Polish prosecutors charge Constitutional Tribunal chancellery head Zofia Hoffmann over barred judges

Criminal charges against tribunal chancellery head

The National Public Prosecutor's Office formally presented criminal charges on 23 September 2026 to Zofia Hoffmann, the director of the Chancellery of the Constitutional Tribunal. Polish government spokesperson Adam Szłapka confirmed the filing on social media platform X. The charges cite two provisions of the Polish Penal Code: Article 231, Paragraph 1, and Article 218, Paragraph 3. Article 231 penalizes abuse of power or dereliction of duties by a public official acting to the detriment of public or private interests, which carries a prison term of up to three years. Article 218 addresses the persistent violation of employee rights, specifically non-compliance with court rulings ordering the disbursement of salary or other employment-related benefits.

The prosecutor's office has brought charges against the director of the Chancellery of the Constitutional Tribunal under Article 231 § 1 and Article 218 § 3 of the Penal Code.

Standoff over parliamentary swearing-in

The prosecution arises from a dispute over four judges elected by the Sejm in March 2026: Krystian Markiewicz, Marcin Dziurda, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, and Maciej Taborowski. President Karol Nawrocki did not administer the oath of office to the four appointees. In April 2026, the four took oaths during a ceremony in the Columned Hall of the Sejm without the head of state, participating alongside Magdalena Bentkowska and Mariusz Szostek, two judges who had previously sworn their oaths at the Presidential Palace. Constitutional Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski refused to recognize the parliamentary oath as valid, blocking the four jurists from participating in judicial panels and refusing their salary payments.

Constitutional Tribunal rejects accusations

The Constitutional Tribunal published a statement declaring the charges entirely baseless and describing the prosecution's move as an attack on a constitutional state institution. The tribunal stated that Hoffmann and administrative staff acted in full compliance with the law by executing direct written instructions from the court president. Under Article 5 of the Act on the Status of Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal, a judge's employment begins only after taking an oath before the President of the Republic of Poland. The tribunal argued that allowing unsworn individuals to assume office would constitute an offense, adding that the director of the chancellery possesses no autonomous authority over judicial admissions.

Intimidation of Constitutional Tribunal employees at full throttle. This government of ours is really pushing the boundaries...

Scope of the prosecution inquiry

Prosecutor Andrzej Piaseczny has managed the National Public Prosecutor's Office investigation since its launch in April 2026. As part of the inquiry, investigators questioned Zbigniew Bogucki, the head of the Chancellery of the President of Poland, and have sought to question President Nawrocki as a witness. Tensions escalated in July 2026 when Piaseczny entered the Constitutional Tribunal building alongside police officers during a General Assembly of Judges after receiving reports that the newly appointed judges were denied entry. During that encounter, Hoffmann and the commander of the tribunal guard cited written orders from Święczkowski, prompting Święczkowski to file a formal legal notice against the actions of the prosecution.