Bolesławiec City Hall informs that the procedure for recruiting lay judges to:
- the District Court in Bolesławiec – 8 lay judges in total, including 3 lay judges for adjudicating labor-law cases;
- the Regional Court in Jelenia Góra – 3 lay judges.
The rules and procedure for submitting candidates for lay judges are set out in the Act of July 27, 2001 – Law on the System of Common Courts (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 217, as amended).
A lay judge may be elected from among persons who:
- hold Polish citizenship and enjoy full civil and civic rights;
- are of impeccable character;
- are at least 30 years old;
- are employed, conduct business activity, or have lived in the place of candidacy for at least one year;
- are no older than 70;
- are, due to their state of health, capable of performing the duties of a lay judge;
- have at least secondary or secondary vocational education.
For adjudicating labor-law cases, a lay judge should be elected who demonstrates particular knowledge of employee matters.
The following may not be lay judges:
- persons employed in common courts and other courts, as well as in the prosecutor’s office;
- persons who are members of bodies whose decisions may be appealed by requesting that a case be referred to court proceedings;
- Police officers and other persons holding positions related to the prosecution of crimes and misdemeanors;
- advocates and advocate trainees;
- legal advisers and legal adviser trainees;
- clergy;
- soldiers on active military service;
- officers of the Prison Service;
- municipal, county, and provincial councilors.
No person may be a lay judge simultaneously in more than one court.
Candidates for lay judges may be submitted to the Bolesławiec City Council by the presidents of the relevant courts, associations, and other social and professional organizations registered under the law, excluding political parties, as well as by at least fifty citizens with active voting rights who permanently reside in the city of Bolesławiec, by June 30, 2023.
Candidate submissions received by the Bolesławiec City Council after the statutory deadline (i.e., after June 30, 2023), as well as submissions that do not meet the formal requirements, will not be processed further.
Restoration of the deadline for submitting candidates is not permitted.
Candidates for lay judges are submitted using a submission form. The following documents must be attached to a candidate’s submission made on the form:
- information from the National Criminal Register concerning the person being nominated;
- the candidate’s statement that no proceedings are pending against them for a publicly prosecuted offense or a fiscal offense;
- the candidate’s statement that they have not been and are not deprived of parental authority, and that their parental authority has neither been limited nor suspended;
- a medical certificate concerning their state of health, issued by a primary healthcare physician within the meaning of the Act of October 27, 2017 on primary healthcare (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 2527), confirming the absence of contraindications to performing the functions of a lay judge;
- two photographs meeting the requirements applicable to an application for an identity card.
The documents listed above should be dated no earlier than 30 days before the date of submission.
A submission made on the form by an association or another social or professional organization registered under the law must also include a current extract, dated no earlier than three months before the date of submission, from the National Court Register, or an extract or certificate confirming entry in another appropriate register or record concerning that organization.
A submission made on the form by citizens must also include a list containing the first name(s), surname, PESEL identification number, permanent address, and handwritten signature of each of the fifty citizens submitting the candidate.
The elections of lay judges will take place no later than October of this year. Before the elections, the City Council will appoint a team that will present its opinion on the submitted candidates at a City Council session, particularly regarding their fulfillment of the requirements set out in the Act.
Applications for candidates for lay judges, together with the remaining documents, will be accepted until June 30, 2023, from Monday to Friday during the working hours of Bolesławiec City Hall.