In January this year, the District Court in Giżycko issued a surprising decision that shocked lawyers specializing in family law. The court ruled that it could not carry out the division of property between former spouses because – in its view – the divorce judgment in this case de facto does not exist. Why? Because it was issued by a… ‘neo-judge.‘
No divorce because… the ruling was issued by a ‘neo-judge‘
The case was confirmed in a conversation with the portal Prawo.pl by Judge Adam Barczak, spokesperson for the Regional Court in Olsztyn. He noted that the decision was issued on January 12, 2026, and is not final. The judge from the District Court in Giżycko who dismissed the motion for the division of joint property stated that the divorce judgment is “non-existent,” which means that the premise for the existence of joint property did not arise. He also explained that the ruling does not exist because… the adjudicating panel included a judge appointed through a procedure before the National Council of the Judiciary. And thus, according to the narrative of the ruling camp, a ‘neo-judge.‘
Civil and family judges, as well as some from the Supreme Court, say unofficially in conversations with Prawo.pl that this is not an isolated case.
“There is a known line of case law in the civil divisions of the District and Regional Courts in Olsztyn that recognize family law decisions and judgments as non-existent,” one SN judge emphasizes.
Back then, the ruling was recognized
We wrote on our portal as early as 2024 about an interesting case in which a “neo-judge’s” ruling in a divorce matter was recognized.
In August 2022, a divorce case involving Civic Platform MEP Gasiuk-Pihowicz was heard at the Regional Court in Warsaw, and was decided by Judge Artur Grajewski – Republika learned.
The then MP knew him well from sessions of the parliamentary justice committee, where she had questioned his status. However, during the court hearing she did not file a motion to exclude him from adjudicating her private civil case.
“Unfortunately, some judges do not understand that they are acting clearly to the detriment of how the judiciary and their own professional community are perceived by society. The judge stated that he would not divide the former spouses’ property… because they are still spouses, as the ruling was issued by a judge appointed after 2017,” commented attorney Bartosz Lewandowski on X.