The decision to appoint Mr Żurek was announced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk as part of broader changes to his Council of Ministers. He underlined the symbolic nature of this appointment, emphasising that the new Minister of Justice had shown heroism in the fight for the rule of law while Law and Justice had been in power.

The new head of the justice department laid flowers at the memorial for victims of Stalin’s security service, in front of the Ministry’s building.

This symbolic laying of flowers is an appreciation of our heroes, our models. As you can see, authoritarianism, also in Europe, takes various forms today. Democracy is not given to us forever. We have to fight for it, foster it. We need to be aware that the young generations who do not remember communism must be educated and must have heroes of their own, said Minister Żurek.

The Minister also spoke about his mission.

I do notice that the danger of losing democracy is something truly serious. That is why I will do everything I can to restore the rule of law in our state, restore the separation of powers, and at the same time comply with our Constitution and all international agreements, he claimed.

Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek was born on 6 January 1970 in Chrzanów. He graduated from the Forestry Technical School in Brynek and the Jagiellonian University where he studied at the Faculty of Law and Administration. He was associated professionally with the Regional Court in Kraków. He was also spokesman of that court for 14 years.

In 2010-2018, Waldemar Żurek served two terms in the National Council of the Judiciary, also working as its spokesman. The term of the Council of which he was member was illegally terminated. Waldemar Żurek clearly signalled his opposition against politicising the Council and criticised the changes in the justice system introduced by those who were then in power.

As a judge, Waldemar Żurek became a symbol of the fight for the rule of law and democratic standards. In 2017, during the crisis concerning the Supreme Court, he took active part in protests before the Sejm and called for support for those protecting independent courts.

In 2018, Zbigniew Ziobro decided that Waldemar Żurek would be transferred from the 2^nd Civil Appellate Division to the 1^st Civil Division in the Regional Court in Kraków; this was seen by some in the judicial community as repression arising from his commitment to protecting independent courts. At the same time, Waldemar Żurek became victim of a smear campaign in the so-called “Hater Scandal.”

In 2020, he co-organised The March of a Thousand Robes in Warszawa – a clear social manifestation of opposition to, among others, the amendments to laws governing the judicial branch which the United Right was then passing.

It was also then that Judge Żurek started facing more and more disciplinary proceedings, initiated for his criticism of politicising law enforcement. At most, there were over 20 proceedings pending against him, involving 68 disciplinary charges in total. The legal community saw these charges were for show, aimed at exerting pressure and intimidating those who were critical of the government of that time.

This was an example of how disciplinary law was used instrumentally to fight independent judges. The ultimate discontinuation of the proceedings against Judge Żurek meant that he was symbolically cleared of the attempts at a political retaliation against him, and proved that the allegations which he had to face were unsubstantiated.

Waldemar Żurek is an active participant in the judicial community. From 2004 to 2008, he served in the Management Board of the Polish Judges Association “Iustitia.” Since 2018, he has been Member of the General Board and Vice-President of the Association of Judges “Themis.” Since June 2024, he has served as Vice-Director for Organisational Affairs in the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution.

Photo: Paweł Mazurek / MS

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