Manowska referred in this way to the assumptions of the draft law regulating the status of judges appointed on the basis of the provisions of the National Council of the Judiciary adopted in December 2017 (entered into force in 2018) presented last Friday by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar; according to them, some of the promotions of the so-called new judges will be withdrawn. The government’s proposals assume the division of the so-called new judges into three groups; evaluators will keep their appointments, some judges will return to their previously held positions and some of them will face disciplinary liability.
The first president of the Supreme Court expressed outrage at the changes announced in a statement published on the Supreme Court’s website. In his view, these proposals constitute an “attack on the independence of the judiciary” and presuppose the application of “drastic disciplinary and criminal sanctions” to judges.
“The very announcements of these repressions by the government against judges constitute a brutal attack on judicial independence, and their implementation will mean the destruction of the judicial system. These repressions may affect groups of more than 3,000 judges who have successfully completed the promotion procedure specified by the government. The announced actions can only be compared with the repression that judges faced during the martial law of the communist regime,” Manowska said.
In her opinion, the institution of self-criticism proposed by the government “is obviously associated with the period of Stalinist terror and it is a shame that it is applied to judges appointed to exercise their functions in accordance with the provisions of the law adopted by Parliament.” She also considered it a disgrace the announcement of the creation of verification commissions to which “even judges who committed communist judicial crimes would not be subject.” “It is clear that these proposals constitute a gross violation both of the principle of separation of powers and of the guarantee of independence of courts and judges,” the first president of the Supreme Court noted.
According to Manowska, the Prime Minister “accepts shameful proposals for persecution and humiliation of judges”, but also “is trying to intimidate the first president of the Supreme Court by initiating criminal proceedings to enforce the provisions of the law”. In addition, in her opinion, the head of government “is trying to prevent the election of the presidents who manage the chambers of the Supreme Court” and “is putting pressure on independent courts, announcing a drastic reduction in the budgets of justice institutions that stand in the way of her authoritarian aspirations.” Manowska also accused Tusk of “announcing the violation of the law to achieve his political goals, usually called +restoration of the rule of law+”.
“I perceive these actions as an attack on the independence of the judiciary, carried out, among other things, by intimidating and antagonizing the judicial community and humiliating judges in the eyes of public opinion, in order to subordinate the courts to the executive power,” Manowska wrote.
In his opinion, the judicial system in Poland has been under pressure from politicians for a long time and many aspects of it need to be repaired. Therefore, he called on all entities that have the right to initiate legislation and that do not agree – as he said – with the destruction of the independence of the courts, to take measures, with the participation of representatives of the entire judicial community, “in fact aimed at ending the ongoing conflict, which is destructive for the judicial system and citizens”.
The proposed changes to the status of judges were presented by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Justice Minister Adam Bodnar following a meeting with representatives of the legal community, which was attended by, among others, the chairman of the Polish Association of Judges Iustitia, Judge Krystian Markiewicz, the chairman of the Association of Prosecutors “Lex Super Omnia” Robert Kmieciak and the vice-chairman of the Association of Judges “Themis” Waldemar Żurek. Tusk stressed at the post-meeting conference that the solutions contained in the draft under preparation are a very important step “in restoring the rule of law”. As the head of government reported, during the meeting he and the head of the Ministry of Justice managed to find “a common language with all representatives of the legal community”.
Tusk also announced that the government would “improve the whole system”. “There are many ideas and ideas that actually focus on the image of a justice system that is accessible to people, friendly to people, much faster and more efficient, so that it saves people money, pain and time,” the Prime Minister said. (PAP)
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