Supreme Court to decide on immunity for Judge Maciej Nawacki who tore up documents at a judicial meeting in Olsztyn.
Supreme Court to Decide on Judge’s Immunity
The Supreme Court will rule on the immunity of Maciej Nawacki, a member of the National Council of the Judiciary and a judge from Olsztyn. The request to lift his immunity was submitted to the Professional Responsibility Chamber of the Supreme Court in December 2024.
The Prosecutor’s Office stated that the basis for the request is “findings from an investigation into exceeding authority (…) through damage to documents of the District Court in Olsztyn judges’ meeting, which he had no exclusive right to dispose of”.
Background: The Olsztyn Meeting Incident
The case concerns a meeting of Olsztyn court judges on February 7, 2020, during which an appeal was made to then-court president Maciej Nawacki to stop actions hindering Judge Paweł Juszczyszyn from performing his duties. Juszczyszyn had been suspended from his duties by then-Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court due to disciplinary proceedings against him.
During that meeting, a proposal was submitted on behalf of 31 judges to expand the agenda to include voting on three draft resolutions. The vote never took place; President Nawacki tore up the documents and adjourned the meeting, stating that all three proposals exceeded the competences of the meeting.
Arguments from Both Sides
On Wednesday, Nawacki and his defender, Judge Adam Jaworski, primarily requested the dismissal of the case due to what they considered an unlawful prosecutor. Nawacki stated, “We are dealing with a series of illegalities.” He claimed he was being prosecuted by a prosecutor from Słupsk who claimed to represent the National Prosecutor’s Office.
If the Supreme Court does not accept this argument, Nawacki and Jaworski requested a denial of immunity removal. Judge Jaworski asked, “What exactly did Nawacki tear up? There is no torn page in the files.” He added that the incident was controversial but resulted from Judge Nawacki’s conviction that the proposed resolutions were beyond the competences of the judges’ meeting.
Decision Postponed to February 25
After more than a two-hour session, Supreme Court Judge Marek Siwek postponed the announcement of the decision until February 25 at 9 AM.
Following the February 2020 events, judges from the District and Regional Courts in Olsztyn filed a report suspecting a crime, accusing the then-president of the Olsztyn court of destroying documents and exceeding his authority.
