Tag: judicial independence

During the October 2022 plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ODF had the honour to organise a public hearing under the title “Erosion of the rule of law in Poland: Political abuses of the prosecution office”. The event, held on 13 October in the Council’s Strasbourg headquarters, was hosted by […]

The Open Dialogue Foundation has compiled a report in which it furnishes evidence and examples of unprecedented politicisation of the Public Prosecutor’s Office since the moment the United Right Alliance (Zjednoczona Prawica) took power in Poland in 2015. The report provides examples of abuse of the Public Prosecutor’s Office by those in power, for whom […]

Since the Law and Justice (PiS)-led United Right coalition took power in 2015, we have witnessed an unprecedented level of politicisation of the public prosecution service, which has been transformed into a tool serving political and personal interests of the ruling camp and its members. This resulted in a growing number of politically motivated cases of investigations carried out primarily against those regarded as opponents of the government.

1. Foreword The independence of the judiciary in Poland has been systematically dismantled over the last six years, during which previously independent bodies, referred to as safety fuses of democracy, have been brought under political control by the ruling camp (such as the Constitutional Tribunal and the National Council of the Judiciary). At the same […]

On February 1st, in the Warsaw headquarters of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR), the three leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s (OSCE PA) human rights committee met with Polish civil society representatives at the forefront of defending the rule of law in the country. The purpose of the meeting was […]

In the past few weeks, we have filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA). We have appealed against the latest “judgment” which was issued by the Provincial Administrative Court (WSA) in Warsaw in July 2021 (which was served with us in September). Contrary to the three previous decisions, the “court” agreed, for the […]

Since the Law and Justice (PiS)-led United Right coalition (composed of PiS and its two minor partners – Solidarna Polska and Porozumienie) took power in 2015, we have witnessed an unprecedented level of politicization of the public prosecution service that has been transformed into a tool serving political and personal interests of the ruling camp and its members. This resulted in a growing number of politically motivated cases of investigations carried out against those regarded as opponents of the government. The continuous changes to the criminal justice system (Criminal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Law on the Prosecutor’s Service) expand the powers of the prosecution, amplifying the so-called inequality of arms between the sides of the criminal proceedings and a general repressiveness of the system.

Following our support of the Resolution on the independence of judges, adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on January 26th, ODF became a target for representatives of the Polish PiS government, whose actions were harshly criticised in the Resolution. PiS MP Arkadiusz Mularczyk, supported by British Conservative Ian Liddell-Grainger, initiated a […]

On 4 March 2021 we organised an online hearing for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), European Parliament advisors and selected journalists under the title “Law and Justice’s Crackdown on Independent Prosecutors in Poland Intensifies”, featuring persecuted Polish independent prosecutors from the Lex Super Omnia association – Katarzyna Kwiatkowska, Jacek Bilewicz and Ewa Wrzosek – […]

On 4 March 2021 we organised an online hearing for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), European Parliament advisors and selected journalists under the title “Law and Justice’s Crackdown on Independent Prosecutors in Poland Intensifies”, featuring persecuted Polish independent prosecutors from the Lex Super Omnia association – Katarzyna Kwiatkowska, Jacek Bilewicz and Ewa Wrzosek – […]

On 28 January 2021, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on judges in Poland and the Republic of Moldova. The resolution, resulting from ODF’s advocacy efforts back in 2018, urges the countries’ authorities to uphold the rule of law and ensure judicial independence. Prior to passing the resolution the Assembly voted on a series of amendments. Three out of five of the amendments that ODF’s team has helped to draw up and advocated for, further detailing the Polish government’s rule of law breaches, were accepted by an overwhelming majority.

In the latest instance of the Polish authorities’ open disregard for the rule of law, 14 Cracow judges have been exposed to politicised prosecution and investigations. Their alleged crime? Handing down judgments which were inconvenient for the authorities and failing to persecute Prosecutor Krasoń – a staunch defender of the independence of the judiciary.  This […]

We therefore present to you the following article and call for broad cooperation to cease the dismantling of the rule of law. In the article, we have brought together our experiences and reflections; they may prove valuable in the course of resistance.