President: The state of justice has not fully and finally dealt with its past

Since 1989 until today, the judiciary has not fully and finally dealt with its past, including Stalinist judicial lawlessness, wrote President Karol Nawrocki in a letter to the participants of the Thursday conference at the Supreme Court devoted to the judiciary of 1945-89.

“How is it possible that some political and legal circles have no problem recognizing the independence of judges appointed by the communist State Council, who vowed to uphold the socialist system, and at the same time ostentatiously and illegally question the status of judges educated and appointed in free Poland,” wrote the president in a letter read by the head of the presidential office, Zbigniew Bogucki.

The historical and scientific conference: “Dimension of injustice – judiciary in the period of people's democracy. Experiences from 1945 to 1989” was organized on Thursday at the headquarters of the Supreme Court. In addition to representatives of the Supreme Court, it was attended by, among others: judges of common courts, historians and prosecutors of the Institute of National Remembrance, representatives of the Constitutional Tribunal, as well as the Museum of the Cursed Soldiers and Political Prisoners of the Polish People's Republic.

The president noted in the letter that “until the end of the Polish People's Republic, most judges were members of the communist party or its satellite parties”, “in their oath, judges undertook to uphold the socialist state system”, and “truly independent” judges were simply removed from the profession. The greater respect – Nawrocki emphasized – “was deserved by those among the judges of that time who tried to do their job honestly and not succumb to pressure; however, the tone in the judiciary was set by people of Stalinist terror.”

“Despite such a far-reaching depravity of a significant part of the legal community in Poland, since 1989 until today, the judiciary has not fully and finally come to terms with its past, including Stalinist judicial lawlessness. There was also no sufficiently strong social pressure and political will on the part of the legislative and executive authorities to persuade this community to clearly and unequivocally distance itself from the legacy red totalitarianism,” wrote the president.

He added that “this is probably why all repair and restitution processes initiated in this field encountered obstacles – and ultimately became defective or partial, or ended in complete failure.” “Judges from the previous system and their protégés, co-opted into the judicial system understood as a closed system, also participated in this,” Nawrocki wrote.

According to the president, “it is impossible to avoid several questions.” “What are the conditions in which the mentality of some judges was formed, who – supported by some politicians and legal theoreticians – have started something of a rebellion and refuse to recognize the status of judges appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland who have gone through the entire procedure provided for by law? What traditions do those who deny the validity of the provisions of the current Act on the National Council of the Judiciary – an act based on the best European experience, refer to? which has gone through the entire legislative process and whose constitutionality has not been effectively challenged?” – he mentioned.

In turn, the First President of the Supreme Court, Małgorzata Manowska, said that Thursday's conference “is an element of a broader project whose aim is to show how important a judge as a human being is in the justice system.” – Whether the justice system is fair or unfair depends on the person, on his or her individual approach to reality, on his or her ethical and moral attitude and the values ​​he or she upholds – she said.

The President of the Supreme Court announced that another event in the series is planned, which will be devoted to “lawyers and Polish judges – heroes.” (PAP)

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