Born December 6, 1954 in Rawa Mazowiecka; lawyer, graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Lodz (1977). From 1980 to 1993 - judge, 1990-93 judge of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw and member of the National Council of the Judiciary;

• judge at the State Tribunal (1991- 1993); Member of the Polish Parliament from 1993 to 1995;
• 1995-2001 - president of the Supreme Audit Office, member of the board of EUROSAI - the European organization of supreme audit institutions; 2001 - 2004 - deputy speaker of the Sejm;
• member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2016, Chairman of the Intergroup for the Protection of Animals in the European Parliament, since 2014 its Chairman.

Author and co-author of five commentaries to the Criminal Code Author of more than 100 articles and publications on criminal law in various legal journals in Poland.

From May 7, 2016 to November 30, 2019 Member of the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg, assigned to Chamber I "Sustainable use of natural resources" dealing with the audit of, among other things, agricultural expenditures; since June 14, 2018 Member of the Audit Quality Committee of the European Court of Auditors;

As of December 1, 2019, nominated for a 5-year term as EU Agriculture Commissioner.