“I am filing a report with the prosecutor’s office for an attempt to intimidate the judges of the Supreme Court by the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General. The minister entered the premises of the Supreme Court as part of the executive branch — as Prosecutor General — without the knowledge of the host of this place, namely the First President of the Supreme Court. We are dealing with a brutal intrusion and a violation of the Court’s autonomy,” said Professor Aleksander Stępkowski, Justice of the Supreme Court.
Today, a meeting of the Supreme Court’s Lay Judges Council with the Minister of Justice, Waldemar Żurek, was held in the Supreme Court building. Afterwards, a joint press conference was organized in one of the court’s corridors.
The conference was interrupted by Supreme Court Justice Prof. Aleksander Stępkowski.
“I’d like to ask on what basis you entered the premises. How did the executive branch coordinate its presence here with the President of the Supreme Court?” the judge asked.
“Professor Stępkowski, we are here legally,” replied Dr. Andrzej Kompa, chairman of the Supreme Court’s Lay Judges Council.
“I’m not speaking to you, sir, you are not the President of the Supreme Court,” retorted Prof. Stępkowski.
“The issue of whether we currently have a president is a complicated one. Please don’t interrupt the conference,” Kompa responded.
“Will the First President of the Supreme Court be allowed to hold a press conference on the premises of the Ministry of Justice on Monday?” the judge pressed.
“We invited the Prosecutor General — please don’t interrupt. You took an oath, a doctoral oath. Do not betray it, do not break the rules of decorum. Mr. neosędzia [‘neo-judge’] Stępkowski, please leave,” shot back the Council’s chairman.
“You gentlemen have violated the regulation of the First President of the Supreme Court concerning the presence of unauthorized persons on court grounds,” said Prof. Stępkowski.
In response, Waldemar Żurek told the judge not to “block the cameras,” claiming that “obstructing journalists’ work is illegal in Poland.”
“I wouldn’t want anyone, in this place — a temple of justice — to stoop to the level we are witnessing now. This is a press conference of the Lay Judges Council, which is a legal, uncontested body. The Council has every right to meet with the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for judicial reforms, including those affecting the Supreme Court. I was invited here legally and am here legally,” Żurek stated.
“I am filing a report with the prosecutor’s office for an attempt to intimidate the judges of the Supreme Court by the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General. The minister entered the premises of the Supreme Court as part of the executive branch — as Prosecutor General — without the knowledge of the host of this place, namely the First President of the Supreme Court. We are dealing with a brutal intrusion and a violation of the Court’s autonomy,” Prof. Stępkowski reiterated.
Minister Żurek insisted that “we are in a public-use building,” not “a private fiefdom.” He argued that “as a citizen, I could come here and say I want to attend a hearing — and I’d have the right to enter.” He added, “The Supreme Court will not be anyone’s private estate. We are here legally, just like you are — you have the right to enter any court in Poland.”