Judge Jakub Iwaniec under scrutiny by new ad hoc disciplinary spokesman. It is about defamation

The Ministry of Justice informs that the case of Jakub Iwaniec concerns a suspicion of committing a disciplinary offence, which may at the same time meet the features of a crime under Article 212 § 1 and 2 of the Penal Code (defamation through the media). The minister appointed Barbara Augustyniak, judge of the Court of Appeal in Łódź, to conduct this case.

Jakub Iwaniec allegedly hated on Twitter

"In the period from at least August 2023 to June 30, 2025, Judge Jakub Iwaniec, by posting numerous entries on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), conducted public activities that were incompatible with the principles of the independence of courts and the independence of judges, and that could also humiliate and expose the persons mentioned in those entries to a loss of trust necessary to perform the profession of a judge or to hold the positions of Minister of Justice and Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Justice.

According to Article 178, section 3 of the Constitution , a judge may not conduct public activities that are incompatible with the principles of the independence of courts and judges . He should not therefore reveal or publicly display his views or political beliefs.

"This requirement of restraint is linked to the need for impartiality of a judge and means that a judge should not take an active part in political debate, get involved in election campaigns of specific groups or specific candidates, or even participate in the work of parliamentary investigative committees, even as an expert. This may result in such a judge being perceived by outsiders as not being fully impartial, especially in relation to representatives of competing parties, groups or some citizens," the Ministry of Justice indicates in a press release.

The new ad hoc spokesman is a woman

Judge Barbara Augustyniak, appointed by the Minister as an ad hoc advocate, has been adjudicating in the Court of Appeal in Łódź since March 2017. For many years she served as an inspector of the District Court in Łódź for legal transactions with foreign countries in criminal cases and for criminal cases. She is a lecturer at the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution in Kraków. She has participated in numerous foreign conferences and seminars on international cooperation in criminal cases in the area of ​​the European Union member states. She is a member of the Team of Coordinators of the educational project of the Representation of the European Commission in Poland "Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)".

"The appointment of Judge Barbara Augustyniak guarantees that this disciplinary case will be conducted impartially, independently and professionally, taking into account the applicable provisions and the standards resulting from the judgments of international tribunals and Polish courts," said the Minister of Justice.

Jakub Iwaniec's case: only disciplinary action for now

Let us recall that in February this year, the so-called neo-judge Marek Motuk from the Supreme Court's Professional Liability Chamber single-handedly refused to lift the immunity of judge Iwaniec in the case of public slander against judge Waldemar Żurek. This is one of three immunity cases involving Iwaniec. The new Supreme Court Chamber found that it found no reasonable suspicion that Iwaniec was behind the account that was hateful towards judge Żurek.