Judge Aleksander Stępkowski, speaking with Tomasz Sakiewicz on TV Republika, confirmed that the presence in a judicial panel of a judge who was not randomly assigned to the case constitutes grounds for requesting that the judge be excluded. And there will be many such cases under the new regulation issued by Minister Waldemar Żurek.
In Poland, the law stipulates that all judges must be randomly selected to serve on judicial panels. However, Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek has a different plan and issued a regulation introducing random selection only for reporting judges. The remaining members of judicial panels may be designated by the heads of divisions.
In Polityczna Kawa (Political Coffee) hosted by Tomasz Sakiewicz, this decision was commented on by Judge Aleksander Stępkowski, former spokesperson for the Supreme Court.
“The system ensures an effective distribution of cases among judges, so the introduction of exceptions that are allegedly meant to improve efficiency in judicial work may seem surprising. It appears that departing from this system would likely have the opposite effect,” said the judge, who himself adjudicates in the Supreme Court (SN) on cases including those concerning delays in proceedings.
“We’ve seen a wave of changes in the leadership of common courts, initiated by Minister Bodnar and continued by Minister Żurek. These changes were carried out in violation of the law. In the case of the President of the Court of Appeal, these violations concerned the dismissal of President Judge Schab, with the opinion of the Court of Appeal’s collegium being treated with great disregard. In a situation where individuals appointed in violation of the law have the power to personally influence the composition of certain judicial panels, this may understandably raise doubts as to whether the true goal is to improve efficiency or to ensure that panels are not random,” Judge Stępkowski pointed out, adding that “given the current level of politicization of the judiciary, this may understandably cause concern among citizens.”
Can a citizen request the exclusion of a judge who was not randomly assigned? Judge Stępkowski confirmed that this can undoubtedly be one of the circumstances justifying a motion to exclude a judge.