Judge Maria Turek drawn to rule on appeals in Romanowski iron letter case
A random draw at the Warsaw Court of Appeal assigned Judge Maria Turek to the prosecution's and the defence's complaints against a non-final decision to grant former deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski an iron letter. The defence says the draw bypassed the proper section of the court.
Who will rule on the appeals
The Court of Appeal in Warsaw said on Monday, 12 October, that a random draw had selected Judge Maria Turek to hear the complaints against the iron letter decision. Turek is a Warsaw district court judge delegated to adjudicate at the Court of Appeal, with more than 23 years of judicial service, mostly in criminal cases. Ewa Leszczyńska-Furtak, the court's spokeswoman for criminal matters, announced the selection from the draw report of the SLPS system. Two complaints were lodged, one by the prosecution and one by the defence, and both will be examined in the same proceedings.
The ruling behind the appeals
In late September the Warsaw district court issued a non-final decision granting Marcin Romanowski an iron letter, which allows a suspect to answer proceedings from liberty. Judge Konrad Mielcarek signed the ruling, which also lifted Romanowski's temporary arrest once the iron letter becomes final. Romanowski is a PiS MP and former deputy justice minister, suspected in the investigation into the Justice Fund, and he fled the country. If the decision becomes final, he would have to appear at every summons from a court or prosecutor, stay at his permanent residence and not obstruct the proceedings. His defence says he would return to Poland in that case. Prosecutor Piotr Woźniak told reporters he opposed issuing the iron letter.
Defence calls the draw a scandal
Bartosz Lewandowski, Romanowski's lawyer, wrote on X that the draw bypassed the complaints and motions section of the Court of Appeal, where 12 judges sit. He argued that the complaints belong to that section, which is staffed by judges appointed after 2017 in procedures criticised by the legal community. Lewandowski also said the case was assigned by draw to a judge delegated by Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek about a month earlier. His statement read:
A scandalous situation in the complaint concerning the iron letter for M. Romanowski. At the Court of Appeal in Warsaw, 12 judges were bypassed for considering the complaint, in breach of the division of judicial duties.
Justice minister admits an error
Waldemar Żurek told TVN24 that it was a mistake for the prosecution not to request the recusal of Judge Mielcarek from the iron letter case. He said such a motion should in principle be filed in every case of this type, and he added that he would meet prosecutors about it. Żurek also argued that the ruling was wrong on the merits, pointing to Romanowski's earlier pledges to cooperate with prosecutors and not go into hiding, which he said were not kept.
I am saying this openly. I will be meeting with prosecutors and I think that this is a mistake.
Timeline of the case
The request for the iron letter reached the Warsaw district court on 12 August, and the sources say it was posted in Tiraspol, the capital of the Transnistria region of Moldova, which functions as an unrecognised state largely thanks to Russian support. The ruling followed in late September, the prosecution and defence then filed their complaints, and on 12 October the draw assigned the appeals to Judge Turek. The sources do not give a date for her decision.
- Request for the iron letter reaches the Warsaw district court, sent from Tiraspol
- Warsaw district court issues non-final ruling granting the iron letter and lifting temporary arrest
- Court of Appeal draw assigns Judge Maria Turek to the complaints
