Controversies surrounding the president's act on the National Council of the Judiciary. The law firm explains the presence of the name

On Saturday, the president's press spokesman, Bartłomiej Leśkiewicz, referred to media reports that Bartosz Lewandowski is a co-author of the presidential project of judicial reform. Leśkiewicz pointed out that the Chancellery of the President consults draft laws with experts, but the KPRP is always responsible for preparing the final version.

The president's spokesman informed on the X website that the presidential act on the judiciary and its justification were created in the Chancellery of the President, and their final shape was prepared by lawyers from the KPRP. On Saturday, lawyer Marcin Szwed published an entry on X suggesting that the author of the justification for the project may be attorney Bartosz Lewandowski, defense attorney, among others. Zbigniew Ziobro. In response to the Swede, Lewandowski admitted that he participated in the preparation of the project, but emphasized that he was not its author.

On Thursday, President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the amendment to the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary. He explained that, in his opinion, the amendment “introduces a new stage of chaos and opens the way to political influence on judges.” At the same time, the President announced that he was submitting his own draft to restore the right to a court and to hear the case without unjustified delay. On the same day, files with the text of the proposed act and the justification for the project were posted on the website of the Chancellery of the President.

Marcin Szwed, a lawyer cooperating with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, pointed out in a post on

Lewandowski directly commented on the Swede's entry. – As far as I know, the project was consulted and prepared by many people, which is what the President and his staff have the right to do – he wrote. He added that he participated in the preparation of the project, and his personal idea was to change the regulations regarding complaints about excessive length of proceedings. The lawyer explained that apparently the version of the file he generated last was posted on the KPRP website.

Government spokesman Adam Szłapka commented on Lewandowski's response. He wrote that Lewandowski “again appears in some documents, on some website, completely without his knowledge.” – Was it the consulate last time? Probably Russian, he added. Szłapka referred in this way to the January exchange of words with Lewandowski at Lewandowski replied that the Russian embassy, ​​without the request or knowledge of the law firm, had placed information on its website about where to obtain legal assistance in Russian.

Marcin Szwed's entry and the fact that Bartosz Lewandowski participated in the preparation of the presidential project were written by, among others: Wirtualna Polska, gazeta.pl and DoRzeczy. In the evening, the president's press spokesman, Bartłomiej Leśkiewicz, commented on these reports. He pointed to “several facts”: – the act and its justification were created in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland. Their final shape was prepared by lawyers from the KPRP, wrote Leśkiewicz. He added that in the case of the Act on Courts, as well as during the process of creating other draft bills, the KPRP consults them and uses the expert knowledge of people and communities dealing with specific topics. – This does not change the fact that the Chancellery of the President is always responsible for preparing the final version – concluded the president's spokesman.

The amendment to the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary provided that 15 judge-members of the Council would be elected in direct and secret elections by all judges in Poland, and not – as currently – by the Sejm. Judges with at least 10 years of judicial experience and 5 years in a given court could run for the new National Council of the Judiciary, which also opened the way for some of the so-called neojudges.

On February 19, President Karol Nawrocki announced that he had decided to veto the amendment. He assessed that it introduced the segregation of judges and “placed the justice system in the hands of a political interest group.” He added that he was submitting his own bill to restore the right to a court and to hear cases without undue delay. As Nawrocki pointed out, the project is based on three principles: impartiality of courts; incontestability of judgments; confirming the status of properly nominated judges, said Nawrocki. (PAP)

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