President of Poland Karol Nawrocki has appointed Maria Szczepaniec as President of the Supreme Court overseeing the work of the Supreme Court’s Chamber of Professional Responsibility, the Presidential Chancellery announced. How has the legal community responded to the appointment? Congratulations have poured in.
The Presidential Chancellery stated that the appointment, dated July 9, was made pursuant to Article 15a §1 of the Act on the Supreme Court. Under these provisions, the President of the Supreme Court responsible for the Chamber of Professional Responsibility is appointed by the President of Poland, after consulting the First President of the Supreme Court, from among three candidates selected by the assembly of judges “designated to adjudicate in the Chamber of Professional Responsibility or the assembly of judges adjudicating in the Chamber of Professional Responsibility.”
The Chancellery also announced that Judge Szczepaniec received the official act of appointment during a ceremony held on Thursday. Among those attending were First President of the Supreme Court Zbigniew Kapiński, President of the Constitutional Tribunal Bogdan Święczkowski, and the presidents of the Supreme Court’s other chambers.
Lawyers Congratulate Her: “A Very Good Choice”
“Congratulations to Judge Maria Szczepaniec, who put Justice Minister Adam Bodnar in his proper place during the proceedings concerning the validity of the presidential election!” wrote Judge Dagmara Pawełczyk-Woicka, former chair of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS).
“A very good choice,” attorney Bartosz Lewandowski added briefly.
Judge Szczepaniec also received congratulations from legal associations.
“This is a mark of recognition for Professor Szczepaniec’s knowledge, experience, and authority, as well as confirmation of the confidence placed in her competence to perform one of the most important functions within the judiciary,” the Lawyers for Poland association wrote.