Lawyer Bartosz Lewandowski published yesterday on the X the reasoning of the District Court in Warsaw regarding the annulment of the European Arrest Warrant against MP Marcin Romanowski.
The judge, Dariusz Łubowski, is currently being attacked by the governing coalition and its supporters over issuing this decision. Łubowski is the judge who earlier issued the very same European Arrest Warrant.
The ruling coalition was particularly displeased with the use of the term "crypto-dictatorship" in the justification for the decision regarding Romanowski. Excerpts from the extensive document were posted on X by Bartosz Lewandowski, the MP's lawyer:
"It is impossible not to notice the extremelIt is impossible not to notice the extremely dangerous phenomenon, unprecedented in any civilized legal system, of interference by the highest-ranking representatives of the executive branch in the sphere of judicial independence. The facts of the drastic violation of the constitutional order by the executive branch in Poland are notoriously known to the Polish and, unfortunately, also to the international public. The court in this case does not have jurisdiction to broadly discuss these issues, the assessment of which can be made by the appropriate bodies in the appropriate proceedings. A phenomenon is the constant public statements concerning ongoing court proceedings and the pronouncement of judgments before they have been issued by the court.
[...] This is an unlawful procedure, as it violates the most fundamental human rights of all accused persons, namely the presumption of innocence (see Article 42, paragraph 3 of the Polish Constitution, Article 5, paragraph 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14, paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 6, paragraph 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) and the right to respect for human dignity (Article 30 of the Polish Constitution, Articles 1 and 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union). These actions are damaging to the image of the Polish justice system both domestically and, most importantly in this case, internationally (argumentum ad Article 607b of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
[...] The rhetorical question that must be asked here is whether every opponent of any government in any democratic state governed by the rule of law, even if they are a criminal, ceases to be a human being and should be deprived of all human rights and human dignity?
[...] The court in this case has reviewed the entire investigation file and all the evidence gathered, and – without presuming to render any judgment – considers it completely unjustified to publicly present Marcin Romanowski as a guilty person who, after being brought back to the country, will be convicted and imprisoned (as one of the highest-ranking representatives of the executive branch publicly stated, opposition members hiding abroad should be kidnapped by Polish special services and transported to Poland "in the trunk of a car"). These vile statements, incompatible with the basic standards of a democratic state governed by the rule of law, are widely known to the international public. They directly infringe upon the independence of the judiciary, including in this case. These circumstances annihilate the credibility of the Polish state, including the Polish judiciary.
[...] In light of the circumstances outlined above, there are serious concerns that the current situation in Poland can be classified as a crypto-dictatorship. It should also be added that these violations of human rights and the constitutional order are taking place with the complete silence of all European Union institutions.— wrote Dariusz Łubowski in his justification.
- Based on reporting by WPolityce.
