Disciplinary Responsibility over Judges in the Second Republic of Poland. Substantive Law Issues in Light of Judges’ Personal and Disciplinary Files from the Former Prussian Territories

The issue of disciplinary responsibility over judges is one of the key aspects of the functioning of the judiciary. This mechanism must remain a compromise between respecting a special status for judges based on their independence and their key role in the functioning of the state, versus the need to eliminate negative behaviors on their part. Such oversight in turn should lead to the building up of societal trust in the judiciary. The article is an attempt to present the issue of disciplinary proceedings against judges in the Second Polish Republic in the areas of the former Prussian territories.

By presenting this issue from the perspective of substantive law, this article complements research already carried out in this area, the issue of the course of procedure in disciplinary proceedings having already been presented in a separate text. In this article, the author focuses on the issues regarding judge’s disciplinary misconduct and actual disciplinary punishments. The legal provisions were compared with the practice of their application, reconstructed on the basis of preserved archival files of judges, both personal and disciplinary.

The issue of disciplinary responsibility over judges is one of the key aspects of the functioning of the judiciary. This mechanism must remain a compromise between respecting a special status for judges based on their independence and their key role in the functioning of the state, versus the need to eliminate negative behaviors on their part. Such oversight in turn should lead to the building up of societal trust in the judiciary. The article is an attempt to present the issue of disciplinary proceedings against judges in the Second Polish Republic in the areas of the former Prussian territories.

By presenting this issue from the perspective of substantive law, this article complements research already carried out in this area, the issue of the course of procedure in disciplinary proceedings having already been presented in a separate text. In this article, the author focuses on the issues regarding judge’s disciplinary misconduct and actual disciplinary punishments. The legal provisions were compared with the practice of their application, reconstructed on the basis of preserved archival files of judges, both personal and disciplinary.