A charge over a 2021 order

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek announced on X on Friday, 23 October 2026, that disciplinary proceedings had been opened against judge Dagmara Pawełczyk-Woicka, the former chair of the National Council of the Judiciary (Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa, KRS). The proceedings were initiated by the deputy disciplinary spokesperson at the Court of Appeal in Kraków, and the minister's post refers to her as 'Dagmara P.-W.'. The charge concerns an order she issued on 22 October 2021 that broke off the official duties of judge Maciej Ferek. According to the deputy spokesperson, the order had no factual basis and breached article 130 §1 of the law on the system of common courts. He considers this an obvious and gross violation of the law.

What the minister said

Żurek published the decision on X and stressed that the case is still at an early stage. He wrote that the question of disciplinary liability will be settled as the proceedings move forward. The post repeats the wording of the charge without adding new evidence, and it gives no date for a hearing.

“Disciplinary liability will be resolved in the course of the proceedings.”

Pawełczyk-Woicka's response

Pawełczyk-Woicka responded to wPolityce.pl by rejecting the premise that she acted alone. She said the suspension was decided by a higher court, not by her. She also argued that the order was a step she took against a judge who had questioned the appointments of his colleagues.

“I suspended him from duties, but it was the Supreme Court that suspended him.”

In the same interview she described Żurek as a symbol of a system that leads to chaos, a remark the minister's critics have echoed in their own commentary.

Ferek and the Kraków court

Ferek became known for challenging the legality of judicial appointments. Disciplinary charges were presented to him in October 2021, and he was suspended from his duties that year. Pawełczyk-Woicka headed the Kraków Regional Court from 2018 to 2022, a post she held on nomination from the justice ministry under Zbigniew Ziobro, according to Oko.press. That outlet also reports that she moved judges between divisions and removed them from their duties for a month, which led to further open-ended suspensions. Oko.press lists Żurek, then a judge in Kraków and now justice minister, among the judges affected.

The case now goes forward before the disciplinary bodies of the Kraków courts, and no ruling has been announced.