The Association of Judges ‘Themis’ is hereby presenting a translation into English of the unprecedented joint declaration of 46 active judges of the Polish Supreme Court, supported by a declaration of 32 retired judges, expressing the utmost concern about the recent actions of the authorities intended to politically subordinate the judiciary and the prosecutor’s office. We would like to emphasize that all the judges who signed the declaration, both active and retired, were elected with the participation of the properly elected National Council of the Judiciary, i.e. before the introduction of the procedure in 2018 for selecting its members in conflict with the Polish constitution (i.e. in accordance with the procedure set out in the regulations of the Act amending the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary and certain other acts of 8 December 2017 – Journal of Laws of 2018, item 3).
Declaration
We are observing with great concern and opposing further actions by the authorities against prosecutors and judges who take a critical stance against the systematic subordination of the prosecutor’s office and courts to the politicians.
Such actions include sending certain prosecutors to places that are very distant from their place of residence and instituting proceedings against judges who consider appeals against such decisions.
We also consistently upholding the position expressed in many judgments of the Supreme Court that there are no grounds for adjudication by the Disciplinary Chamber, including in cases regarding the immunity of judges.
In view of the refusal to call a General Assembly of Judges of the Supreme Court since June 2020, this declaration is the only form in which we can comment on this socially important issue.
Warsaw, 21 January 2021
Supreme Court Justices (SSN):
SSN Tomasz Artymiuk SSN Władysław Pawlak
SSN Teresa Bielska-Sobkowicz SSN Marek Pietruszyński
SSN Bohdan Bieniek SSN Krzysztof Pietrzykowski
SSN Jacek Błaszczyk SSN Agnieszka Piotrowska
SSN Dariusz Dończyk SSN Waldemar Płóciennik
SSN Jolanta Frańczak SSN Piotr Prusinowski
SSN Małgorzata Gierszon SSN Zbigniew Puszkarski
SSN Katarzyna Gonera SSN Krzysztof Rączka
SSN Jerzy Grubba SSN Marta Romańska
SSN Paweł Grzegorczyk SSN Andrzej Siuchniński
SSN Józef Iwulski SSN Barbara Skoczkowska
SSN Przemysław Kalinowski SSN Romualda Spyt
SSN Halina Kiryło SSN Krzysztof Strzelczyk
SSN Monika Koba SSN Andrzej Stępka
SSN Marian Kocon SSN Maria Szulc
SSN Anna Kozłowska SSN Dariusz Świecki
SSN Michał Laskowski SSN Roman Trzaskowski
SSN Rafał Malarski SSN Katarzyna Tyczka-Rote
SSN Jarosław Matras SSN Małgorzata Wąsek-Wiaderek
SSN Dawid Miąsik SSN Eugeniusz Wildowicz
SSN Grzegorz Misiurek SSN Paweł Wiliński
SSN Anna Owczarek SSN Włodzimierz Wróbel
SSN Maciej Pacuda S SSN Dariusz Zawistowski
The statement is also supported by the retired Supreme Court justices:
SSN Mirosław Bączyk
SSN Krzysztof Cesarz
SSN Małgorzata Gersdorf
SSN Tomasz Grzegorczyk
SSN Beata Gudowska
SSN Jacek Gudowski
SSN Tadeusz Ereciński
SSN Teresa Flemming-Kulesza
SSN Józef Frąckowiak
SSN Lech Gardocki
SSN Henryk Gradzik
SSN Irena Gromska-Szuster
SSN Zbigniew Hajn
SSN Zbigniew Kwaśniewski
SSN Wojciech Katner
SSN Iwona Koper
SSN Roman Kuczyński
SSN Jerzy Kużniar
SSN Barbara Myszka
SSN Henryk Pietrzkowski
SSN Dorota Rysińska
SSN Ewa Strużyna
SSN Adam Strzembosz
SSN Józef Szewczyk
SSN Bogumiła Ustjanicz
SSN Lech Walentynowicz
SSN Tadeusz Wiśniewski
SSN Andrzej Wróbel
SSN Małgorzata Wrębiakowska – Marzec
SSN Stanisław Zabłocki
SSN Kazimierz Zawada
SSN Jadwiga Żywolewska- Ławniczak
Oświadczenie sędziów SN z dnia 21 stycznia 2021 r.
