Polish Re-Democratisation as “Building Back Better”
Since the new Polish government took power, it has taken first steps to restore the rule of law. These have been quite different in nature, from the soft appeals to comply with the case law of the CJEU...
View ArticleRestoration of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal as Reading the Constitution...
The question of how to restore the fallen and degenerated body that once was the Polish Constitutional Tribunal is finally to make its way to the Parliament this week. The stakes are clear: If we get...
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Polish(ing) Broken Tribunal
No one in Poland has ever doubted that cleaning up after the Law and Justice Party’s (PiS) eight years (2015-2023) in power will be an easy task. After almost three months in power, the new governing...
View ArticleStrengthening the Resilience of the Rule of Law through Democracy
For almost a decade now, the European Union (EU) has been struggling with the erosion of the rule of law in some of its Member States. To explain these multifarious distortions in the EU, the IEP...
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Herkules oder Sisyphus? Vom Erbe des gesetzlichen Unrechts im...
Es gibt verschiedene Metaphern, mit denen man den polnischen Staat beschreiben kann, wie ihn die Partei „Recht und Gerechtigkeit“ (PiS) nach ihrer Regierungszeit in den Jahren 2015 bis 2023...
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Hercules or Sisyphus? On the legacy of statutory lawlessness in...
There are various metaphors which can be used to describe the Polish state as it has emerged from Law and Justice party (PiS) rule 2015-2023. One is “minefield”. Another may refer to “traps” or...
View ArticleRebuilding the Rule of Law
The victory of the opposition in the parliamentary elections in Poland in 2023 followed by the formation of a coalition government paved the way for the rebuilding of the rule of law after a period of...
View ArticleOn Rebuilding and … Keeping the Rule of Law
“The Constitution becomes the focus of our attention, the prism of our perspective. Our efforts are directed to understanding it – and many other things in society as well – in terms of its clauses,...
View ArticleMilitant Public Administration
An unprecedented scandal surrounding a Polish governmental fund established to aid crime victims highlights the role of civil servants in authoritarian state capture. In the country where judges...
View ArticleThe Lighthouse of EU Law Shines on the Polish Constitutional Tribunal
Last week, legal scholars from all over the world met in Freiburg at the ConTrans conference. The ambitious aim of this meeting was to develop a playbook for reinstating the rule of law. Most...
View ArticleUmkämpfte Meilensteine
Am 28. August 2024 haben vier Richterverbände in einer gemeinsamen Pressemitteilung bekanntgegeben, dass sie Berufung gegen den Medel Beschluss (Medel) des Gerichts der Europäischen Union eingelegt...
View ArticleTaking Back Control?
This week, the Polish government unveiled its new migration strategy, titled “Take Back Control. Ensure Security. Poland’s Comprehensive and Responsible Migration Strategy for 2025-2030” (Odzyskać...
View ArticleThe 2025 Polish Presidency of the Council
On 1 January 2025, Poland will assume, for the second time in history, the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. The six months of Polish leadership at the Council will come at a...
View ArticleThe Winding Road To The Mountaintop
We have learned very well how to violate the rule of law. We can identify the weak links of checks and balances and how to effectively eliminate them from functioning. The art of making institutions...
View ArticleRestoring the Rule of Law
In the last decade, the rule of law in Poland was methodically undermined. This would not have been possible without the parliamentary majority of the United Right coalition formed in late 2015 and the...
View ArticleSchrödinger’s Judges
The Polish rule of law restoration, following the opposition’s victory in December 2023, centres on the status of ‘neo-judges’ appointed after a 2018 reform under the Law and Justice (PiS) party, which...
View ArticleLay Judges in Common Courts
Disclaimer: The author worked for Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Poland as an expert on lay judges, and since 18th of October 2024 has been appointed as a Minister of Justice Plenipotentiary...
View ArticleOne Year After Wałęsa v. Poland
The implementation of judgments issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in cases concerning the protection of the rule of law represents one of the most serious challenges the Polish...
View ArticleCharting Change
The ongoing reform of the Polish Prosecution Service, initiated by separating the roles of Prosecutor General and Minister of Justice, aims to restore the rule of law and enhance the institution’s...
View ArticleProtecting Poland’s Public Media
Under Tusk’s government, political considerations often overshadowed strict adherence to the law in public media changes. However, public media and the Polish Press Agency showed improvement compared...
View ArticleBlinded by Legality
The Venice Commission’s recent opinions on Poland’s judicial reforms have prioritized formal legality over substantive judicial independence. The Commission thereby effectively legitimizes the...
View ArticleCan the Rule of Law Be Restored by Violating Its Principles?
This post concerns one of the crucial problems of transitional constitutionalism after a period of democratic and rule of law backsliding: how to restore the principle of the rule of law? Are there...
View ArticlePaying Judges Properly
On 22 February, several thousand marched in downtown Budapest for an independent judiciary, including fair pay for judges. Three days later, the CJEU issued an important decision in Joined Cases...
View ArticleA PR Stunt Over Accountability
In the previous Law and Justice (PiS) administration, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) had been significantly politically compromised. PPO, under the Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro, was the...
View ArticleRestoring Polish Judicial Independence
Restoring the Polish rule of law without doing more damage to it is a vexing challenge. Building Back Better becomes even more complex when the current president – part of the autocratic Law and...
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