Staffing problems have also affected the Civil Division of the District Court in Lwówek Śląski. According to unofficial information we received, they are also struggling with a shortage of judges there. The waiting time for decisions in civil cases, including compensation claims following the flood, continues to grow longer.

There is no one to deal with them. People waiting for their cases to be resolved do not know what to do or how much longer they will have to wait… We approached the District Court in Lwówek Śląski for comment on the matter. Unfortunately, we received no response.

Staffing problems in Polish courts are systemic. In June 2025, the newspaper „Rzeczpospolita” published an article stating that, according to data from the National Council of the Judiciary, there are already more than 1,000 judicial vacancies in Polish courts.

Meanwhile, a political conflict over the rule of law continues at the highest levels of power. The governing camp and the presidential camp behave as if they were deliberately acting against each other. This will certainly not help the court system. Political fighting continues at the top, while people suffer at the bottom.

Lengthy proceedings, low levels of public trust, a staffing crisis and legal uncertainty connected with the appointment of so-called neo-judges are the main problems facing the Polish judiciary. Court cases are taking increasingly longer. In addition, citizens’ lack of trust in the courts and the constitutional crisis connected with the National Council of the Judiciary are deepening.

Main problems in the court system

  • Lengthy proceedings: Resolving cases is taking increasingly longer. The average waiting time for a judgment is twice as long as it was 14 years ago. Cases in administrative courts, particularly those concerning real estate,
    • take the longest.
  • Low level of trust: More than 57% of Poles do not trust the courts, and trust fell by 6.2 percentage points over the course of a year, according to a IBRiS poll for „Rzeczpospolita”,
  • Staffing crisis: Staffing problems are serious and, according to National Council of the Judiciary data, Polish courts are short of more than 1,000 judges,
  • Legal uncertainty and the appointment of neo-judges: The problem concerns, among other things, the finality of judgments issued by judges appointed by the National Council of the Judiciary. This creates a state of legal uncertainty and undermines citizens’ trust in justice,
  • Backlogs in cases: In 2024, huge backlogs accumulated in regional courts in “Swiss franc” and divorce cases. Their number exceeded even 15 times the monthly inflow of cases,
  • Overly broad jurisdiction of the courts: The Supreme Audit Office points out that the problem is the excessive scope of cases reaching the courts, which overloads the system.