Formal law of disciplinary responsibility of the judges of the common courts

The purpose of this article is to present the process of disciplinary liability that the judges of the common courts are subject to especially in relation to the constitutional principle of judges’ independence. In this context, they are discussed the formal aspects of the disciplinary procedure, particularly those concerning initiation of proceedings, recognizing the disciplinary case, joinder of proceedings, appeal and resumption of final judgment. This issue will be used to answer the question, what the function is and what disciplinary proceedings are for in relation to constitutional right to a fair trial and also whether current legislation needs corrections.

The Faces and Paradoxes of Judicial Accountability

The article regards the problem how to separate judicial accountability from the other forms odf judges liability. It presents a proposal of judicial accountability concept in legal science, the basic assumptions for the settlement of judicial power towards forms of responsibility, proposing the separation of these categories. and the subject and object scope of judicial accountability. The result of the analysis are conclusions on the forms of accountability within judicial power, especially judges’ decisions - and outlining some threats that apply to them.

Disciplinary Justice in the Context of Constitutional Restrictions

The purpose of this article is to analise the present formula of disciplinary responsibility of the judges in a context of the constitutional rules: independent of judges, independent of courts and right to a fair trial. The Author analises present legal status, as well practice and legal propositions of changes. By the way, he notices a dengerous tenden cy towards transgressing constitutional limits and infringement these regulations with the European Union’s law.

Boundaries of a Judge’s Disciplinary Tort

The subject of the article is to show the key issues related to the disciplinary liability of judges, among which the author analyses the notion of disciplinary tort and the substantive criminal law institutions relating to it, including culpability, the degree of social harmfulness, and the stadial and phenomenal forms. The study attempts to answer the question about the legitimacy of separating the notion of corporate harmfulness in relation to the rules of functioning of the professional environment of judges. The article also contains considerations concerning the prerequisites of disciplinary liability of judges, taking into account the specificities provided by the legislator for each category of courts, as well as the directions of interpretation of the prerequisite of obvious and gross violation of the law and the prerequisite of a breach of dignity of the office in relation to the scope of the concept of judicial independence.

Polish System of Disciplinary Liability of Judges in the Light of Standards European Union Law

The study presents current issues of the disciplinary liability of judges, starting with an indication of historical attempts to introduce new, unified regulations intended to cover most of the legal professions, up to the enactment of the statutes of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court and the so-called Disciplinary Law for judges. The author conducts an in-depth analysis of the disciplinary regulations in terms of testing compliance with EU law standards and the need to ensure the effectiveness of EU legal solutions.

100 years of defining the Polish model of “separation” of the judiciary – what we had, what we have and what we might want to have

The subject of the study is an analysis of over a hundred years of practice defining the role and political position of courts in Poland. The verification will be subject to compliance in the practice of exercising power not only with constitutional provisions (or indicating the reasons and consequences of their omission), but also with other regulations that accompany the creation and application of specific legal solutions in the context of guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary. At the same time, the assessment of the adopted solutions in terms of respect for the standards developed by international bodies for the protection of individual freedoms and rights and EU bodies was taken into account.

The material independence of judges is one of the essential guarantees of their independence and, at the same time, the proper functioning of the judiciary. Of course, one should not conclude from this that there is a simple relationship between independence and the material status of judges, nor should one presume a general prohibition on reducing judicial salaries. Undoubtedly, however, commensurate remuneration is permanently linked to the question of judicial independence. The aim of this article is to analyze premises of the permissibility of “freezing” adjustment of judges’ salaries in the light of international legal standards. The article is based on a specific factual situation, as in 2023, that basic salary adjustment for judges of common courts in Poland was “frozen” for the third year in a row.

The Procedure of Access to the Office of Judge of the Peace in the Presidential Draft Law on Courts of Peace and the Principle of Judicial Independence

On November 4, 2021, the Marshal of the Sejm received draft laws presented by the President of the Republic of Poland: the draft law on the courts of the peace and the draft law – provisions introducing the law on the courts of the peace. The changes proposed in the drafts assume the creation of justices of the peace. The courts of the peace are going to have the status of common courts. Pursuant to the draft, justices of the peace are to be elected in general elections and then appointed by the President at the request of the National Council of the Judiciary. The author of the study tries to answer the question about the status of justices of the peace, primarily in the aspect of the planned access to the office of justice of the peace, with particular emphasis on the conditions and procedure of selection.