Polish Court Overturns Prosecutor's Refusal to Probe MP's Detention

A Warsaw-Mokotów district court has rescinded the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s decision to decline opening an investigation into the July 2024 arrest of MP Marcin Romanowski, who possessed immunity as a substitute member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. According to his attorney, Justice Minister Adam Bodnar instructed Deputy Minister Arkadiusz Myrcha to task constitutional law experts Joanna Juchniewicz and Andrzej Jackiewicz with preparing legal opinions, which were handed to the National Prosecutor’s Office three days before the arrest but were never formally signed.

Prosecutors relied on those opinions to deny the defense’s plea for the MP’s immediate release. A separate internal probe into the prosecutors’ conduct had earlier been terminated, and the appeal against that termination remains pending. The court now demands a thorough clarification of the circumstances and the authors of the contested opinions, suggesting possible abuse of authority and unlawful deprivation of the MP’s liberty.