On September 27, the Warsaw District Court will consider the appeal of the National Prosecutor’s Office against the refusal to detain MP Marcin Romanowski. The decision in this case will be made by three judges: Przemysław Dziwański, Wanda Jankowska-Bebeszko and Leszek Parzyszek, the court said. Previously, the office of the new Bodnar prosecutor wanted to exclude Judge Dziwański.
The Warsaw District Court will consider the prosecutor’s appeal against the decision of the first instance court, which on July 16 did not agree with the arrest of Romanowski due to his immunity from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The politician of Sovereign Poland, the prosecutor suspects, among other things, of participation in an organized criminal group and fraud in tenders to obtain money from the Justice Fund.
Last week, the Court of Appeal announced that due to the extent and complexity of the evidence, as well as the nature of the charges against the prosecutor, it had been decided to expand the jury to three judges. The panel included judges Przemysław Dziwański, Aleksandra Rusin-Batko and Wanda Jankowska-Bebeszko, but on Monday the court decided to exclude Dziwański and Rusin Batko, among others, due to the fact that they had become judges appointed by the current National Council of the Judiciary. The court also announced that the date of the hearing at which the judges will rule on Romanowski’s arrest case will be set for after September 23.
Today, the court updated this information, stating that “the Public Prosecutor’s Office complaint process has been set for the substantive deadline of September 27, 2024.”
The court further added that:
By decision of the President of the 10th Criminal Appeals Division of the District Court of Warsaw, it will be recognized by the judges composed of: Przemysław Dziwański, Wanda Jankowska-Bebeszko and Leszek Parzyszek. At the same time, the President of the 10th Criminal Appeals Division decided to submit the case to this bench in order to make further decisions on the content of the decisions of the District Court of Warsaw of 7 and 12 August 2024 regarding the exclusion of judges
– says the message.
Complaint despite immunity
The prosecutor’s office wants to arrest Romanowski, who was deputy minister of justice in the United Right government, for three months. However, on July 16, the Warsaw-Mokotów District Court refused to arrest the politician due to his immunity from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. When filing an appeal against this decision, the prosecutor’s office argued that repeated legal analysis showed that the scope of immunity protection for Romanowski in the Council of Europe Association did not cover the acts he was accused of. The case was referred to the Warsaw Court of Appeal and is awaiting a resolution.
The Prosecutor’s Office announced that if the Warsaw District Court upholds the decision of the first instance court to refuse to arrest Romanowski due to the immunity of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, it will request that the immunity of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe be revoked.
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PAP/as above
