The graduation lecture delivered by District Court Judge Igor Tuleya on 23 November 2025 at Kozminski University.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wondered why I was the one asked to give this speech. Perhaps because nothing electrifies young lawyers quite like the prospect of listening to someone who has met dementors so many times that he knows the Patronus Charm by heart, and for whom chocolate has become the basis of his diet.
When I graduated, I was convinced that law is logical, the world is reasonable, and people are generally predictable. It was a very beautiful but very short-lived illusion. Life quickly verifies all our certainties. Entering the profession, one thinks that justice is simply a matter of principles. That truth will defend itself. And then reality comes and shows that the law you were taught to treat as a compass sometimes loses its north. That right decisions are often the hardest to defend. And that justice, although always worth fighting for, does not always come when it is most needed. But this is precisely when real law begins.
Not the one found in statutes or codes, but the one that comes from within a person. Because law is not a collection of regulations. It is a set of choices that carry weight. It is the moment when you stand alone and everything inside you screams “choose the easier way”. And yet you say “I cannot”. That is when you become lawyers. Not when someone appoints you. Not when you put on your robes. But when you choose decency, even though it costs you.
At this point I would like to quote the writer J.K. Rowling: “There will come a time when you must choose between what is right and what is easy”. Professor Dumbledore says these words to Harry Potter. Their message is universal. They remind us that moral courage is rarely comfortable. Law is similar. It teaches humility, toward people, toward error, toward helplessness. But it gives something greater than a title. It gives a strength that does not come from power, but from the conviction that one must not turn away. Sometimes it leaves you alone. Sometimes without support, without understanding, without applause. But if you do not retreat, if you do not betray yourself, even in silence you can win something no one will ever take from you.
You have chosen a profession in which things will not be easy. You will operate in a world where law is often treated instrumentally. Where pressure, interests and appearances can drown out meaning. But meaning never disappears completely. Sometimes you simply need to remind yourself of it every day, little by little, through your behaviour, your tone, your firm “no”. Because “never” does not exist in a lawyer’s life. In our profession, helplessness is commonplace, but resignation is already a choice. Yes, we may be helpless, but we are never defenceless. You may not know how to win a case, but always remember how not to betray yourself. That is enough to get through most storms, because even behind the darkest clouds there is the sun, and after the longest night the day will rise. Yet there will be moments when you doubt. When you think honesty is naivety. That courage is a mistake. That none of this matters. But precisely then you must remember that it does. Because the essence of law is deeper than human decisions. It is the conscience of this world. And today you become its voice. You will shape the image of contemporary rule of law. Not me, not your professors, not politicians. You. Whether people trust the justice system or fear it will depend on how you think, how you listen and how you look at another person. Whether law in Poland will live in courtrooms or only in textbooks.
Remember that the rule of law is not an institution. It is a reflex of the heart. It is the way you hold on to truth, even when no one seems to care anymore.
And here a question arises – what actually is truth? Truth is a mirror you look into after a difficult day. Without erasing facts. Without adjusting reality to others’ expectations. But above all without shame. But truth needs something else – protection from those who would like to shape it for us, bend it. That is why we need independent courts. They are the guarantee that truth will not become a tool, but the foundation of freedom. One cannot be free “a little”. Either we are free, or we are slaves. An attack on the courts is therefore an attack on the freedom of each of us. But as long as we fight, we are winners. One cannot calculate. One cannot retreat. One cannot fear. Because freedom begins where fear ends.
And regardless of which colour of jabot you choose – whether you become judges, prosecutors, advocates or legal counsels – you will all become part of one story about whether law still matters in Poland.
Let your law not be only a formula or a dry provision. Let it be human. Let it carry the scent of effort, empathy and reflection. Let it be as instinctive as a breath, as offering a hand, as saying “no” at a moment when others prefer silence. Because justice does not happen on its own. It is not born in codes. It is born in a human being. Today it is born in you.
You will have doubts. That is good. Whoever doubts, thinks. And whoever thinks, understands. But do not allow doubt to turn into indifference. Because indifference kills law faster than any authority.
And since I began with magic, allow me to return to it. On your path you cannot be muggles. Old men without power, unaware of the existence of the magical world. Do not be those who are indifferent, bored, uninterested in life. Even more, you cannot be dementors. Creatures from the Harry Potter universe who drain happiness and positive feelings from people with their false kiss.
I have seen how easy it is to destroy someone’s reputation with a single newspaper headline. I have seen how difficult it is to rebuild trust in institutions. But I have also seen that one person who is not afraid can restore faith to thousands. So do not fear being that one person. Allow me to show you a photograph: Hamburg, 13 June 1936. Hundreds of people. Shouting “Sieg Heil”. Raising straight right arms. A society intoxicated with a murderous ideology. And that one man – August Landmesser. Alone among the crowd, lips tight, arms crossed over his chest. He feels, he knows that what he sees is not right. That changes everything.
Do not be afraid to be the voice that says “this is not right”. Because law does not need opportunists, but people whose robes are not lined with fear. Every signature, every sentence, every decision is a brick in the building called justice. You will be its architects. It may sound strange, but there is something truly magical in this profession. Every day you can begin anew. Every day you can choose who you are for the law – a bureaucrat or a human being.
And if at times you lose faith – and you will – remember that you came here not for a title. Not for power. But for meaning. To make a difference, even in a single human life. Let the law you symbolically take into your hands today not become a shield you hide behind, but a shield with which you protect others, a light you carry forward. Even though courage is quieter than shouting and justice harder than compromise.
Law is always just, although judgments do not always satisfy. Because justice is not about someone winning, but about everyone feeling that the game is fair. That is your role. Not to defend the system. To protect its meaning.
Some will say that what I am telling you is cringe. Platitudes. Tearful clichés. They will shrug. Yes, it is very simple. But how else can one speak of principles? Something is good, something is bad. Something is white, something is black. So I will only repeat: values must be defended. And defending them is worth any price. Even if in this struggle you are left alone. Why me? Why you? It does not matter. You do not need to look at others. It is better to be an innocent wizard. Perhaps it sounds childish, but it is better to be the one who believes. Who believes that values are worth fighting for than the one who destroys them. Remember: it is innocent wizards who change the world.
And finally, let me quote the wise words of Władysław Bartoszewski:
“Someone has to do it. Someone has to react. Someone has to oppose. Someone has to protest. And I asked myself these questions as well. And I found the answer: if someone – then why not me?”
I hope that today you will leave this place not with the illusion that it will be easy but with the belief that it is worth it. Because as long as there are people like you, the law in Poland will have a human face.
District Court Judge Igor Tuleya
