THE RELAPSE OF LIBERAL JURISTOCRACY IN POLAND

In Poland, under the liberal autocracy established after December 2023, intensive and unlawful measures have been undertaken to restore an extreme oligarchic juristocracy. As a result, the judiciary has ceased to be blind and impartial and has been subordinated to the current political needs of Tusk’s left-liberal administration.

From the perspective of judicial independence and the impartiality of judges, three areas of the judicial system are crucial: (1) access to the profession and the promotion system, (2) disciplinary responsibility, and (3) rules for case assignment. In each of these areas, during the governments of Law and Justice, the Ministry of Justice prepared legislative reforms aimed at dismantling the system of networks rooted in the communist and post-communist nomenklatura. In 2017, the procedure for selecting the judicial members of the National Council of the Judiciary — which provides opinions to the President regarding judicial appointments — was changed. This eliminated the de facto influence of a narrow group of judges from higher courts on these opinions. Thus, the so-called “judicial caste” lost its decisive influence over the first of the aforementioned areas, allowing access to judicial positions for persons outside the previous oligarchic structure. The previously ineffective system of disciplinary responsibility for judges was also reformed. In both areas, there were fierce attacks from politicized judicial associations defending their privileges, influence, and impunity. EU central institutions (the European Commission, the European Parliament, and most notably the Court of Justice of the European Union) were mobilized and, in violation of the principle of conferral of competences, began a political process of interference in the structure of the Polish judiciary, supporting the liberal juristocracy and its allied globalist political circles. Each of these segments requires a separate, detailed discussion. In this text, I would like to focus on the first step in the process of transforming the judiciary into a weapon in the fight against political opponents, in the defense of its own allies, and in consolidating the power of the left-liberal establishment.

After December 13, 2023, Poland witnessed a series of unlawful actions consisting in the dismissal of the majority of court presidents and vice-presidents before the expiration of their terms of office (six years in appellate and regional courts, four years in district courts) — without meeting the statutory grounds for dismissal, in violation of procedures, and in disregard of decisions and rulings of constitutional bodies. As a result of these actions, the Minister of Justice installed loyal judges in key managerial positions in most courts. In this way, he created the conditions for further capture of the judiciary through the shaping of judicial panels in politically significant criminal cases according to the expectations of the executive branch.