A letter from the Prosecutor National of Poland to subordinate prosecutors

A letter from the Prosecutor National of Poland to subordinate prosecutors

Warsaw, December 16, 2019
Republic of Poland
The First Deputy Prosecutor General
National Prosecutor

Regional Prosecutors
Chiefs of The Branch Departments of Organized Crime
and Corruption National Prosecutor’s Office

Dear Sir or Madam,

Regarding the statement of Małgorzata Gersdorf, the First President of the Supreme Court of 19 December 2019 referring to the judgment of the Supreme Court Chamber of Labour and Social Security, reference number act: IIIPO 7/18, in which she has appealed to the judges of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court to “refrain from all judicial actions in pending cases”, please respond immediately to any cases of challenging by the adjudicating panels, the status of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, as a court within the meaning of Polish law or challenging the status of judges adjudicating in the Supreme Court or common court judges appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland at the request of the current National Council of Judiciary.

Statements and interpretations of M. Gersdorf are contrary to the Polish Constitution and applicable laws. The Prosecutor’s Office, as a body obliged by law to uphold the rule of law, must respond to attempts to disorganize the Polish democratic justice system.

Therefore, if such a case is perceived in any proceedings, I order you to immediately submit a request to disqualify a judge or judges from adjudicating in such a case and to notify this case to the Regional Prosecutor.

At the same time, I oblige regional prosecutors to send immediately in such cases notification of the incident to the Disciplinary Commissioner of Common Court judges and the Disciplinary Spokesman of the Supreme Court.

The cases of taking such a position by members of adjudicating panels of the courts and actions taken in connection therewith should be each time notified to the Department of Court Proceedings of the National Prosecutor’s Office.

Please, promptly forward this order to subordinate prosecutors for information and application.

Yours faithfully,

Bogdan Święczkowski
National Prosecutor

Leave a Reply