The Warsaw regional court ruled on September 30 that Marcin Romanowski, an opposition Law and Justice (PiS) MP facing 11 criminal charges, may return to Poland under a guarantee known as a list żelazny — an iron letter, or safe passage — shielding him from detention while he answers the charges. Judge Konrad Mielcarek, writing in the subsequent justification, held that Romanowski had pledged to "voluntarily return to the country" and that "previous methods used to secure Romanowski's return were ineffective," with safe passage serving to "allow the case to be clarified."

The National Prosecutor's Office announced immediately that it will appeal. Prosecutors had opposed the application, arguing Romanowski cannot be trusted to comply with its terms. Spokesman Przemysław Nowak said "the suspect has evaded legal proceedings, questioned the legality of the authorities' actions, left Poland and then Hungary to avoid arrest, and publicly declared his lack of intention to return to the country due to the ongoing criminal proceedings against him." In its statement, the office added: "These circumstances do not provide assurance that the suspect will comply with the conditions of the letter of safe conduct," and pointed to allegations that Romanowski admitted using travel documents issued under a false identity.

The charges stem from Romanowski's tenure as deputy justice minister. Prosecutors allege he misappropriated more than 107 million złoty (€25 million) from the Justice Fund (Fundusz Sprawiedliwości) and attempted to dispose of a further 58 million złoty (€13.6 million) between November 2018 and December 2023, and that he participated in an organised criminal group composed of state officials. Neither Romanowski nor former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro MP, who faces parallel accusations, is alleged to have benefited materially; prosecutors say they derived "political benefit" from assisting allies and associated civil society organisations. Both deny the charges as politically motivated. Prosecutors also claim the two illegally purchased Israeli Pegasus spyware from the Justice Fund, allegedly later used to investigate opposition politicians. Ziobro contends the purchase helped investigate hundreds of crimes and that all surveillance received judicial approval.

The statutory basis for the ruling lies in articles 281 and 282 of Poland's code of criminal procedure, which permit a regional court to guarantee that an accused person living abroad remains at liberty, provided he appears when summoned, stays at his declared address and does not obstruct the case. Mielcarek found that prosecutors failed to provide adequate grounds for refusal. He held that Romanowski had not obstructed proceedings but had merely exercised available legal remedies, and that his flight from Poland does not count against him because "the very nature of safe passage is to provide a person residing abroad with a legal guarantee in exchange for voluntarily submitting to the jurisdiction of the Polish authorities." The judge added that safe passage is neither a "reward" nor a "privilege," that evidence is already secured, and that Romanowski no longer wields influence over justice ministry officials, making tampering risk low. The prosecution's objection, he held, is not binding on the court.

The conditions attached require Romanowski to report to the court and prosecutors at designated times and places, reside at his declared address and refrain from obstructing proceedings. Breach of any condition permits immediate withdrawal of the guarantee. Defence lawyer Bartosz Lewandowski said the ruling means his client cannot be detained in Poland and that the European Arrest Warrant against him, operative in other EU states, will no longer be valid.

Justice minister Waldemar Żurek, who doubles as prosecutor general, condemned the ruling on Polsat News as "the height of hypocrisy" and questioned Mielcarek's legitimacy, arguing the judge was appointed on the recommendation of a National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) that the government considers illegitimately elected after the PiS majority changed the body's election method in parliament. Żurek also argued that safe passage cannot issue without a prosecutor's consent; Lewandowski cited case law to the contrary and noted prosecutors never moved to recuse Mielcarek before the hearing — a point Żurek conceded as a mistake.

The constitutional argument is contested. The government regards roughly 3,000 judicial appointments made during the PiS years (2015–2023) as illegitimate, though the constitution vests appointment power solely in the President and does not stipulate how the KRS is elected, requiring only that elected members be judges — a provision not violated on its face. The ECJ has held in cases concerning individual Polish judges that every case must be examined on its merits and that no judge's actions can be automatically deemed illegitimate because of the appointment route. The Venice Commission and the Council of Europe's human rights and rule of law directorate, in an urgent joint opinion adopted on February 27, 2026, criticised the government's proposed legislation on PiS-era judges — which could remove, demote or retain judges — for introducing collective responsibility.

For practitioners, the immediate consequence is a live appellate battle over the scope of articles 281–282 and the weight courts must give prosecutorial objections. The case tests whether a court may grant safe passage to a suspect who fled two jurisdictions, and it will shape defence strategy for Ziobro, whose extradition the Polish prosecutors have requested from the United States after he received a US work visa in May 2026.

The backdrop compounds the stakes. Romanowski left Poland before detention after his parliamentary immunity was lifted, and received refugee status in Hungary in December 2024; Hungary withdrew his status and invalidated his travel documents on July 2, 2026, as foreign minister Radosław Sikorski confirmed. His whereabouts are undisclosed, though a safe-passage request was sent from Transnistria, the Russian-controlled enclave of Moldova — a claim Chișinău's Reintegration Policy Office says it cannot confirm. Coalition reactions split: Civic Coalition MP Roman Giertych called the ruling unwise on X, while Poland 2050 MP and practising lawyer Paweł Śliz defended it, arguing justice sometimes requires compromises. Meanwhile, the government's stand-off with the Constitutional Tribunal over judicial appointments continues, with ministers threatening police enforcement and PiS supporters demonstrating outside the institution.