Prosecutors ask Constitutional Tribunal to lift immunity of suspended chief Święczkowski

Six motions reach the tribunal

Prosecutors have sent six motions to the Constitutional Tribunal asking it to lift the immunity of Bogdan Święczkowski, the tribunal's suspended president, according to Onet, which first reported the filings. Five of the motions seek consent only to bring charges against him. The sixth also asks for consent to detain him if needed, after which prosecutors would petition a court for temporary arrest. Investigators are preparing the charges, and under Article 195 section 1 of the Polish Constitution a tribunal judge cannot be prosecuted or deprived of liberty without the tribunal's prior consent, except when caught in the act. The reports say no charges have been filed yet.

Consent to charge only5

Consent to charge and detain1

Consent to charge only

5 motions

Consent to charge and detain

1 motions

Data from the article text

Allegations from the PiS years

Some of the planned charges concern Święczkowski's time as National Prosecutor under the Law and Justice (PiS) government. Prosecutors allege he ordered the illegal copying of material gathered through surveillance of Roman Giertych using the Pegasus system. They say the material was used to gather information on Giertych's private life and his professional and political activity, including cases he handled as a lawyer. Prosecutors further allege that he passed these materials to Zbigniew Ziobro, the justice minister at the time. A separate allegation is that the purchase of the Hermes tool, used to collect and analyse information, breached the law. Prosecutors also accuse him of unlawfully sending nine prosecutors who had criticised changes to the justice system to other units, a move they describe as an unofficial punishment.

Allegations tied to the tribunal

The second group of charges concerns the tribunal itself. Prosecutors say Święczkowski manipulated the panels that hear cases and blocked five judges elected by the current Sejm from sitting. The five are Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, Marcin Dziurda, Krystian Markiewicz, Maciej Taborowski and Maciej Berek, and President Karol Nawrocki has refused to swear them in. Prosecutors also say he assigned judges to cases improperly and repeatedly violated their employment rights. The five judges entered the building only with police assistance. Together with the remaining three sworn-in judges elected by the current coalition, they took control of the tribunal and suspended Święczkowski and his deputy. One of the motions covers a scuffle in mid-October between Święczkowski and judge Maciej Berek inside the tribunal building.

Why the detention request stands out

The request for consent to detain is the element that sets this case apart, and the reporting notes that a decision of that kind would set a precedent. Rzeczpospolita reports that Święczkowski disputes his suspension and does not recognise the panel handling the case. For that reason prosecutors consider compulsion possible if he does not appear voluntarily when summoned. Supreme Court judge Kamil Zaradkiewicz, who had warned that this scenario could occur, wrote on social media that the reports confirmed his earlier warnings. The prosecution office is led by Waldemar Żurek. The reports do not say when the tribunal will rule on the motions.