Marriages in the Supreme Court. The absurd ban is finally about to disappear. The Ministry of Justice announces changes

The provision of the Act on the Supreme Court prohibiting judges of this court from marrying each other is too restrictive and needs to be changed, said Deputy Minister of Justice Dariusz Mazur. In this way, he responded to the request of the Commissioner for Human Rights regarding this regulation.

Commissioner Marcin Wiącek sent a letter to the Ministry of Justice on this matter in December last year. “I would like to emphasize that this problem emerged in connection with an application submitted to the Commissioner for Human Rights by persons adjudicating in the highest court, wishing to get married. Therefore, it does not have only theoretical significance,” Wiącek noted in his letter.

It's about art. 32 of the Supreme Court Act, which states that “persons related to each other up to the second degree or first degree of affinity and spouses cannot be judges of the Supreme Court at the same time.” This provision also applies, by reference, to judges of the Supreme Administrative Court.

The spokesman recalled that until 2018, “spouses could only work in the same chamber, adjudicate within the same adjudicating panel, and neither could be subordinate to the other.”

The ban was introduced in the Act on the Supreme Court, which entered into force in the spring of 2018. The amendment of July 2018 additionally states that the ban on marriage does not apply to spouses who are judges of the Supreme Court on the date the new act enters into force.

This legal situation – as Wiącek pointed out – “also means differences in the legal situation of married Supreme Court judges.” “Judges who were in such a relationship before the entry into force of the above-mentioned amendment do not run the risk of being accused of committing a disciplinary tort, while in the case of judges who would enter into such a relationship after the entry into force of the amendment, the charge of gross violation of the Act on the Supreme Court will be actualized,” wrote the Ombudsman.

“WITHThe ban constitutes a disproportionate restriction of the right to respect for private life“

In the opinion of the Commissioner for Human Rights, such a ban constitutes a “disproportionate restriction of the right to respect for private and family life.” “The solution in force before 2018, although it could also raise doubts, was more balanced with the personal rights of judges. A judge could marry another judge if he moved to another chamber, but the transfer itself was and still is dependent on the discretionary decision of the First President of the Supreme Court or the President of the Supreme Administrative Court,” he recalled.

As noted by the Commissioner for Human Rights, when such a ban was introduced, the principle of impartiality of adjudication in the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court and ensuring judicial independence were maintained. “Striving to ensure impartiality and independence of adjudication is a constitutional value worthy of protection, but this goal can be achieved by less radical means. Serving judges of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court should be able to enter into marriages without having to resign from their judicial office,” Wiącek emphasized.

In the response signed by Deputy Minister Mazur, posted on the website of the Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday, it was stated that the Ministry of Justice shares the position that the provision indicated by the Commissioner is too restrictive. “The opinion on the need to change this provision should also be shared,” Mazur noted.

“With the above in mind, I kindly inform you about the submission of a letter (Ombudsman) of December 23, 2025, together with the position of the Ministry of Justice, to the Codification Committee of the Judiciary and Public Prosecutor's Office, asking the committee to take into account the agreed position of the Ombudsman and the Minister of Justice in the already advanced work of the committee on the draft of the new Act on the Supreme Court,” said the deputy head of the Ministry of Justice.

A few days ago, “Rzeczpospolita” reported that the codification committee had already prepared a draft of a new, comprehensive act on the Supreme Court and that this draft would reach the desk of the head of the Ministry of Justice, Waldemar Żurek, in the next few days. (PAP)

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