Statement of the Board of the Lex Super Omnia Prosecutors’ Association of 18 January 2021 on the harassment of prosecutors

The Board of the „Lex Super Omnia” Prosecutors’ Association with great surprise and indignation received decisions of National Prosecutor of 15 January 2021, where it seconded selected prosecutors – members of „Lex Super Omnia” Prosecutors’ Association to remote, lowest rank posts, in many cases located hundreds of kilometers away from their place of residence and current work. A relocation which involves additional budgetary costs for prosecutors.

Outraged, we express our firm opposition to the actions of National Public Prosecutor, who through his spokesman ineptly tries to justify his decisions by both: Covid pandemic circumstances and the need to reinforce the units to which our prosecutors are seconded, without presenting any evidence in this regard. Meanwhile, the organizational units where said prosecutors serve now, are critically short of staff and the workload exceeds acceptable standards.

This yields unshakeable impression that secondments are in fact a repression and their intent is to disrupt the activity of the only independent prosecutor’s association, which for the last 4 years has been systematically and substantively criticizing alleged reforms introduced by the Public Prosecutor General, the National Public Prosecutor and their subordinates. It is no secret that the current leadership of the prosecutor’s office is extremely disinclined to activities of „Lex Super Omnia” Prosecutors’ Association, which is founded upon cornerstones of independence of the prosecutor’s office, the ethics of an independent prosecutor and the prosecutor’s oath. This stems from the fact, that independent prosecutors are perceived as an alternative to the authoritarian management style in prosecution and at the same time constitute the only real threat to dysfunctional changes introduced in during so called „good change”. It is confirmed by the actions of the members of “Lex Super Omnia”, their reports on the state of the prosecution, social and educational activities showing that the prosecutor’s office and individual prosecutors can present completely different standards, respecting the rule of law and the basic principles of a democratic state ruled by law.

In this context, decisions on secondments are yet another way of exerting chilling effect and disabling any prosecutors’ activities unapproved by prosecution authorities.

We, prosecutors, members of Association of Prosecutors „Lex Super Omnia”, unequivocally declare that we shall not succumb to harassment and we shall defend the prosecution as the independent body of justice system, especially now, when we observe the ruthless violation of any general standards of prosecution correlated with the process of building sham state of law.

Here, we call on our Colleagues to actively oppose any negative changes taking place in the prosecution, recalling that professional integrity and honesty are of much greater value than short-term benefits.