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"President wants to fossilise his deal. He protects judges he nominated" - prof. Krystian Markiewicz about presidential project

„President wants to fossilise his deal. He protects the judges, he nominated” – this is how head of Iustitia, prof. judge Krystian Markiewicz assesses presidential project of changes in Supreme Court. The project assumes inter alia that judges of Disciplinary Chambers are free to move to any other chamber or retire with full salary.

“The dispute is not about whether Disciplinary Chamber shall be dismantled and the label changed to “Chamber of Professional Liability”. The problem is that judges are unlawfully proposed by neo-KRS” – said judge Markiewicz. Acording to him, Andrzej Duda’s project is just “political action”. “This project changes nothing, it is just lying to us all” – he underlined.

Judge Piotr Gąciarek has similar opinion – this is just a mockup change. A smokescreen, a cat and mouse play – he assessed in his interview with RP. Judge od Regional Court in Warsaw pointed out that Andrzej Duda’s proposal does not eliminate “the very source of problems in Polish judiciary, which is illegally elected National Council of Judiciary. This is not about something bad called “Disciplinary Chamber”. It is about the fact, that the judges in this chamber are proposed by neo-NCJ. “All judges proposed by neo-NCJ are not authorized to adjudicate, their rulings are invalid” – he noted. In his opinion, in order to talk about real change of current situation in judiciary, new valid NCJ shall be established. “If it happens that eight out of eleven judges in Chamber of Professional Liability are neo-judges, what difference does it make?” – he asked. According to judge Gąciarek, the project of Andrzej Duda is mainly for PiS electorate. In his opinion both European Commission and European Court of Justice shall notice these mockups. “For judge Tuleya or judge Juszczyszyn it does not matter if they are judged by Disciplinary Chamber or Chamber of Professional Liability” – declared Gąciarek.

“If we have butcher instead of surgeon in the hospital, moving him to another unit will not make him a doctor” – this is how prof. Krystian Markiewicz comments presidential idea to move persons from Disciplinary Chamber to other chambers of Supreme Court.

Judge Markiewicz also commented the statement of president, that introduction of his proposal “shall give Polish government the tool to end the argument with European Commission and release the funds of National Reconstruction Plan”. Such statement means that mr. President, unfortunately, didn’t pay too much attention reading rulings of tribunals in Strasbourg and Luxembourg, including very important ruling of today – stated Markiewicz.

Let us remind – on Thursday European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg ruled that Poland violated European Convention of Human Rights which guarantees the right to fair trial. Neo-judges in Civil Law Chamber do not constitute independent court. “President wants to fossilize his deal at all cost, with his own judges he installed, with his own judges he protects at all cost. This is what this new law is about, not about executing the orders of European Courts and recommendations of European Commission."

https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/sedziowie-z-iustitii-miazdza-projekt-dudy-prezydent-chce-zabetonowac-swoj-uklad-6733391924214464a

https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/duda-chce-zmian-w-sadzie-najwyzszym-prezes-iustitii-nic-nie-zrozumial/jkc7ym7.amp?