THE LIMITS OF JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE ? THE LIMITS OF JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE ? Warsaw 18–19 January 2016 Edited by Grzegorz Borkowski, Ph.D. Warsaw–Toruń 2016 Co-editor Alicja Seliga ISBN 978-83-7285-802-3 Printed in Poland Copyright by Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa Warszawa Published by TNOiK „Dom Organizatora” Toruń CONTENTS Introduction by Grzegorz Borkowski ................................................. 7 THE LIMITS OF THE JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE ? OPENING SPEECHES n Dariusz Zawistowski ........................................................................... 13 n Małgorzata Gersdorf ........................................................................... 15 SPEECHES DELIVERED BY THE INVITED GUESTS n Jerzy Stępień ...................................................................................... 23 n Bohdan Zdziennicki ............................................................................ 27 n Ewa Łętowska ..................................................................................... 35 n Mirosław Wyrzykowski ....................................................................... 43 n Łukasz Piebiak .................................................................................... 47 n Dariusz Sałajewski .............................................................................. 51 n Andrzej Zwara .................................................................................... 53 THE EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE OF THE JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE n Gerhart Holzinger ............................................................................... 57 n Lord Geoffrey Vos ............................................................................... 63 n Orlando Afonso .................................................................................. 69 n Vigintas Višinskis ................................................................................ 75 n Horaţius Dumbravă ............................................................................ 81 n Wiggo Storhaug Larssen..................................................................... 89 THE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE – A CONSTITUTIONAL APPROACH n Lech Garlicki ....................................................................................... 101 n Adam Bodnar...................................................................................... 113 n Dariusz Dudek .................................................................................... 119 n Ryszard Piotrowski ............................................................................. 129 THE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE – A FOCUS ON ETHICS n Krzysztof Strzelczyk ............................................................................ 139 n Antoni Górski ...................................................................................... 145 n Paweł Skuczyński................................................................................ 149 SPECIAL SPEECHES n Andrzej Rzepliński .............................................................................. 169 n Irena Kamińska ................................................................................... 181 PRESENTATIONS OF REPORTS n Sławomir Pałka ................................................................................... 187 n Grzegorz Borkowski ........................................................................... 203 n Anna Machnikowska .......................................................................... 219 n Grzegorz Wiaderek ............................................................................. 225 THE JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE AS A GUARANTEE OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF INDIVIDUALS n Małgorzata Gersdorf ........................................................................... 233 n Andrzej Zoll ........................................................................................ 237 n Jarosław Gwizdak............................................................................... 247 n Tomasz Wardyński .............................................................................. 251 * * * The Authors ........................................................................................ 257 THE LIMITS OF JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE ? INTRODUCTION This publication is a result of the international conference “The Limits of Judicial Independence?” organised by the National Coun- cil of the Judiciary in Warsaw on 18–19 January 2016. The universal character of the issues raised during the conference resulted in pub- lishing by the National Council of the Judiciary the post-conference materials both in Polish and in English. The conference was attended by presidents and judges of courts of appeal as wells as regional and voivodeship administrative courts from all over Poland, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Constitutional Tribunal, and also representatives of academics, other legal professionals and the media. On the first day of the conference three discussion panels took place: 1. “The European perspective of the judicial independence” (in Eng- lish), moderated by Judge Grzegorz Borkowski Ph.D., Head of the Office of the National Council of the Judiciary, with the partici- pation of Lord Justice Geoffrey Vos, President of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ); a Judge of the Su- preme Court of Portugal Orlando Afonso, former President of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) and the Europe- an Association of Judges for Democracy and Freedom (MEDEL), Prof. Vigintas Višinskis, a Judge of the Court of Appeal, a Member of the Lithuanian Judicial Council; a Judge of the Court of Appeal 7 Grzegorz Borkowski Horaţius Dumbravă, member of the Romanian Supreme Council of the Judiciary and Wiggo Strohaug Larssen, a judge of the Gulat- ing Court of Appeal in Bergen, Norway. The panel discussion was preceded by a lecture by Prof. Gerhart Holzinger, President of the Constitutional Court of Austria, former Head of the Conference of European Constitutional Courts. 2. “The national perspective of the judicial independence – a con- stitutional approach”, moderated by Janusz Drachal, a Judge of the Supreme Administrative Court, a Member of the National Council of the Judiciary, with the participation of Prof. Lech Gar- licki, retired Judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, former Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, Adam Bodnar Ph.D., Ombudsman, and Ryszard Piotrowski Ph.D. habil. of the Univer- sity of Warsaw. 3. “The national perspective of the judicial independence – a focus on ethics”, moderated by Katarzyna Gonera, a Judge of the Su- preme Court, a Member of the National Council of the Judiciary, with the participation of Judges of the Supreme Court Krzysztof Strzelczyk and Antoni Górski, as well as Prof. Andrzej Mączyński of the Jagiellonian University, retired Judge of the Constitutional Tribunal and Paweł Skuczyński Ph.D., the University of Warsaw, President of the Legal Ethics Institute. On the second day, the reports concerning the subject matter of the conference were presented. District Court Judge Sławomir Pałka, a Member the National Council of the Judiciary presented the report concerning the research on the judicial independence of the Europe- an Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ); District Court Judge Grzegorz Borkowski Ph.D., Head of the Office of the National Council of the Judiciary presented 18 opinions issued so far by the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE); Anna Machnikowska Ph.D. habil, Prof. of the University of Gdańsk, presented the results of the survey on judicial independence carried out among judges; and Grzegorz Wia- derek, President of the Institute for Law and Society (INPRIS), present- ed a report concerning the relations between judicial independence and the activities of the civic society organisations. The idea of organising a conference concerning the limits of ju- dicial independence was drawn up at the beginning of 2015. How- 8 Grzegorz Borkowski ever, because of the events occurring at the end of 2015 concerning the Constitutional Tribunal’s activity, it turned out that expressing the subject of the conference ‘The Limits of Judicial Independence?’ in the form of a question seemed to be entirely justified. The subject matter of the relations between the powers in the context of the situation concerning the Constitutional Tribunal came up in the statements of both panellists and invited guests, namely Jerzy Stępień, former Presi- dent of the Constitutional Tribunal, Bohdan Zdziennicki Ph.D., former President of the Constitutional Tribunal, Prof. Ewa Łętowska, retired Judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, Prof. Mirosław Wyrzykowski, retired Judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, Judge Łukasz Piebiak, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, Dariusz Sałajew- ski, a legal counsel, President of the National Council of Legal Coun- sels, and Andrzej Zwara, a barrister, President of the Supreme Bar Council. In view of the complexity of the subject matter and the topicality of the statements, some selected materials from the conference “The in- dependence of the judiciary as a guarantee of the rights and freedom of individuals” were also included in this publication. The conference was organised in Warsaw on 24 November 2015 by the National Council of the Judiciary, the Ombudsman and the “Themis” Judges’ Associa- tion. The materials include statements by Prof. Małgorzata Gersdorf, a Judge of the Supreme Court, the First President of the Supreme