First he threatened with a prosecutor if he was not given an office in the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS). Now, however, he demands the release of all disciplinary case files, which he intends to move “temporarily to another location” – reports the portal Niezalezna.pl. Apparently, Judge Mariusz Ulman (appointed by Adam Bodnar to the already occupied post of chief disciplinary officer) does not know what he wants to achieve – for more than a month he has not even appeared at the KRS building. He set the deadline for handing over the documentation for tomorrow (Tuesday, August 19). Will he get it? “If I were to do anything to enable Mr. Ulman to carry out such an unlawful procedure, I myself would fall into illegal activity, in my opinion criminally prosecutable. That is why I will not do it,” Judge Piotr Schab told Niezalezna.pl.
The Disciplinary Officer of Judges of Common Courts (RDSSP) is Judge Piotr Schab, with Judges Przemysław Radzik and Michał Lasota as his deputies. Their term ends next year and cannot be interrupted. Even the Ministry of Justice admitted this in a statement, but Adam Bodnar declared it a legal loophole. First, he unsuccessfully “dismissed” Radzik, and later Schab (recently the new minister Waldemar Żurek behaved similarly toward Lasota).
At the same time, Bodnar was looking for candidates for the already occupied posts. Almost at the last moment before leaving the government, he appointed Judge Mariusz Ulman from Nysa and Judge Tomasz Ładny from Warsaw to fill these roles. Interestingly, more than a month has passed, and neither of them has even appeared at the building of the National Council of the Judiciary, where the RDSSP office is located.
Ulman wrote a letter
Judge Ulman, however, has been sending letters of astonishing content to the KRS. At the end of July, he threatened the Council’s chairwoman with a prosecutor if he was not given access to an office by August 4.
Two weeks later, he sent another letter. As established by Niezalezna.pl, this time he demanded the preparation and release of files from all disciplinary proceedings conducted by disciplinary officers – including those closed within the last five years.
What is most bizarre, however, is his claim that he intends to move them temporarily elsewhere – without specifying where.
He set the deadline for the handover of this massive documentation for tomorrow (Tuesday, August 19). He probably does not intend to collect it personally, since he announced that he would send… a person holding an authorization.
He did not appear at the KRS
After learning that Ulman had sent such a letter, we contacted both the chairwoman of the KRS and the RDSSP. Judge Dagmara Pawełczyk-Woicka only confirmed that it had arrived late in the afternoon on August 14.
“I will present it to the Council, and our next meeting is scheduled for August 26,” emphasized the chairwoman of the KRS.
And what about the files Ulman demanded? She did not want to speculate, pointing out that the Council has only a purely executive function in relation to disciplinary officers. “The law indeed states that they act with the assistance of the National Council of the Judiciary, but the files are at the disposal of the disciplinary officers conducting the proceedings” – explained Judge Pawełczyk-Woicka.
Importantly, in mid-April the KRS adopted a position that Schab and Radzik had been unsuccessfully dismissed.
“That does not mean I believe the next persons were not appointed. The question is simply how to reconcile this with the fact that the posts are already occupied,” she stressed. “I invited Judge Ulman for a meeting to resolve certain issues. He even called the Council’s secretariat last week, and when he confirmed he was in Warsaw, the invitation was reiterated. However, he said he had no time.”
Meanwhile, there has been no contact at all with Judge Tomasz Ładny.
The files cannot be taken out!
The RDSSP sharply assesses the situation.
“It is legally compromising for Judge Ulman. I have the right to interpret such a request as incitement to commit a crime, including concealing documentation” – said Judge Piotr Schab, the lawful Disciplinary Officer of Judges of Common Courts, in an interview with Niezalezna.pl. – “According to the Law on the Organization of Common Courts, the office support for the Officer and his deputies is provided by the National Council of the Judiciary, and the only place where case files may be stored is the KRS headquarters. Removing files from cases, which must be treated like prosecutorial case files, is an obvious illegality.”
“This must not be done under any circumstances” – stresses Judge Schab. – “Nor is it possible to demand the release of documents related to disciplinary proceedings from the chairwoman of the KRS, because she is not their custodian.”
“If I were to do anything to enable Mr. Ulman to carry out such an unlawful procedure, I myself would fall into illegal activity, in my opinion criminally prosecutable. That is why I will not do it” – emphasizes Judge Schab. – “Mr. Ulman’s letter, apart from showing deep ignorance, in my view also demonstrates bad faith and support for political actions.”
However, one must not forget a key aspect.
“Judge Ulman is assigning himself a public function which he does not hold, and this is beyond dispute for honest lawyers, since he was ‘appointed’ as a result of my alleged ‘dismissal’, which the minister had no right to do. Mr. Ulman is taking advantage of the fact that the law was blatantly, directly, and openly violated” – explains the RDSSP.
Demonstration or desperation
Since the law is clear and Judge Ulman cannot take the files to Nysa or move them to the basement of the Ministry of Justice, what was the purpose of his letter with such a demand?
Judge Schab admits he considered this. The first option, according to him: “to make a move purely for the sake of demonstration, absurd from the legal point of view, but meant to show some attempt at activity in connection with his alleged appointment. To avoid appearing completely powerless.”
A pretext for forceful actions?! The second option is much more serious.
“It cannot be excluded that the aim is to create a basis for actions of a forceful nature” – warns the RDSSP. – “Mr. Ulman and his possible envoys have no authority whatsoever to dispose of disciplinary case files. A private, anonymous person cannot take them over in order to remove them from state protection structures. In this situation, refusal to release them is obvious. But it may be used as a crude, primitive pretext for forceful solutions.”
Just as in July last year, when safes were broken open with crowbars and files of certain disciplinary proceedings were taken (including those of then-Judge Waldemar Żurek, now Minister of Justice)?
“Of course, such a possibility exists, because we see that this government knows no limits and pursues strictly political goals, seemingly for an ever smaller social group” – concluded Judge Piotr Schab.