Judge Nawacki promoted by new KRS to high administrative court

In a secret ballot, 12 members of the new National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) backed Nawacki's candidacy, 5 were against, and 4 abstained.

At the moment, judge Nawacki is the president of the Regional Court in Olsztyn. He was nominated for this position by the Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro. He is also a member of the new KRS, but the legality of his appointment has been questioned by some lawyers. This is because Nawacki had personally undersigned his own candidacy for KRS.

As court president Nawacki is consistent in not allowing judge Paweł Juszczyszyn to adjudicate. In April, the Regional Court in Bydgoszcz decided that Juszczyszyn should return to the bench. Nevertheless, President Nawacki persisted and did not allow Juszczyszyn to return to work. In his view, there is a conflict of competence between the Supreme Court Disciplinary Chamber, not recognised by this very court, and the court in Bydgoszcz, so he decided to ask the Supreme Court for an opinion.

Nawacki became widely known in early 2020, when he tore draft resolution copies issued by judges of his court. With these resolutions the judges protested against the disciplinary action launched against judge Juszczyszyn, who had asked the Sejm Chancellery for access to lists of support for candidates for the new KRS.

In response, the judges from Olsztyn notified the disciplinary spokesman at the Białystok Court of Appeals about a possible disciplinary offense committed by Nawacki.

In late May 2020, a disciplinary action was launched and Nawacki was also accused of destroying official documents, but in February 2021, the disciplinary spokesman for common courts judge Przemysław Radzik discontinued the disciplinary inquiry against the judge.

As to the tearing of documents, the case has been recently taken over by the internal affairs department of the National Public Prosecutor's Office.

Commenting on the decision regarding judge Nawacki, TVN24 reporter Michał Tracz pointed out that it would be "a huge promotion for him, as a Regional Court judge has been approved to become a Supreme Administrative Court justice".

He also stressed that Nawacki was backed by "a vast majority of votes from the new KRS, because as many as 12 persons voted for his candidacy".

The resolution regarding judge Nawacki's promotion to the Supreme Administrative Court will now land on President Andrzej Duda's desk for final approval.