The Marshal’s Guard pacified a protest by court employees in the Sejm. The banner displayed by the protesters was briefly hung in the Sejm gallery – the intervention by the services was forceful. “This is what freedom of speech looks like under the December 13 coalition,” wrote PiS MP Łukasz Kmita.
After the vote on rejecting the presidential veto on the cryptocurrency law, the Sejm began a new session – concerning the vote on the state budget for 2026.
Court employees wanted to use this opportunity to oppose one of the amendments, which provides cuts for the Ministry of Justice. The protesters appeared in the Sejm gallery and from there hung a banner reading “Give the Money Back to Court Employees”.
The banner hung only for a few moments and met with a forceful reaction from the Marshal’s Guard. A guard took down the banner and then escorted the protesting women out of the chamber.
“This is what freedom of speech looks like under the December 13 coalition,” stated PiS MP Łukasz Kmita.
“The authorities are forcibly removing protesting court employees from the session hall. In our time, they received a raise of several dozen percent, now they are getting scraps,” added PiS MP Michał Wójcik.
“Tusk wants to take 95 million PLN from court employees’ salaries. We submitted an amendment restoring this money – Tusk’s coalition wants to reject this amendment,” wrote PiS MP Michał Woś.
The 2026 budget plans include cuts to the Ministry of Justice’s budget, which will affect court employees’ salaries. This reduction was included in an amendment to the draft budget, previously approved by the Public Finance Committee.
The issue was highlighted on our pages by Judge Łukasz Zawadzki, judge of the District Court in Opole, spokesperson for the Lawyers for Poland Association.
“Court employees will not receive real salary increases, especially in the context of rising household costs. Meanwhile, courts operate thanks to their work, as procedural decisions of judges require support from the entire extensive apparatus: both administrative (court clerks) and substantive (probation officers, OZSS specialists, and judges’ assistants)”, wrote Judge Zawadzki.
Spending on court employees’ salaries is to be reduced by 95 million PLN, and a total of 165 million PLN will be drained from the judiciary.
“The government has just taken away promised raises from court employees. Not judges. Employees. When it was time to take money from the “neo-KRS,” the majority’s representatives did not hesitate. Last year, Chairwoman Żukowska – 130,000 PLN, Kropiwnicki – 170,000 PLN. After talking for so many years about free courts, were they talking about slow courts? Because without employees, courts will not function more efficiently,” said Razem MP Marcelina Zawisza from the Sejm podium.