Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek has suspended Dr. Łukasz Piebiak from performing his duties as a judge of the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw. Żurek’s decision coincides with Judge Piebiak’s election to the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS). Piebiak also serves as president of the association Lawyers for Poland, which has been critical of the state of the justice system under the December 13 coalition government.
“I have decided to immediately remove Judge Łukasz Piebiak from his judicial duties due to the exceptionally serious allegations he is suspected of committing. His continued work would undermine the authority of the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw and harm important interests of the judiciary. It was therefore necessary to immediately remove Judge Piebiak from court proceedings and from adjudicating cases involving citizens,” Żurek wrote on the X platform.
He added that the decision is related to two prosecutorial investigations. The first concerns the so-called “hate scandal,” while the second involves alleged attempted judicial fraud and the use of a forged will in connection with an apartment belonging to the City of Warsaw, valued at PLN 475,000.
“A situation in which a person entrusted with administering justice becomes the subject of suspicions involving document forgery and an attempt to take over property is the very opposite of the judicial ethos. Judges are held to higher standards because they are expected to safeguard the law, the integrity of proceedings, and citizens’ trust in the state,” Żurek argued.
The investigation concerning the Warsaw apartment was launched in 2025 following information provided by legal representatives of the city administration led by Rafał Trzaskowski. Prosecutors announced their intention to bring charges against Judge Piebiak even before a court had assessed an expert opinion regarding the authenticity of the will. In an interview with Niezalezna.pl, Piebiak stated directly that the move was “an obvious act of revenge by Waldemar Żurek.”
The so-called hate scandal gained media attention in 2019. Based on media reports, Krystian Markiewicz, then president of the judges’ association Iustitia, filed a lawsuit against Judge Piebiak, Judge Jakub Iwaniec, and the Polish state, seeking PLN 75,000 in damages for alleged online harassment and the harm he claimed to have suffered. Speaking to Niezalezna.pl at the end of 2024, Judge Anna Gąsior-Majchrowska argued that “the so-called hate scandal is a media creation. (…) During the immunity hearing of Judge Jakub Iwaniec before the Supreme Court’s Chamber of Professional Responsibility, it became clear that all of those media reports were entirely inconsistent with the procedural reality.”
Both cases have been known for years. This raises the question of why Żurek decided to act against Piebiak now. Observers point to the fact that the president of the Lawyers for Poland association, which closely monitors the activities of the Ministry of Justice, was recently elected to the National Council of the Judiciary—an outcome that has reportedly not been welcomed by judges associated with government-backed nominations.
“Purely Repressive in Nature”
The association Judges of the Republic of Poland (Sędziowie RP) has stated that it “strongly opposes” Żurek’s decision.
“The circumstances surrounding the issuance of this decision indicate that it is purely repressive in nature,” the organization wrote in a statement published on X.
The association emphasized that:
“An order issued by the Ministry of Justice or a court president for the immediate suspension of a judge’s duties may be justified only in urgent situations, where required by the interests of the administration of justice or the authority of the court.”
According to Judges of the Republic of Poland, the order is difficult to interpret as anything other than:
“an inept attempt to prevent the judge from carrying out his duties as a member of the National Council of the Judiciary and to create a chilling effect among other judges.”