A civic hearing of the candidates for the office of the National Public Prosecutor was held on 21 February 2024. It was organised by Democracy Action (Akcja Demokracja), the Open Dialogue Foundation, the “Defensor Iuris” Bar Association (Stowarzyszenie Adwokackie Defensor Iuris), Władysław Bartoszewski’s Skwer Association, and Video-KOD.
The purpose of the hearing was to:
- rebuild citizens’ trust in the prosecution service as the key public service upholding the rule of law;
- boost citizen participation in the candidate selection process;
- obtain recommendations from the public in the pending official selection process;
- promote civic hearings as a desirable form of citizens’ participation in public life.
All the candidates for office were invited to participate in the hearing. Ultimately, the public hearing was attended by public prosecutors Ewa Wrzosek and Dariusz Korneluk.
The hearing took the form of a debate divided into two blocks: first, the candidates answered questions put forward by the moderators; secondly, they were questioned by the on-site audience and online participants. For the moderator block, we prepared a series of questions grouped into the following themes:
- restoration of the rule of law and accountability for abuses of power that took place in the public prosecutor’s office during the period from 2015 to 2023;
- the functioning of the public prosecution service;
- the political and European/international environment;
- the citizen (as employer and ‘client’) and civic society;
- human rights (protection guarantees);
- a glimpse into the future: the target model for the prosecution and criminal process.
The debate was moderated by journalists Jacek Żakowski (TOK FM) and Mariusz Jałoszewski (OKO.press) and attorneys Ewa Marcjoniak (Defensor Iuris) and Jakub Kocjan (Akcja Demokracja). The hearing concluded with a summary and closing remarks by two prominent experts, professor Monika Płatek and professor Mirosław Wyrzykowski.
Professor Płatek emphasised the role of non-governmental organisations in the process of civic control and the systemic, disrespectful and often contemptuous attitude towards citizens exhibited by numerous public prosecutors. Extractive detention, false charges and convictions of innocent people are, according to Prof. Płatek, a true stain that blemishes the prosecution’s assertion of being subservient to the Constitution and citizens.
Professor Wyrzykowski drew attention to the need for recurrent civic hearings and public accounting of the current candidates for their declarations in a year’s time, if any of them is appointed to the office of the National Public Prosecutor. Professor Wyrzykowski also highlighted the perennial problem of the lack of accountability of public prosecutors and judges for the decisions they make, despite changes in that regard having been announced over the years. The Professor also encouraged an approach to interpreting the laws and regulations governing the public prosecution service that was always based on a constitutional perspective.
The key issues and, at the same time, commitments made by the candidates included ending the pathology of unjustified and protracted pre-trial detention (including in favour of non-custodial, less intrusive preventive measures) and accountability for illegal pushbacks of refugees and migrants at the border with Belarus (subject to maintaining a hard line against actual smugglers), as well as promoting a culture of personal responsibility for prosecutors’ decisions. Participants at the hearing also agreed that the public prosecutor’s office should be closer to the citizens and that prosecutors should always be mentioned by name, starting with the statements they issue, instead of hiding behind an institutional screen.
The hearing was attended by approximately 100 participants and, thanks to online streaming and subsequent replays, it has been watched by approximately 30,000 people to date (these figures are based on the playing of recordings on the OKO.press, Video-KOD, Włodek Ciejka TV and Radio Rebeliant) services. Television coverage of the event was provided by TVN24 and TVP Info.
Public prosecutors Ewa Wrzosek and Dariusz Korneluk painted a vision of a public prosecutor’s office that is open, law-abiding and, above all, independent and protective of human rights. In the view of the hearing organisers, a public prosecutor’s office that turns its face towards citizens, rather than to their political principals, has a priceless value.
We would like to invite you to watch the coverage of the hearing.
Media coverage:
- Monitor Konstytucyjny: Summary of the first-ever public hearing of the National Public Prosecutor candidates (February 29, 2024)
- NGO.pl: Public hearing of candidates for the National Public Prosecutor [summary] (February 29, 2024)
- Onet: Five candidates running for state prosecutor (February 20, 2024)
- OKO.press: Five candidates running for state prosecutor. They are members of Lex Super Omnia and Ziobro’s administration (February 19, 2024)
