President Karol Nawrocki's Supreme Court Nomination Draws Judicial Backlash

President Karol Nawrocki appointed Prof. Maria Szczepaniec as head of the Professional Responsibility Chamber of the Supreme Court, a body created in July 2022 to replace the former Disciplinary Chamber. Judge Bohdan Bieniek criticised the move, saying the appointment “cements a flawed state from the start” and called for the chamber’s abolition, arguing that disciplinary proceedings should follow the pre‑2018 system where judges from all Supreme Court chambers participated.

Former chair of the National Council of the Judiciary, Dagmara Pawełczyk‑Woicka, warned that the European Court of Justice will issue an opinion on 16 July, describing it as “another attack on the Polish judicial system.” The CJEU case concerns whether judges appointed after 2017 may sit in Supreme Court chambers dealing with independence tests and hold leadership functions. Both the domestic criticism and the upcoming EU opinion underline ongoing disputes over the legality and independence of Poland’s recent judicial reforms.