Polish prosecutors ask Supreme Court to lift immunity of three Warsaw judges

The requests to the Supreme Court

On Friday, 9 October 2026, the internal affairs department of the National Prosecutor's Office (Prokuratura Krajowa) sent the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy) requests to lift the immunity of three judges of the Warsaw Court of Appeal: Piotr Schab, Przemysław Radzik and Michał Lasota. Lifting immunity is required before criminal charges can be brought, and the requests seek resolutions allowing criminal liability to be pursued. The investigation concerns suspected appropriation of the public function of disciplinary prosecutor for judges of the common courts. Spokesman Przemysław Nowak said the suspicion rests on evidence that includes the justice minister's dismissal decisions and proof of their delivery. The requests went to the Supreme Court's Professional Liability Chamber (Izba Odpowiedzialności Zawodowej).

The evidence also covers documentation on the appointment of new disciplinary prosecutors, requests to hand over case files to them and refusals to release those files, as well as the disciplinary case files themselves.

The charges against each judge

Prosecutors say Schab exceeded his powers by presenting himself as still holding the post of disciplinary prosecutor after the justice minister dismissed him on 25 April 2025. The charge also covers carrying out tasks reserved for that role, including conducting disciplinary proceedings, examining complaints and writing to other bodies. Lasota, dismissed as deputy disciplinary prosecutor on 29 July 2025, faces a similar charge of exceeding powers, with prosecutors alleging he conducted disciplinary proceedings and took part in hearings before the Supreme Court.

Radzik faces the longest list. He is accused of hiding the disciplinary case file of judge Urszula Sipińska-Sęk and of opening three disciplinary proceedings against judge Andrzej Krasnodębski without basis, while hiding the files of those proceedings. Prosecutors also say Radzik presented himself as deputy disciplinary prosecutor after his dismissal on 4 April 2025. According to the charges, he acted despite knowing that the acts charged against Krasnodębski had not been committed. Krasnodębski had himself been charged with participation in an organised criminal group aimed at changing the constitutional order of the state.

Background to the dispute

The three judges were appointed disciplinary prosecutors in 2018, under PiS governments when Zbigniew Ziobro led the justice ministry. In April 2025 then justice minister Adam Bodnar dismissed Schab and his deputy Radzik. Waldemar Żurek, who took office at the end of July 2025, dismissed Lasota, the second deputy, soon after. The judges contested these dismissals as unlawful, arguing that the law on the court system gave no legal basis for them and that they were therefore ineffective. In September 2025 the ministry named Joanna Raczkowska as the new disciplinary prosecutor, with Grzegorz Kasicki and Tomasz Ładny as her deputies.

At a press conference held with Radzik and Lasota, Schab said that he and his deputies would remain in their posts regardless of what Żurek and other members of the current government said.

We are following the law, and threats of force will not stop us.

Other requests and what comes next

Prosecutors also want to charge Michał Ostrowski, a deputy Prosecutor General appointed under the PiS government, in two cases. The details of those two cases are not in the reporting available here. In total six requests were filed, five by the internal affairs department of the National Prosecutor's Office and one by the regional prosecutor's office in Szczecin. Prosecutors say the immunities must be lifted before charges can be brought, so the Supreme Court's decision will determine whether the charges can proceed. The reporting does not give a date for that decision.