The Ministry of Justice upheld the decision to dismiss Sopiński from the position of rector of AWS

The proceedings in the Sopiński case lasted from March. It was initiated ex officio by the head of the Ministry of Justice, Waldemar Żurek. After conducting administrative proceedings and receiving positive opinions from the Central Council of Science and Higher Education and the Conference of Rectors of Polish Academic Schools, Żurek decided at the end of May 2026 to dismiss Sopiński from the position of AWS rector.

"The decision was delivered to him effectively"

Sopiński had the right to appeal against this decision, including submitting a request for reconsideration of the case, which he decided to do. On Thursday, the Ministry of Justice announced that after reconsidering Sopiński's case, the head of the Ministry of Justice issued a decision upholding his dismissal. This means that his earlier decision in this matter became final and enforceable, and thus resulted in the expiration of Sopiński's term as rector of AWS.

Referring to this decision of the head of the ministry, Sopiński wrote on X that "administrative decisions are final upon delivery to the party." "Not at the moment of signing. No decision was delivered to me. Żurek is breaking the law again," added Sopiński, who - as he himself informed - is staying at the Economic Forum in Karpacz.

Deputy Minister of Justice Maria Ejchart referred to these claims during a later press conference. Since Sopiński was in Karpacz, performing official duties, the decision was effectively delivered to him there, she said.

Karpacz: Confusion in the hotel

Ejchart also talked about what delivery was like in Karpacz. Prison Service officers entered the hotel where Sopiński was staying and had signed correspondence regarding this matter and authorization to deliver it.

Sopiński informed the officers through the reception that he would not come down and collect the correspondence. Therefore, there is no situation where the addressee was not there and it was not possible to contact him - reported the deputy head of the ministry. She stated that Sopiński confirmed that he refused to accept the decision to dismiss him, which confirmed that he was aware that this was the case and consciously decided to refuse to accept it.

This state of affairs means that the decision has been effectively delivered. That's what the regulations say. Refusal to accept correspondence is tantamount to its delivery - emphasized the deputy head of the ministry.

Minister Żurek referred to this issue in his afternoon entry on X. "It seemed to Sopiński that escaping to the Economic Forum in Karpacz and barricading himself in the hotel room in front of the Prison Service officers would stop the course of law," wrote the minister. "It doesn't work like that," he added.

Fight for the cabinet

The Ministry of Justice announced earlier that due to the vacancy after Sopiński's dismissal, the duties of the rector-commandant were taken over by prof. AWS Ph.D. Sławomir Cudak. "(...) He is authorized to manage the Academy and represent it externally," the ministry emphasized.

Cudak - present at the conference organized at the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice - informed that he found out on Wednesday evening that he would act as rector-commandant of the Academy. On Thursday morning - he reported - he received "appropriate documents confirmed by Minister Waldemar Żurek" and went with these documents to the AWS headquarters.

There, I encountered an outstanding example of obstruction on the part of employees who initially did not want to let me into the building, and then did everything to prevent me from getting into the office and the secretariat - said Cudak. He added that he tried to perform his duties, but was unable to do so due to the actions of the "very unfriendly" media, also present there. Police officers arrived on site and Prof. Cudak - as he himself said - presented documents confirming that he is the rector of AWS.

A new rector fired by the old rector?

During the conference, the issue of the AWS senate elections announced for Friday was also discussed. Ejchart pointed out that at the moment they are "obviously ineffective". These elections, which can only be called an act, were aimed at appointing a person to the senate who would be older than the professor (Cudak), Ejchart said. She explained that in accordance with the Act on Higher Education and Science, upon the expiry of the rector's mandate, his duties "are transferred to the oldest member of the university senate", currently this person is Dr. Hab. Oddity.

On Thursday afternoon, Sopiński wrote on X that prof. Cudak was "immediately dismissed without notice" from AWS "for serious violation of employee rights." Cudak was asked about this issue at a press conference. I don't remember being fired because I am currently the rector-commandant of AWS, he replied.

He added that the decision in this matter was signed by the vice-rector of the Academy, whom he had dismissed from this function "a moment earlier".

Why was the ministry so interested in dismissing Sopiński?

According to Sopiński's ministry, it should have been canceled due to three issues. The first concerned - as it was called - "serious irregularities in doctorate degrees". "These were not technical or marginal deficiencies - they concerned procedures that determine the credibility of the university as an entity authorized to award academic degrees," it was noted.

Another reason for the cancellation - as indicated by the ministry - was "demonstrative political activity". "It was established that during the period of his managerial position, Dr. Michał Sopiński conducted activities in social media that were clearly political, systematic and demonstrative in nature. This method of action was in contradiction with the special status of the Prison Service university and with the requirement of apolitical nature of this formation," the ministry emphasized.

The third reason was "a threat to the curation application." "The Rector-Commandant was not entitled to question the status of the president of the District Court in Warsaw or to make the performance of public tasks dependent on his own assessment of this issue," wrote the ministry, pointing out that "this action led to a real threat to the proper organization of the application."

"Each of these areas was important, but their combined importance was decisive. The case did not concern isolated errors, but a repeated course of action violating the standards of legality, apoliticality and responsibility," the ministry emphasized.

Sopiński believes that he is a victim of harassment

After receiving information about the initiation of administrative proceedings to dismiss him from the position of rector of AWS, Sopiński wrote on X in March that "the fight for the rule of law and the democratic rule of law continues." "The current authorities will be held criminally responsible for the persistent harassment of me since December 13, 2023. I am not afraid of authoritarian power. We won in 2025 and defended the University, we will win now," Sopiński wrote then.

In 2024, the then Minister of Justice - Adam Bodnar - accused Sopiński of, among others, violation of the principle of apoliticality and informed about the commencement of disciplinary proceedings against the rector.

According to the ministry, the rector-commandant regularly published political content on his social media, openly supported a specific political party (Sovereign Poland, previously Solidarna Polska) and a specific political camp, and also "used his function for self-promotional activities of a political nature."

The ministry also drew attention to Sopiński's actions, which - in the ministry's opinion - were "attacking scientists for their research." "In May 2023, Dr. Sopiński published an entry on his profile on the social networking site 2024 resort.

Changes in the law

In mid-July 2025, the Senate adopted without amendments the amendment to the act initiated by the Ministry of Justice, which provides, among others, changing the name of the Justice Academy operating within the Prison Service to the Prison Service Academy. The changes proposed in the amendment were to be followed by the introduction of supervision by the Director General of the Prison Service over the implementation of the organizational tasks of the Academy, and in other matters - supervision by the Minister of Justice. On the day the act entered into force, the term of office of the Rector-Commandant of AWS was also to expire. However, the amendment was vetoed in August 2025 by President Andrzej Duda.

The main goal of the Academy, established in 2018, is to educate Prison Service officers, officers of other services and civilians.