[Area] Polonia: le recenti decisioni del Procuratore Generale/Ministro della Giustizia

[Guglielmi Mariarosaria]

Da: Guglielmi Mariarosaria [mailto:mariarosaria.guglielmi a giustizia.it] 
Inviato: mercoledì 20 gennaio 2021 15:46
A: '<europa a magistraturademocratica.it> EUROPA'
Oggetto: Polonia: le recenti decisioni del Procuratore Generale/Ministro della Giustizia

 

Trasmetto la dichiarazione di Medel e dell’associazione dei pubblici ministeri polacchi, Lex Super Omnia, sulle recenti decisioni del Procuratore Generale che nei giorni scorsi ha disposto il trasferimento di circa 20 magistrati,  con un brevissimo preavviso, ad uffici molto distanti dalle loro sedi.

Quasi tutti i pubblici ministeri trasferiti appartengono all’associazione Lex Super Omnia, attiva nel denunciare il processo di smantellamento dell’ indipendenza del sistema giudiziario in Polonia  e gli effetti della riforma del 2016. 

Una riforma  che, unificando il ruolo del Procuratore della Repubblica e di quello del Ministro della Giustizia, ha arrestato un processo di sei anni di costruzione di una Procura indipendente dalle interferenze dell’esecutivo.

Mariarosaria Guglielmi

 

 

 

MEDEL STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE DECISION OF THE POLISH MINISTER OF JUSTICE (ACTING AS PROSECUTOR GENERAL) TO TRANSFER INDEPENDENT PROSECUTORS HUNDREDS OF KILOMETRES AWAY FROM THE PLACES THEY LIVE

 

For the last 5 years, MEDEL has repeatedly expressed its concern, disbelief and indignation about the process of devastation of Rule of Law in Poland. The constitutional check and balance guarantors, such as the Constitutional Court and the National Judicial Council have been disabled. 

The Supreme Court has been packed with lawyers who do not fulfil the criteria of independent judges. Judges in Poland have no systematic guarantees of independence, those who deliver decisions contradicting government’s expectations meet disciplinary and criminal charges (like Igor Tuleya), very often accompanied by smear campaigns in public media. 

Moreover, the public prosecution service in Poland has been broken and bent to the ruling party’s will. Polish prosecutors have no autonomy at all, each decision can be discretionarily reversed. Prosecutors who decided to launch investigation involving politicians of the ruling parties have been promptly disciplined and the proceedings have been closed or taken over by government’s loyalists. 

The last few days brought new harassing decisions taken by the Minister of Justice (acting as Prosecutor General), who transferred about 20 prosecutors (the authorities didn’t reveal the exact number), most of them to remote offices (like Daniel Drapała - 400 km; Ewa Wrzosek - 310 km; Katarzyna Szeska - 320 km; Jarosław Onyszczuk - 260 km), with 48 hours notice. A  number of them were also demoted (like Mariusz Krasoń, with 2 levels in hierarchy).

It is not a coincidence that the majority of the transferred prosecutors are members of “Lex Super Omnia” – a MEDEL member association, gathering independent and brave prosecutors who speak out about the situation in the prosecution service. MEDEL expresses its full support and solidarity to the harassed prosecutors.

Only 6 months ago, in the Declaration of Firenze, MEDEL reaffirmed that the independence of public prosecutors requires a statute fully complying with Rule of Law principles and continuous monitoring from EU institutions regarding the respect of common standards ensuring impartial and independent exercise of prosecutorial functions.

Hence once again, MEDEL calls upon the European institutions to react to Rule of Law violations in Poland and stand up for the independent magistrates in Poland.

January 20th, 2021

 



STATEMENT OF THE BOARD OF THE LEX SUPER OMNIA PROSECUTORS' ASSOCIATION OF 18 JANUARY 2021 ON THE HARASSMENT OF PROSECUTORS

 

The Board of the "Lex Super Omnia" Prosecutors’ Association with great surprise and indignation received decisions of National Prosecutor of 15 January 2021, where it seconded selected prosecutors – members of "Lex Super Omnia" Prosecutors' Association to remote, lowest rank posts, in many cases located hundreds of kilometers away from their place of residence and current work. A relocation which involves additional budgetary costs for prosecutors.

 

Outraged, we express our firm opposition to the actions of National Public Prosecutor, who through his spokesman ineptly tries to justify his decisions by both: Covid pandemic circumstances and the need to reinforce the units to which our prosecutors are seconded, without presenting any evidence in this regard. Meanwhile, the organizational units where said prosecutors serve now, are critically short of staff and the workload exceeds acceptable standards.

 

This yields unshakeable impression that secondments are in fact a repression and their intent is to disrupt the activity of the only independent prosecutor's association, which for the last 4 years has been systematically and substantively criticizing alleged reforms introduced by the Public Prosecutor General, the National Public Prosecutor and their subordinates. It is no secret that the current leadership of the prosecutor's office is extremely disinclined to activities of "Lex Super Omnia" Prosecutors' Association, which is founded upon cornerstones of independence of the prosecutor's office, the ethics of an independent prosecutor and the prosecutor’s oath. This stems from the fact, that independent prosecutors are perceived as an alternative to the authoritarian management style in prosecution and at the same time constitute the only real threat to dysfunctional changes introduced in during so called "good change". It is confirmed by the actions of the members of “Lex Super Omnia”, their reports on the state of the prosecution, social and educational activities showing that the prosecutor's office and individual prosecutors can present completely different standards, respecting the rule of law and the basic principles of a democratic state ruled by law.

 

In this context, decisions on secondments are yet another way of exerting chilling effect and disabling any prosecutors’ activities unapproved by prosecution authorities.

 

We, prosecutors, members of Association of Prosecutors "Lex Super Omnia", unequivocally declare that we shall not succumb to harassment and we shall defend the prosecution as the independent body of justice system, especially now, when we observe the ruthless violation of any general standards of prosecution correlated with the process of building sham state of law. 

 

Here, we call on our Colleagues to actively oppose any negative changes taking place in the prosecution, recalling that professional integrity and honesty are of much greater value than short-term benefits.

 

 

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