The attempts by Donald Tusk to remove from office all judicial officials of the former Conservative Law and Justice (PiS) Party has received a setback from Poland’s Supreme Court. Back in January he Tusk-led Liberal government had dismissed and replaced Dariusz Barski, the national prosecutor appointed during the previous government.
The government argued before the court that Barski’s appointment was invalid because he had previously retired, so the Tusk government could force him out. Dariusz Korneluk was appointed his successor, albeit without having the required countersignature of the PiS-allied President Andrzej Duda.
The court rejected the argument, but the government refused to accept the ruling. On the same day, an appeals court also rejected the government’s argument that the court should overturn a lower court’s decision to block the detention of a PiS ex-minister.
The European Commission, which had criticised and financially punished the previous PiS government over their attempts at judicial reforms, has made no move over these actions by Tusk while PiS supporters allege the government’s actions are “lawbreaking.”
Immediately after the election of the Tusk government, the European Commission unlocked Poland’s post-pandemic and structural funding on pledges, as yet unfulfilled, of legislation to rectify the issues Brussels had previously insisted must be tackled.
The criminal law chamber of the Supreme Court on September 27 ruled that the appointment of Barski as national prosecutor in 2022 was binding and that he therefore remains national prosecutor.
Duda said he “welcomed the ruling with satisfaction” adding that it “confirms the correctness of my position on the illegality of the removal of prosecutor Barski by the government.”
The ruling was also welcomed by PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, who told reporters: “This proves that the actions of the government were illegal and that the prosecutors it has appointed are acting illegally and will one day be punished for their actions.”
The decision was rejected by the justice minister Adam Bodnar as “having no legal force” because, he said, according to the government the court was made up of some judges appointed on recommendation of the National Judicial Council (KRS). That is the body responsible for recommending judicial appointments, which the present government has claimed was in violation of the Constitution and European court rulings.
Poland’s PM Donald Tusk has admitted to taking legal “short cuts” in his battle to reform the country’s judiciary. https://t.co/QCl69iRTV8
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 17, 2024
The Supreme Court is the top court on all but constitutional matters, which are handled by the Constitutional Court (TK). Neither are recognised as being legitimate by the current government because of the dispute over the role they played in the appointment of judges by the National Judicial Council.
The Supreme Court ruling and the justice minister’s reaction have resulted in the government refusing to accept the legitimacy of top courts and judges appointed during the lifetime of the PiS government. The PiS opposition and the Supreme Court refuted the legitimacy of appointments to top positions in the public prosecution service, which might imply that all prosecutions and court rulings were open to question.
Bodnar was also unhappy about the September 27 appeal court ruling involving PiS MP Marcin Romanowski, a former deputy justice minister in the PiS government. The court ruled that Romanowski cannot be detained as he is covered by immunity as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
Romanowski is one of several members of the former PiS administration against whom the Tusk government has sought to bring criminal charges.
In July, Romanowski had his Polish parliamentary immunity lifted regarding 11 charges, including for alleged participation in an organised crime group. He was then detained but a court ordered his release on finding that he still enjoyed immunity as a member of PACE.
It was the prosecutors’ appeal against that decision that was rejected in the final appeals court ruling.
Bartosz Lewandowski, Romanowski’s attorney, issued a statement on platform X in which he wrote that “the detention was unlawful and carried out with an excess of power,” adding that prosecutors “initiated proceedings against a specific person despite there being a formal obstacle to conducting them.”
In his opinion this implied: “The National Prosecutor’s Office is obliged to issue a decision to discontinue all 11 charges against Marcin Romanowski.” This view has been rejected by the justice ministry, which announced that it was submitting a petition to PACE for the lifting of the MP’s immunity.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for removing beavers from levees in the country, saying they damaged flood embankments. https://t.co/pDxgCvV14A
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 26, 2024
