Judicial panel changes in the Romanowski arrest case remain unchanged
A Warsaw district court official confirmed that there are no grounds to alter the current orders in the case concerning MP Marcin Romanowski. This was stated by Judge Anna Ptaszek of the Warsaw District Court when speaking with the press agency. As a result, the prosecutor’s office could not remove Judge Przemysław Dziwański from the panel handling the matter.
On September 27 the Warsaw District Court will review the prosecutor’s appeal against the decision of the Mokotów District Court issued on July 16. That decision refused to authorize Romanowski’s arrest due to his immunity tied to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Earlier, the National Prosecutor’s Office announced that the prosecutor from the investigation team No. 2 submitted a request to the President of the Warsaw District Court under Article 47b paragraphs 1 and 3 of the Act on the Organisation of Common Courts. The request aimed to change the court composition by removing the registrar, Judge Przemysław Dziwański, citing a long-standing obstacle and the inability to hear the case in the current setup.
When can a change in the panel occur?
The law states that a change in the court’s composition is permissible only if hearing the case is impossible in its current form or if there is a long-term obstacle to proceeding. Decisions on such changes are made by the president of the court or a judge authorized by the president.
Judge Ptaszek, the spokesperson for criminal matters at the Warsaw District Court, told PAP that the president of the 10th department issued an order stating there were no grounds to modify the previous orders following the PK’s request.
The complaint from the National Prosecutor’s Office filed on August 21 was not accepted. The investigation deadline remains September 27, and the panel of three judges will decide as originally appointed.
Defender Bartosz Lewandowski, representing Romanowski, shared this update on Platform X on Wednesday.
Complaint from the public prosecutor’s office
The Warsaw District Court announced on August 14 that the hearing on the PK complaint against the refusal to arrest Romanowski would take place on September 27. The verdict will be delivered by three judges: Przemysław Dziwański, Wanda Jankowska-Bebeszko and Leszek Parzyszek, following a decision by the chair of the 10th Criminal Division, Judge Monika Jankowska.
The court also reported that President Jankowska decided to let the three judges decide independently on the case’s judge composition.
On August 12 the court announced that Judge Dziwański had been excluded from the three-member panel. The Prosecutor’s Office had asked for his exclusion on August 2, arguing he had been nominated by the improperly formed National Council of the Judiciary and that he had signed a list supporting the former deputy head of the Ministry of Justice, Justice Łukasz Piebiak. That request was rejected on August 7, but on August 12 Judge Krzysztof Chmielewski removed Dziwański while considering a separate request from Judge Aleksandra Rusin-Batko to exclude herself from the jury.
The central legal question, described as a Gordian knot by Judge Ptaszek in mid-August, is the coexistence of two contradictory final decisions regarding Judge Dziwański. With both decisions in force, there is no available appeal. Judge Ptaszek stated that the judges deciding on Romanowski’s arrest will have to determine the jury composition independently.
Romanowski, a member of Sovereign Poland and a PiS faction MP who previously served as deputy head of the Ministry of Justice overseeing the Justice Fund, faces charges including the alleged manipulation of competitions for money from the fund. The charges involve an amount exceeding PLN 112,126,000.
The complaint argues that the immunity protection enjoyed by Romanowski within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe does not extend to the acts he is accused of. Investigators indicated that if the Warsaw court upholds the decision to refuse arrest on immunity grounds, a request to revoke his immunity may be filed anew.
READ ALSO: The court will hear the neo-prosecutor’s complaint against Romanowski on September 27. Judge Dziwański remains on the bench
yes/PAP
Source: wPolityce