The stance of the National Association of Judges of the Republic of Poland based in Kraków, regarding July 3rd, 2024.
The Association of Judges of the Republic of Poland reports with outrage that on the day of July 3rd, 2024, a representative of the prosecutor’s office accompanied by Police officers entered the headquarters of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), a constitutional body upholding the independence of the courts. The intrusion took place without the consent of the Chairman of the National Council of the Judiciary.
The intervention’s purpose was to forcibly extract files of disciplinary proceedings conducted by the Disciplinary Spokesman for Judges of Common Courts and his deputies.
The current situation results from the actions of the current Minister of Justice and is related to the recent unlawful takeover of control over the prosecutor’s office.
In the opinion of the Association of Judges of the Republic of Poland, it is unacceptable – especially considered from the angle of the rule of law – for a situation in which an executive authority and its subordinate prosecutors intervene forcefully at the headquarters of the body responsible for protecting the independence of the courts to take place, mainly because the actions taken so far have not been subject of judicial control.
No less unbelievable is that the actions described constitute, in essence, an attack of the executive authority on judges; they aim to seize the files of inconvenient proceedings for this authority.
The described state of affairs raises real concerns about the rule of law in the Republic of Poland.
