On Wednesday, Warsaw witnessed a tense scene as prosecutors from the National Prosecutor’s Office entered the headquarters of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), accompanied by police. They demanded the release of documents related to disciplinary spokesmen who were not present at the time, according to a statement released by the KRS on social media.
The spokesperson for the National Prosecutor’s Office, Anna Adamiak, clarified the reasons behind the prosecutors’ entry. She assured that the actions “have nothing to do with the operations of the KRS, nor do they include the premises occupied by it.”
Adamiak elaborated that they demanded the issuance of items by deputies of the disciplinary spokesman for judges of common courts, who reside in the same building, next to the offices of the National Council of the Judiciary. She explained that the takeover of documents depended on the “attitude of the persons who are summoned to release them.”
If they refuse, police officers then undertake search operations, she stated.
Earlier, in an interview with Polsat News, Dagmara Pawełczyk-Woicka, the chairwoman of the KRS, reported that the actions pertained to the office of the disciplinary spokesman for common court judges, who was currently on vacation and not in Warsaw. The main disciplinary spokesman, Piotr Schab, informed her he could arrive the next day but did not consent to the release of any documents.
Social media posts shared by KRS included a photo showing a destroyed cabinet with KRS files, indicating the intensity of the search.
Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), commented that the searches in the building on Rakowiecka Street in Warsaw represented another act of lawbreaking by the current ruling left-liberal government. He criticized the selective application of law by the authorities, which he said leads to a massive legal loophole.
“Another act of breaking the law. This is everyday life today,” summarized Kaczyński.
During a Wednesday press conference, Prosecutor Anna Adamiak elaborated that the operations in the KRS involved “demanding the issuance of items by deputies of the disciplinary spokesman for judges of common courts.”
She specified that it concerned disciplinary proceeding files that deputies should have transferred several months ago to ad hoc disciplinary spokesmen appointed by the minister of justice. Despite losing the authority to conduct disciplinary proceedings in specified cases, the deputies continued to summon witnesses and impose fines on those who failed to appear.
Justice Minister Adam Bodnar had appointed these “ad hoc spokesmen” to handle specific cases concerning judges. The ongoing legal and constitutional controversies underline the profound legal gaps and the growing tensions within Poland’s judiciary.
