Request for the waiver of the immunity of Grzegorz Braun

The decision concerns the request to waive the parliamentary immunity of Grzegorz Braun, Member of the European Parliament elected in Poland, in order to allow criminal proceedings to be brought against him by the Polish authorities.

BACKGROUND

The Prosecutor General of the Republic of Poland transmitted a request from the Prosecutor at the Kraków Branch of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, relating to alleged offences committed in 2025. According to the request, during a public debate in Warsaw on 27 September 2025, broadcast live and online, Grzegorz Braun allegedly publicly and contrary to the facts denied the genocide crimes committed between 1941 and 1944 by officials of the Third Reich at the Nazi-German KL Auschwitz‑Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, in a manner manifestly at odds with the historical truth. The alleged act is considered an offence under Article 55 of the Polish Act of 18 December 1998 on the Institute of National Remembrance. Parliament recalls that immunity under Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union protects Members only in respect of opinions expressed or votes cast in the performance of their duties, and that parliamentary immunity is a guarantee of Parliament’s independence rather than a personal privilege. It notes that the alleged offence does not concern opinions or votes in the exercise of parliamentary functions and finds no evidence of fumus persecutionis, i.e. no indication that the proceedings aim to undermine the Member’s political activity or Parliament’s independence.

CONTENT

Parliament notes that Grzegorz Braun was a Member of the European Parliament at the time of the alleged offence, having been elected in the June 2024 European elections. It considers that Article 8 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union is not applicable, as the case does not relate to opinions expressed or votes cast in the performance of parliamentary duties. It also recalls that, under Article 9 of the Protocol and Article 105(2) and (5) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Members enjoy national parliamentary immunities on their own State’s territory, and that criminal accountability or detention of a deputy requires the consent of the Sejm, except in specific circumstances.

On the basis of the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs, and having regard to the applicable legal framework and case-law, Parliament decides to waive the immunity of Grzegorz Braun. It instructs its President to forward this decision immediately to the competent authority of the Republic of Poland and to Grzegorz Braun.

This summary was AI-generated and human-reviewed.