The Supreme Court (SN) lifted the immunity of Jakub Iwaniec, a Warsaw judge, on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, in a case of suspected drunk driving and a collision in Rejowiec Fabryczny in Lublin Voivodeship. The decision was issued by Maria Szczepaniec, president of the court's Professional Liability Chamber. The same ruling suspends the judge and reduces his salary by 50%. Iwaniec was previously deputy spokesperson of the disciplinary office for judges at the Warsaw Regional Court. The decision is not final, and the defence can file a complaint against it.
“The analysis of the evidence allows us to state that the existence of a sufficiently justified suspicion that the judge committed a crime is not in doubt.”
According to the National Prosecutor's Office (Prokuratura Krajowa), on 11 October 2025 Iwaniec attended an event of a shooting association and drank alcohol there. Around 21:00 he was driven home to Rejowiec Fabryczny. A few minutes later he ordered a pizza for collection and spent about 25 minutes at the outlet. Prosecutors say neighbours saw his car leave the road, hit a tree three metres from them, then reverse, return to the road and drive onto the judge's property. A witness told investigators that Iwaniec was the one driving. Hospital toxicology tests, taken about three hours after the incident, showed 1.85 per mille alcohol in his blood, prosecutors said.
Iwaniec's defence maintains that he was a passenger and not behind the wheel. At Tuesday's hearing the lawyers named a specific person whom they say was driving, but did not disclose that name publicly. Iwaniec did not attend the hearing. Michał Skwarzyński, one of the defence lawyers, said the prosecution's public statements came out too quickly and without verification. He argued that not all witnesses had been questioned and that no procedural reconstruction had been carried out. He also said a witness feared testifying because of the 15 penalty points and loss of licence that could follow, and noted that a collision is a misdemeanour whose limitation period is one year.
“In point three of the evidence motion I submitted, the name of the car's driver is listed. There is no reason to disclose it publicly.”
The Supreme Court did not accept the defence arguments. It said the evidence gathered by prosecutors, including statements from 12 witnesses, sobriety test results and an expert opinion on automotive engineering and road traffic, sufficiently justifies the suspicion that the judge committed an offence. The motion to lift his immunity had reached the Supreme Court in the second half of October 2025, and the ruling came just over a year later.
The ruling allows criminal proceedings against Iwaniec to go ahead. The decision is not final, and the defence may file a complaint against it. The suspension and the 50% pay reduction take effect under the same ruling.
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Poland's Supreme Court lifted the immunity of Warsaw judge Jakub Iwaniec on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, suspended him and cut his pay by 50%. The case concerns a suspected drink-driving collision in Rejowiec Fabryczny on 11 October 2025, and the ruling is not final.
AI text based on reports by rmf24.pl, polsatnews.pl, Rzeczpospolita and other publishers. Published .