“An attack by the executive authorities on the independence, autonomy and autonomy of the National Council of the Judiciary is an assault on the independence of courts and judges, a strike against fundamental civil rights,” states the Presidium of the National Council of the Judiciary in its resolution.
The resolution urged all state bodies, EU institutions, the Council of Europe, Ministers of Justice, and all guardians of judicial independence to take steps that protect the autonomy and independence of the National Council of the Judiciary. It described the council as a constitutional organ of the state that guarantees court independence and the balance of power, and it called for clarification of all circumstances surrounding the incident.
Storm on the National Council for the Judiciary
On Wednesday, the National Council for the Judiciary announced via social media that police and prosecutors entered the council’s headquarters unannounced and demanded the release of documentation related to the disciplinary spokesperson in their absence.
The spokesperson for the Attorney General, Prosecutor Anna Adamiak, later clarified that officers had not entered the council’s central premises, but had entered rooms used by deputy disciplinary prosecutors for judges in ordinary courts.
The National Council for the Judiciary rents space to deputy disciplinary prosecutors. The visit by prosecutors and police was connected to ongoing criminal proceedings.
– Adamiak explained.
Powerful actions
The resolution, distributed to the media and signed by the chairwoman Dagmara Pawełczyk-Woicka, stated that the Presidium views the July 3 actions by the Prosecutor’s Office and the police as violations of legal provisions and of the core principles of a democratic constitutional state. It said these actions undermined the independence and autonomy of the council, compromised the constitutional order, and affected the proper functioning of separate authorities as well as citizens’ right to effective judicial protection.
– added.
The text asserted that the assault on the council’s headquarters by a group of several dozen armed officers, led by a prosecutor subordinate to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, involved the destruction of state property and violated the principle of governance based on the rule of law.
“An attack on a constitutional organ of the state”
According to the Presidium, several due process provisions were breached when the council’s headquarters were entered without prior notification to the chairman and without first requesting the voluntary handover of documents from the judges’ disciplinary spokesman Piotr Schab. The resolution also alleged that outsiders were barred from participation in the search and that media representatives were removed, hindering social oversight of the actions by the executive branch.
The actions, described as politically motivated, were deemed a direct attack on a constitutional body. They were portrayed as an extraordinary violation of the rule of law and the state balance, contrary to the prevailing Polish legal order.
– emphasized.
Later that Wednesday, Adamiak announced that during a search of the offices used by deputy disciplinary prosecutors for judge Piotr Schab, all improperly stored procedural files of disciplinary cases had been seized. She noted these files should have been handed over months earlier to the disciplinary prosecutors of the Minister of Justice, referred to as ad hoc proponents.
She recalled that on March 25 the Internal Affairs Department of the National Public Prosecution Service began proceedings regarding abuses of power by deputy disciplinary spokespeople in connection with their failure to provide the files to the appointed ad hoc spokespersons. She added that the ad hoc spokespeople had repeatedly requested the release of these files and, after noncompliance, had requested the public prosecutor’s office to secure them as evidence.
As Adamiak explained, the ongoing activities involved the deputy disciplinary prosecutors in offices located at the National Council’s address, but not at the council’s main buildings. Consequently, she argued, the prosecutor’s actions had no bearing on the National Council of the Judiciary as an institution or its public-facing duties. Since the start of the year, Minister Bodnar has appointed ad hoc spokespeople to handle specific cases involving judges. With the decision to appoint the Disciplinary Ombudsman of the Minister of Justice, the deputies’ powers in these cases are curtailed.
– indicates MS.
Responses followed from senior judicial figures, including the first president of the Supreme Court, Małgorzata Manowska, who condemned the officers’ actions at the council’s building. A spokesperson from the President’s Office, Andrzej Dera, conveyed that President Andrzej Duda is concerned about the searches conducted at the council’s premises.
READ MORE:
– And the President of the Supreme Court is outraged by the Bodnarists’ intrusion into the National Council of the Judiciary. The actions were driven by political motives, not legal necessity.
– ONLY HERE. Storm on the National Council for the Judiciary. Minister Andrzej Dera notes a duality emerging between law and force, hinting at a drift toward dictatorship.
– ONLY HERE. Violent entry into the council’s headquarters. Journalists were expelled and armored cabinets torn open.
— Prosecutor and police at the council’s headquarters. A PiS president calls this another breach of the law by the current ruling team.
nt/PAP
Source: wPolityce