The Disciplinary Chamber of the Polish Supreme Council overruled the decision of the regional court to suspend judge Paweł Juszczyszyn. The judge himself did not appear at the court’s hearing since, as he believes, the chamber is violating the constitution. It’s worth reminding, that judge Juszczyszyn was suspended in November by the president of the Regional Court and disciplinary actions were taken against him. All because he demanded to make public how the justices voted for the new members of the National Council of the Judiciary.
“Neither judge Juszczyszyn nor his attorneys showed up at yesterday’s hearing as they believe the Disciplinary Chamber is unconstitutional. The minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro commented on the matter by saying: who doesn’t recognise the lawfulness of a court puts themselves above the law. Judge Juszczyszyn was suspended for a month after he questioned the ruling given by a judge appointed to his position following the reform of the National Council of the Judiciary. The Disciplinary Chamber overruled the suspension today, at the same time stating that it’s unacceptable for a judge to question the lawfulness of the appointing of other justices or their verdicts”- says Aleksandra Zarzycka, TV Republika.
“To put it shortly; even though, the ruling of the Supreme Court has some negative reviews of judge Juszczyszyn’s actions, at the same time it states that there is no basis for such a drastic measure as suspension”- says Piotr Falkowski, spokesman for The Disciplinary chamber of The Supreme Court.
“We can’t allow for a situation where there would be anarchy and chaos in the Polish judiciary. How is it, that some judges undermine the authority of other judges who were appointed by the National Council of the Judiciary and approved by the president?”- says Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland.
The verdict has not yet come into force, so we will definitely have a continuation of this story in the coming days. The case of judge Juszczyszyn motivated the current government of the Law and Justice party to prepare a new bill regarding disciplinary actions against justices. A bill, which was passed by the parliament last Friday.