Does the Minister of Justice – Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar know what he is doing, and is he aware of the consequences of the attempts to undermine the status of the National Prosecutor and other prosecutors (including heads of prosecution offices)?
Any personnel decisions taken by the Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar, together with prosecutor Jacek Bilewicz (who admittedly is a prosecutor of the National Prosecutor’s Office, but who is not an ‘acting National Prosecutor’ under the current legislation) will result in legal defectiveness of any indictment signed by prosecutors ‘appointed’ or ‘delegated’ by them, which will have far-reaching consequences. According to Article 17 par. 1(9) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, no criminal proceedings shall be initiated, and those that had already been initiated shall be discontinued, in “absence of a complaint by an authorized prosecutor”. In the so-called custodial cases, the court must revoke the orders granting pre-trial detention.
Defense attorneys in criminal cases are obliged to raise all arguments (including those of a formal nature) in favor of their clients. Moreover, the court should examine this issue ex lege, without waiting for the defense counsel to raise this objection. The recognition of this by the attorneys is quite noticeable when following the lawyers’ fora.
The same is true of signatures under cassations, appeals or requests for ordering an operational audit.
The Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar bears every kind of responsibility for this situation (and in particular, the political responsibility). Currently all his actions are viewed as wonderful and unproblematic, because his voters expect results even against the existing laws and the Constitution.
However, there will come a time, when the legal chaos caused by these political actions will result in widespread resentment from thousands of victims, who will be prevented from or significantly hindered in suing for their rights.