The association Lawyers for Poland has notified the prosecutor’s office regarding the lay judges adjudicating in the trial of Fr. Michał Olszewski. They were appointed the day before the trial, which means they had no opportunity to familiarize themselves with the entire case file—despite Judge Justyna Koska-Janusz claiming otherwise.
As revealed by the Niezalezna.pl portal, the lay judges adjudicating in the case of Fr. Olszewski and the female officials were appointed… the day before the trial. They therefore had just 24 hours to review more than 200,000 pages of case files. That is physically impossible—lay judges would have had to read approximately 400 pages per minute, and with comprehension, without sleep or breaks. Meanwhile, at a hearing on January 21, Judge Justyna Koska-Janusz stated that she trusted the lay judges and that they had submitted statements declaring they had reviewed the files.
Lawyers for Poland Intervene: “Every Possible Regulation Has Been Violated”
The president of the Lawyers for Poland association, Łukasz Piebiak, today filed a notification of suspected criminal offenses committed by the lay judges appointed to the adjudicating panel in the case of Fr. Michał Olszewski and the female officials.
There was a failure to fulfill duties or an abuse of authority by the lay judges in this case—Krystyna Gelo and Jagoda Miazek. Having been appointed to the case on January 20, 2026, they submitted statements to the presiding judge declaring that they had familiarized themselves with the files, and then proceeded to perform adjudicative actions on January 21, 2026, without knowledge of the files (over 300 volumes). In doing so, they flagrantly violated the right to defense and the right to a fair criminal trial. They acted to the detriment of private interests and gravely undermined the dignity of the court and the administration of justice by undertaking adjudicative actions without knowledge of the files—something evident without the need for detailed analysis. The acts described constitute offenses under Article 271 §1 of the Penal Code in conjunction with Article 272, in connection with Article 231 §§1 and 2, and in conjunction with Article 11 §1 of the Penal Code—reads the association’s statement.
“There is no physical possibility for lay judges, only just appointed to the adjudicating panel, to familiarize themselves with the case files—while the presiding judge had a year to do so. Every conceivable legal regulation has been violated, including international agreements on fair judicial proceedings,” Lawyers for Poland emphasize.