“In the trial concerning the Justice Fund, the lay judges will be those individually designated by the President of the District Court in Warsaw,” attorney Adam Gomoła reported. They will replace those selected through a random draw. “Under the pretext of ‘chaos,’ they are manipulating the composition of the court […] Crude trickery and a crypto-dictatorship in action!” commented former Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro.
Proceedings against Fr. Michał Olszewski and former officials of the Ministry of Justice are set to begin at the District Court in Warsaw. The case concerns alleged irregularities in the awarding of Justice Fund resources to Profeto, a foundation run by the priest. As attorney Adam Gomoła reports, “miracles” began to occur on the eve of the trial.
“In this case, nearly a year ago, two lay judges were drawn to assist the professional judge. Three days ago it turned out that the designated lay judges would not take part in the upcoming hearings… because they have other, conflicting hearings. Congratulations on the coordination of work. A rather desperate search for lay judges from the so-called reserve list began. Seven refused. Two are reportedly willing—tentatively,” the lawyer wrote on the X platform.
The attorney pointed to a “major problem.” “First, the drawn lay judges are to be replaced by lay judges individually DESIGNATED by the President of the District Court (Article 171 of the Law on the Organization of Common Courts), and this will happen already during the crucial initial hearings, when the defendants give their explanations. Thus, already at first instance, two-thirds of the panel will NOT come from a random draw. And there is no certainty that this will change,” he said.
“This fits perfectly with the Ministry of Justice’s assurances that the random system for selecting adjudicating panels is not under threat. Quite ‘coincidentally,’ this concerns the flagship case of the so-called reckoning with the previous government,” he added.
Gomoła also noted another aspect of the case. “How, supposedly, are new lay judges to prepare reliably for such a complex case within a week? That is absolutely impossible, especially given that it took the professional judge nearly a year. And after all, we all want lay judges not to be proverbial ‘figureheads,’ but to participate actively in the proceedings. Ultimately, they are to take part in delivering the verdict,” he stated.
“And third—doesn’t this seem strange?” he asked.
It should be recalled that controversy had earlier surrounded the manner in which the judge to hear the case was selected. Ultimately, Judge Justyna Koska-Janusz was appointed, after 14 other judges were excluded from the draw—without any reasons being provided.
The information presented by Gomoła prompted critical commentary.