Igor Tuleya opens the door to his accommodation in jeans, sneakers and a T-shirt, his resistant uniform. Her magistrate’s robe hangs in the single room that serves as her bedroom, amid the books that cover the walls from floor to ceiling. The judge, 52, has not sat in the Warsaw District Court since his dismissal on October 18, 2020. The great void, following a quarter of a century in the service of the state.
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Just above the garment, a pair of boxing gloves donated and signed by colleagues in solidarity with the cause. Igor Tuleya denies being a puncher, or a great tribune. His personality did not predispose him to become the embodiment of the struggle for the independence of justice. “It’s almost embarrassing for me who doesn’t like to make noise. It took me a while to get used to people applauding me or insulting me in the street. Luckily, with my mild autistic disorder, there are things I don’t see. »
Brave your shyness to defend your principles
However, it was on the 18th of the month, in memory of the day of its suspension, that angry Poles gathered to protest once morest the government’s control over two essential mechanisms of the judicial system: the Council of the Judiciary, a body henceforth subservient to the majority which appoints the new judges; and the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, which allows the exclusion of judges who displease. Igor Tuleya has become a legend for his intransigence on the separation of powers. He goes up to the podium, brandishes signs, intervenes in the media, but he must brave his shyness to defend the principles that have forged his vocation.
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As a high school student, Igor was rather tempted by medicine. He made the choice of law somewhat by chance, mainly because this orientation gave him the best chance of escaping military service. And then there was this compulsory internship in a court, and his encounter with the profession of judge. “Exceeding myself to reach heights of objectivity while maintaining sensitivity and empathy for others, remaining independent, not submitting to the pressures of power, all of this inspired me. »
A judgment contested by the ruling party
When the ultra-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party came to power in 2015, one of its judgments became one of the justifications for the reforms that were to come. The judge would have been too lenient in 2013 with regard to a doctor presented as the archetype of the post-communist elite. The man is however sentenced to one year in prison, two years of reprieve, and a fine for having accepted bribe, but the rest of the charges (sexual abuse, death of a patient) are not retained, much to the chagrin of the prosecution. For the government, this is proof that part of the judicial system needs to be purged of the influences of the old days.
In 2017, Igor Tuleya is one of the judges who launch a procedure before the Court of Justice of the EU once morest the new disciplinary system which will soon be sanctioned. What are the charges once morest him? He would have exceeded his rights by authorizing the press to attend a judgment once morest the PiS in 2017. Dozens of magistrates are like him in the crosshairs of power. A judgment that does not please may be worth a demotion, a forced transfer, or a suspension.
Little hope of recovering his former life
Igor Tuleya dreams of being reinstated in his post, perhaps following the 2023 elections, if the opposition wins. In the meantime, you have to hold on, force yourself to get up early and exercise, as evidenced by a weight bench in a corner of the room. Clinging to the memories that give strength to this divorced dad. “The day I was summoned before the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court, I saw the face of my 20-year-old son in the crowd who came to support me, I had not asked him for anything, it still carries me today. today. »
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The icon of judicial rebellion knows, however, that it will be very difficult for him to return to sit in a court whose president and deputy sit themselves in the disciplinary chamber which excluded him. He will probably never get his life back. But he is firmly convinced that one day he will put on his dress once more in court. “I am a judge, my place is in the Court. »
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His inspiration: the poet William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
“I read this representative of American modernism when I feel that I become sad or melancholy. His way of presenting objects for their own value inspires me as a man and as a judge. I really like his sensitivity, his way of capturing specific moments. It is a meticulous and detailed writing which tries to deliver the maximum of details on the beauty of the World. “No ideology, but concrete”he defends in A kind of song (1944). This is what I tackle myself when I start writing a few verses. »