Justice Minister Żurek suspends judge Piebiak, citing hate scandal and a Warsaw flat fraud case

The suspension order

On Monday, Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek announced via X that he had ordered an immediate break in the judicial duties of Warsaw district court judge Łukasz Piebiak. The decision, based on Article 130 §1 of the Law on the Common Courts System, will remain in force until the disciplinary court issues a ruling, but not longer than one month.

“I have decided to immediately remove judge Łukasz Piebiak from his duties due to the extraordinary weight of the charges he is suspected of.”

The ministry argued that allowing Piebiak to continue adjudicating would damage the authority of the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw and harm essential interests of the service.

Two investigations

Żurek stated that the prosecution is conducting two separate, multi-threaded proceedings. The first concerns Piebiak’s alleged involvement in the so-called hate scandal (afera hejterska) that led to his resignation as deputy justice minister in 2019. The second focuses on an attempted judicial fraud using a forged testament to illegally acquire a municipally owned apartment in Warsaw, valued at 475,000 złoty. The city authorities, led by Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, filed a complaint that triggered the investigation in 2025.

“A situation where a person appointed to dispense justice becomes the subject of suspicion of forging documents and attempting to seize property is a denial of the judge’s ethos. Nothing less is expected of judges, for they are the ones who must guard the law, the fairness of proceedings and citizens’ trust in the state. There are no sacred cows.”

Political backlash

The decision drew an immediate sharp response from the opposition. PiS MP Sebastian Kaleta called the move overt repression against a member of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS). Piebiak himself, in comments to the website Niezalezna.pl, dismissed the suspension as evident revenge of Waldemar Żurek.

“I see this as overt repression against a member of the National Council of the Judiciary from the side of the justice minister.”

“Evident revenge of Waldemar Żurek.”

A judge with a controversial track record

Piebiak served as deputy justice minister under Zbigniew Ziobro’s tenure. In 2019, media reports linked him to the hate scandal, an alleged campaign to discredit judges critical of the government’s judicial reforms; he resigned shortly thereafter, insisting the reports were false and manipulated. In May 2026, the Sejm elected Piebiak as one of 15 new judges to the KRS, on the recommendation of the PiS parliamentary club. His election was widely seen as a setback for the current government, which has sought to reshape the council.