairman of the National Council for the Judiciary of the intention to search and the obligation to first ask the holder of the documents – the judges’ disciplinary spokesman Piotr Schab – to hand them over voluntarily. In addition, according to the resolution, outsiders were denied permission to participate in the search and “media representatives were forcibly removed, which made social control of the illegal actions of the executive power impossible.”
The purely politically motivated actions of the prosecutor’s office and the police on July 3 at the headquarters of the National Council of the Judiciary constitute an attack on a constitutional body of the state, unprecedented in Poland and in Europe, which is a clear example of a violation of the principle of the rule of law and the balance of power, and is contrary to the legal order in force in Poland.
– emphasized.
On Wednesday afternoon, prosecutor Adamiak announced that during a search of the offices of deputy disciplinary prosecutors of judge Piotr Schab, “all illegally stored procedural files of disciplinary cases were secured.” She specified that these were files of disciplinary proceedings that should have been handed over several months ago by deputy prosecutors to the disciplinary prosecutors of the Minister of Justice, the so-called ad hoc proponents.
She also recalled that on 25 March, the Internal Affairs Department of the National Public Prosecution Service had initiated proceedings concerning abuse of power by the deputies of the disciplinary spokesperson in connection with the refusal to provide the files of the disciplinary procedure to the appointed “ad hoc spokespersons”. She added that “ad hoc spokespersons” had repeatedly asked the deputies of the disciplinary prosecutor to release these files and, after they were not released, had asked the public prosecutor’s office to secure them as evidence in the proceedings.
As she explained, these activities continued to be undertaken by them even though the appointment of ‘ad hoc spokespersons’ resulted in the loss of the powers of the disciplinary spokesperson’s deputies to conduct disciplinary procedures in the cases indicated: witnesses were called and people who failed to appear were punished with disciplinary penalties.
“The activities of the prosecutor have nothing to do with the National Council for the Judiciary.
Adamiak stressed that the activities were carried out in the offices of the deputy disciplinary prosecutors, which are located at the address of the National Council of the Judiciary, but not in the buildings of the National Council of the Judiciary. Therefore, she said, the prosecutor’s activities have nothing to do with the activities of the National Council of the Judiciary, and therefore do not constitute a violation of the constitutional right of a body such as the National Council of the Judiciary. as it presents itself in the public space.
Since the beginning of this year, Minister Bodnar has appointed “ad hoc spokespeople” to handle specific cases involving judges.
With the pronouncement of the decision to appoint the Disciplinary Ombudsman of the Minister of Justice, the ombudsmen currently handling these cases lose the right to take any action in this regard.
– indicates MS.
The first president of the Supreme Court, Małgorzata Manowska, expressed her outrage at the officers’ actions in the building of the National Council of the Judiciary. Andrzej Dera from the President’s Office, in turn, said that President Andrzej Duda is concerned about the searches in the building of the National Council of the Judiciary.
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nt/PAP
Source: wPolityce