Judges from the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) did not violate the law or the principles of judicial ethics in connection to the so-called smear campaign in the Ministry of Justice - according to a statement issued by the KRS on Thursday.
The judges in question are Jarosław Dudzicz, Maciej Nawacki and Dariusz Drajewicz, all member of the KRS, who according to the media reports, are said to have been involved in an organised campaign to discredit and spread hate against certain judges. The campaign is believed to have been coordinated in the Ministry of Justice.
On Thursday, the Council issued a statement regarding this matter based on findings of a team summoned to examine the details. "After analysing media reports and statements given at a plenary session of the KRS judges, the Council concludes that the analysis of available sources did not reveal any comments made by KRS judges that would allow to charge them with violation of the law, judicial oath, or principles of judicial ethics," the statement adopted on Thursday reads.
The KRS also condemned and found reprehensible the behaviour of a judge, who having a justified suspicion of illegal conduct and violation of judicial ethics principles by another judge, informed the media about it without notifying proper authorities.
In its statement, the Council underscored that, in their view, the conduct of the judge involved in an organised campaign of insinuation and false accusation was reprehensible.
According to the media, judge Dudzicz is said to have been involved in the hate campaign scandal in the Ministry of Justice. In August, Onet.pl portal wrote that the then deputy justice minister Łukasz Piebiak was in contact with a woman named Emilia, who is believed to have been responsible for discrediting of some judges. Deputy minister is said to have known about Emilia's actions. Onet also wrote that among others involved in the smear campaign there were: Maciej Nawacki, Jarosław Dudzicz, Supreme Court justice Konrad Wytrykowski and judge delegate to the justice ministry Jakub Iwaniec. After the publication, Łukasz Piebiak stepped down from the office.
After these revelations Piebiak resigned from office. Judge Szmydt was dismissed from the function of KRS Chancellery's legal department chief and temporarily banned from ruling by the Voivodeship Administrative Court, and later on reinstated to his duties by the Disciplinary Court of the Supreme Administrative Court.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: tvn24