Polish citizens deprived of their “right to know”. Our intervention at OSCE

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Polish citizens deprived of their “right to know”. Our intervention at OSCE

26.06.2020

Since the Law and Justice party (PiS) came to power in 2015, the Polish authorities purposefully obstruct access to information – either by refusing to provide information, delays in responding or delivering incomplete information. This both unconstitutional and undemocratic practice is yet another example of Poland going rogue under the PiS leadership, stated our advocacy officer, Katarzyna Szczypska, at the Second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM), and urged the OSCE bodies to take a firm stance and discipline the Polish authorities to comply with the organisation’s principles.

Could Polish president Duda’s anti-LGBT rhetoric spell trouble for PiS?

19.06.2020

Polish President Andrzej Duda’s focus on the “LGBT threat” is a retreat to a well-used trope ahead of the presidential elections. But will it work, asks Martin Mycielski.

World’s leading legal scholars in defence of judge Tuleya – ODF’s follow-up letter to the European Commission

09.06.2020

Today, on June 9, 2020, the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court is holding a closed hearing regarding lifting the immunity of judge Igor Tuleya. This and other glaring violations of ECJ judgements and EU law have compelled the world’s leading legal scholars to sign a follow-up letter by ODF and Prof. Laurent Pech to the European Commission regarding the deterioration of the rule of law in Poland.

Can Rafał Trzaskowski reverse the fortunes of Poland’s opposition?

22.05.2020

In an interview with Emerging Europe, ODF representatives Katarzyna Szczypska and Martin Mycielski spoke about the strengths and weaknesses of the delayed start of the opposition candidate Rafał Trzaskowski in Polish presidential election, his chances of defeating the current President and also why these elections may be the last fight for the Polish democracy.

Polish Radio executes interim measure re. ODF

06.05.2020

Due to the decision issued by the District Court in Warsaw on March 13, 2020, state broadcaster Polskie Radio S.A. secured a claim on personal rights protection of ODF, Lyudmyla Kozlovska and Bartosz Kramek. As a result, Polskie Radio updated multiple articles in three language versions (Polish, Russian and Ukrainian) with information regarding pending lawsuits, […]

Further erosion of the Polish democracy: providing feedback for the first EU Rule of Law Report

05.05.2020

The Open Dialogue Foundation provided inputs to the first annual Rule of Law Report, the European Commission’s latest oversight mechanism and a part of its wider rule of law toolbox. Together with experts and practitioners from Poland – judges Dariusz Mazur and Agnieszka Niklas-Bibik, as well as former public media employee, Piotr Owczarski – we submitted our feedback on the worrisome developments in the Polish justice system and media sector in 2019 and the first half of 2020. The European Commission’s initiative will result in the “Rule of Law Report”, expected to be published in September 2020.

Decisive phase of the fight for the rule of law in Poland: open letter to the European Commission

29.04.2020

The next few days and weeks will determine the fate of the Supreme Court, a key institution in the Polish legal system that is currently upholding the independence of the judiciary. In 2018 the Supreme Court was attacked by two foreign bodies, the so-called Disciplinary Chamber (ID) and the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs (IKNiSP). Contrary to their names, they do not consist of independent judges, but of party nominees loyal to the current parliamentary majority and the Law and Justice government.

Can the elections in May kill? Interview with Martin Mycielski for Suomen Kuvalehti

02.04.2020

Before the announced presidential election on May 10 in Poland, the Director of Public Affairs of the Open Dialogue Foundation Martin Mycielski gave an interview to the Finnish magazine Suomen Kuvalehti, in which he assessed the real chances of conducting safe and constitutional elections.

Poland’s incredulous presidential election

30.03.2020

As incredible as it may seem in the current climate, with most of Europe on lockdown and national elections cancelled in Serbia and North Macedonia, Poland appears determined to go ahead with its presidential vote, set to be held on May 10. A second round, if needed, would take place two weeks later

Poland’s sham presidential election in a pandemic

27.03.2020

Some 25 countries have decided to postpone their upcoming elections, with the last few – mostly regional or in tiny states – being held in early March.

“Law and Justice’s Campaign against Polish Judiciary” – ODF’s hearing in the European Parliament

17.12.2019

In light of the ongoing assault on the independence of the judiciary in Poland by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party – and especially the recently-exposed hate campaign against judges and prosecutors, orchestrated by the justice ministry itself – the Renew Europe group and the Open Dialogue Foundation have organised on December 12th, 2019, a European Parliament lunch debate with prosecutors and judges persecuted in Poland.

ODF among signatories of the letter to the President of EC regarding the breach of the rule of law in Poland

17.12.2019

Non-governmental organisations (including the Open Dialogue Foundation) and academics specialising in issues related to the rule of law and the protection of human rights, sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission, in which they call for immediate steps to stop the rapidly growing legal chaos in Poland, including prompt submission in the European Court of Justice, of an application for interim measures in Case C-791/19 Commission v Poland, pending before the Court of Justice. The full content of the letter is presented below.

ODF welcomes persecuted Polish judges and prosecutors in Brussels

16.12.2019

ODF is proud to have organised a high-level mission to Brussels of the most famous “disobedient” Polish judges & prosecutors – the leading victims of the systemic persecution & defamation of the independent judiciary in the country: judges Waldemar Żurek & Dariusz Mazur and prosecutors Krzysztof Parchimowicz & Ewa Wrzosek.

Polish media about the conference organised by the ODF in the EP with the participation of persecuted Polish judges

13.12.2019

On Thursday, 12 December 2019, the European Parliament held a conference entitled „The Law and Justice Campaign against the Polish Judiciary”, organised by the Renew Europe group and the Open Dialogue Foundation. The event found reverberation in the Polish media, both pro-government and independent.

Position of the Open Dialogue Foundation in the case of Judge Dariusz Mazur

19.11.2019

With the utmost concern we learned about the decision of the President of the Kraków District Court, Dagmara Pawełczyk-Woicka, dated 14 November 2019, who refused Judge Dariusz Mazur to conduct training for attorneys and undertake any additional activities until the end of 2019.

Press.pl on a ‘quick appeal’ by Press Freedom Monitoring Centre of the Union of Polish Journalists concerning ODF’s press conference

11.10.2019

Soon after ODF’s press conference on 10 October 2019, the CMWP published an appeal on its website, calling for “all journalists and Internet users to act prudently and reliably, and not to get emotional when reporting the causes, course and content of the press conference”.

“The time has come to pay for those attacks” – Onet.pl on the Foundation’s lawsuits against PiS

11.10.2019

During a press conference on 11 October 2019, representatives and proxies of ODF presented 20 lawsuits filed against pro-government politicians, journalists, activists and media organisations in connection with a “mass propaganda campaign” they were supposed to launch against the Foundation.

Attacks on judges and independent prosecutors in Poland. An ODF event at the OSCE forum

30.09.2019

Due to the intensification of attacks on judges and prosecutors belonging to the Association of Polish Independent Prosecutors, Lex Super Omnia, we held a discussion on their current situation on 26 September 2019.

naTemat: Senator reveals truth of PiS’s support for Russia’s return to the Council of Europe [INTERVIEW]

10.07.2019

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is “slightly” skirting the truth. This refers to the high-profile case of how PiS supported Russia’s reinstatement in the CoE and then protested against it. Senator A. Pociej, who knows the background to the case, reveals what it looked like in practice.

Why do I “snitch” abroad and the right cannot stand it? Let’s remember, Law and Justice does not equal Poland

02.07.2019

Last week – not for the first time, and probably not the last – I have been met by a wave of hatred from the right-wing community. All because we decided, together with the delegation of the Open Dialogue Foundation, to hold a series of meetings in Washington, which, by accident, overlapped with the visit of President Duda.

Court finds entry ban on Lyudmyla Kozlovska unjustified

19.06.2019

Last Friday, our Foundation‘s office received information that during a meetingbehind closed doors held on 16 April 2019, the Warsaw Administrative Court overturned the decision of the Office for Foreigners on the inclusion of Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, in SIS.

Bartosz Kramek for Gazeta Wyborcza: PiS, Moldova – a common issue

29.04.2019

The Open Dialogue Foundation won the trial with the “Gazeta Polska” magazine, so now editor Tomasz Sakiewicz threatens the judge. And the PiS propaganda attacks the Foundation using a grotesque report of the oligarchic and corrupt parliament of Moldova.

Office for Foreigners refuses to delete Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s data from SIS

18.12.2018

On 20 November 2018, the Head of the Office for Foreigners upheld the appealed decision regarding the placement of Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s data in the SIS II list of undesirable persons

Lyudmyla Kozlovska and Bartosz Kramek talk about the circumstances of the deportation of the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation from the European Union

30.10.2018

On 29 October 2018, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, Lyudmyla Kozlovska, and the Chairperson of the Foundation Board, Bartosz Kramek, were interviewed by Radio International. They gave their own account of the political situation in Poland, and talked about the deportation of the Presi

Members of the PACE launch a motion for resolution on the preservation of civil liberties in Poland, Moldova and Ukraine

30.01.2018

During the last PACE Winter session, on 26 January 2018, twenty-nine members signed a motion for resolution to call for the strengthening of efforts aimed at promoting and protecting the rule of law and the respect of civil liberties in Poland, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.

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