Poland

Suspended judge fights rearguard action over Polish judicial reforms

Igor Tuleya warns other freedoms are at risk if an independent judiciary is destroyed

Igor Tuleya outside Poland’s Supreme Court. The judge faces potential prosecution after his immunity was revoked © Omar Marques/Getty

James Shotter in Warsaw NOVEMBER 26 2020

In the bitter five-year battle over the future of the Polish judiciary, judges have often been on
the front line. But few more so than Igor Tuleya.

Last week, the Warsaw judge, one of the most outspoken critics of a controversial judicial
overhaul introduced by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), had his immunity from
prosecution revoked in relation to a highly political case three years ago, and was suspended
from his duties.

Prosecutors demanded the move so that they could file criminal charges against Mr Tuleya,
alleging he had overstepped his powers by allowing journalists to hear and record his ruling
on case relating to a disputed 2016 parliamentary vote.

Mr Tuleya dismisses the claims as false and says the move is designed to stifle dissent. “This
is an attempt to intimidate judges,” he told the Financial Times in an interview at the central
Warsaw court where he has worked for a decade. “And I think it is also about removing an
inconvenient judge.”

The softly spoken 50-year-old’s position is a testament to how much Polish politics has
changed over that decade. He was appointed to the Warsaw court in 2010 by then-president
Lech Kaczynski. Ten years on, Mr Kaczynski’s twin brother Jaroslaw, the PiS leader, is the
driving force behind the party’s judicial changes. Now a colleague fetches a key for the room
where the interview is to take place as it is not clear whether Mr Tuleya would be given it
himself.
The removal of his immunity is both a message to his Polish colleagues and, Mr Tuleya
suspects, a gesture of defiance “to European courts and the EU”.

Over the past five years, Warsaw and Brussels have clashed repeatedly over PiS's judicial
changes, with the European Commission launching legal action over fears they undermine
rule of law. Those tensions escalated last week when Poland and Hungary threatened to block
the EU’s €1.8tn budget and recovery package after European officials struck a deal to link
access to the funds to EU principles, including judicial independence.

PiS officials say the changes — which include

I feel a bit as if I don't live
in my own country. I don't
recognise the Poland that I
lived in for many years
Igor Tuleya, suspended Polish judge
giving politicians power over the body that
appoints judges and creating the Supreme Court
disciplinary chamber that removed Mr Tuleya’s
immunity — were necessary to reform an
inefficient system. Critics see them as an attempt
to erode democratic checks and balances.

Born in Lodz in central Poland, Mr Tuleya

studied law in Warsaw before becoming a judge
aged just 26. Recent events are not the first time he has crossed swords with Poland's ruling
camp.

The biggest previous clash came in 2013 when, ruling on a case dating back to PiS's first term
in power between 2005 and 2007, Mr Tuleya said law enforcement agencies had used tactics
reminiscent of the “times of greatest Stalinism”. His comments sparked a backlash from PiS
MPs and media loyal to the party, with Zbigniew Ziobro — now justice minister — accusing
Mr Tuleya of “political punditry” and demanding he be disciplined.

As well as political and media attacks, Mr Tuleya has been the target of abuse on the street
and online. His court has been evacuated after being sent packages feared to contain anthrax,
and dog faeces has been smeared on the door of his flat.

“I feel a bit as if I don't live in my own country. I don't recognise the Poland that I lived in for
many years,” he said.

People who have met Mr Tuleya say he has the fortitude to cope with the pressure. “I would
say he is a very tough introvert . . . He understands very well how important the role of an
independent judge is. And unfortunately . . . he had to prove it by his own personal example,”
said Marcin Matczak, professor of law at the University of Warsaw. “It will be very difficult
for this government to crush this guy.”
Protesters rally in support of Polish judge Igor Tuleya outside the Supreme Court in Warsaw. © Omar Marques/Getty
One of Mr Tuleya’s main concerns is that if judicial independence in Poland is destroyed, the
ramifications are likely to be felt in other areas of civic life.

“There won't be a free media. NGOs will be destroyed. We will all have some sort of vision of
the world promoted by politicians of the ruling camp imposed on us. And it can’t be ruled out
that they are heading for Polexit,” he said, referring to Poland potentially leaving the EU.

But despite such warnings, judges and their supporters have increasingly struggled to rally
public opinion. Although the PiS reforms initially sparked big protests, demonstrations have
dwindled as the fight over the judiciary has dragged on. This is despite surveys showing Poles
are not satisfied with the reforms, with one this year showing 50 per cent of respondents had
a negative view of them.

Mr Tuleya said the abstract nature of the changes and relentless state media propaganda had
made it hard to engage the public. He also acknowledged that the judiciary needed reform,
“but genuine reforms — because what PiS has been doing for five years is exclusively the
destruction of the judiciary”.

But he also argued that recent mass protests against a controversial court ruling that paves
the way for an almost total ban on abortion were linked to the rule of law, as the
Constitutional Tribunal, which issued the decision, had been politicised by PiS.

“It seems to me that today [the protesters] see the consequences of the politicisation of the
Constitutional Tribunal, that such a politicised court doesn't act independently,” he said.

Mr Tuleya, has no intention of giving up his fight for judicial independence. Although
prosecutors can now press criminal charges against him, he plans to remain in Poland. But
he said he would not voluntarily submit to questioning as that would imply recognition of the
disciplinary chamber and its decision to remove his immunity.
If a criminal case went against him, he could face jail. But Mr Tuleya is not deterred. “I can't
turn back,” he said. “I am convinced that I am fighting for a just cause. And so I am also
prepared to pay that price.”

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