On 24 July 2026, the Warsaw District Court struck down the Masovian Voivode's decision not to grant cyclical status to the Warsaw Uprising March, siding with the organiser, Rota Marszu Niepodległości.
The voivode argued that the organiser changed in 2025, breaking the three-year continuity required by the Assembly Act, although the march was held under the same association's name.
Robert Bąkiewicz, head of the organising association, called the decision a triumph of truth and justice and thanked supporters for funding the court challenge.
The status of the march has been litigated since at least 2022, with the Supreme Court in June 2023 restoring cyclical status after lower courts had rejected it.
The event will take place on 1 August at 17:00 from Rondo Dmowskiego, though the final legal form (cyclical or ordinary notification) awaits the court's written justification.
The Warsaw District Court on 24 July 2026 ruled in favour of the association Rota Marszu Niepodległości, overturning the Masovian Voivode's refusal to grant cyclical assembly status to this year's Warsaw Uprising March. The voivode had declined the application, arguing that the continuity of the organiser was broken and therefore the statutory conditions were not met. The court found otherwise, though the written justification of the judgment is still awaited.
“We are waiting for the scan of the judgment with the grounds.”
The voivode's spokesperson, Luiza Jurgiel-Żyła, explained that the refusal rested solely on a legal technicality: to obtain cyclical status under the Assembly Act, the same entity must have organised the gathering for the preceding three years. In 2025, although the event was held under the name of the same association, the voivode concluded that the de facto organiser had changed, thus breaking the required continuity. She stressed that the decision did not concern the purpose or conduct of the march itself.
“The basis for the refusal was exclusively the issue of maintaining the organiser's identity.”
Robert Bąkiewicz, leader of Rota Marszu Niepodległości and a long-time figure in patriotic demonstrations, immediately welcomed the ruling on social media. He described the earlier refusal as an absurd attempt to block the assembly and credited the outcome to the support of sympathisers and donors who financed the legal battle.
“The scandalous decision of the Masovian Voivode has been overturned! The absurd attempt to block our assembly has crumbled. Truth and justice have prevailed!”
Bąkiewicz added that no political pressure would prevent Poles from paying tribute to the uprising heroes.
The legal status of the Warsaw Uprising March has been contested for several years. In June 2023, the Supreme Court overturned earlier Warsaw court decisions that had denied cyclical status and restored the then-voivode's decision granting it. Prior to that, in July 2022, the Warsaw Court of Appeal had dismissed complaints brought by the organisers, the voivode, and the regional prosecutor against a lower court's refusal to allow cyclical assemblies. The association had secured approval for the years 2022–2024, but Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski appealed against the voivode's decision at that time. The current ruling adds another chapter to this chain of litigation.
The march is set to proceed regardless. Participants will gather at Rondo Dmowskiego at 17:00, the symbolic 'W' Hour, and then walk through the streets of Śródmieście to honour the insurgents. Whether the event ultimately takes place as a cyclical assembly or is notified under a different procedure depends on the written grounds of the District Court's judgment, which the organisers and authorities are now awaiting.
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The Warsaw District Court on 24 July 2026 overturned the Masovian Voivode's decision, restoring the path for the annual Warsaw Uprising March to be held as a cyclical assembly on 1 August.
AI text based on reports by wpolityce.pl, polsatnews.pl and TVN24. Published .