“This feels like a grim déjà vu. We are returning to the times when an independent lawyer was treated as an enemy of the system,” commented Judge Kamila Borszowska-Moszowska on the decision regarding possible disciplinary proceedings against State Tribunal judge Piotr Andrzejewski.
Several judges of the State Tribunal appeared on Wednesday before noon for a hearing concerning the immunity of the Tribunal’s chairwoman, Małgorzata Manowska. At first, they were not allowed into the courtroom, where seats had been prepared for three judges. Eventually, they entered, but were informed that they had been excluded. When Jacek Dubois attempted to interrupt the proceedings, Andrzejewski said: “Please do not interrupt, there is a standard of culture in this courtroom, for God’s sake.”
When Andrzejewski announced a recess, one of the excluded judges… blocked his way with a chair. These scenes undoubtedly went down in the inglorious history of the Tribunal. But that was not the end.
It turned out that the disciplinary officer of the Bar, Ewa Krasowska, is to instruct the Disciplinary Ombudsman of the Warsaw Bar Association to conduct a preliminary inquiry into Andrzejewski, who presided over the hearing.
The legal community is outraged.
“This feels like a grim déjà vu. We are returning to the times when an independent lawyer was treated as an enemy of the system. When those in power used ‘disciplinary measures’ as a club against those who dared to speak out. If a hero of the fight for freedom, co-founder of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, defender of ‘Solidarity’ activists, a man with an impeccable record, has to once again explain himself before disciplinary bodies 40 years after the fall of communism, it means history has come full circle in a tragic way. Today it is clear: some dream of a return to the People’s Republic of Poland, with censorship, gags, and punishments for ‘improper’ views. This is not only an attack on a hero of free Poland. It is also a blow against a state institution that, by definition, must remain independent. Does prosecuting a State Tribunal judge not amount directly to an assault on judicial independence? Attorney Andrzejewski was and will remain a symbol of freedom and courage,” said Judge Kamila Borszowska-Moszowska.
“Can a member of the State Tribunal even be held disciplinarily accountable before a corporate bar court for events arising from their judicial functions in the Tribunal? I have my doubts,” added Judge Konrad Wytrykowski.