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We at War
„With all the decisions we take, we will make sure that NATO partners do not become parties to the war.“ „It must remain our goal that Russia does not win this war.“ Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the...
View ArticleElectronic Surveillance in a Time of Democratic Crisis
Against the background of the continuing democratic crisis in Poland, attention is increasingly being paid to the progressive expansion of state surveillance powers. While these trends began around the...
View ArticleCan Putin Be Tried in Poland?
On 1 March, the Polish Minister of Justice decided to initiate proceedings against Russia for its military attack on Ukraine and possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. This may come as a...
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Instead of an editorial
This editorial is shorter than you are used to, and that is because I am actually still on Easter holiday this week. Therefore, I will leave it at the service function and give you an overview of...
View ArticleKeeping the Past and the Present Apart
The mere fact that a judge was appointed for the first time under undemocratic conditions does not automatically determine that the court in which that judge adjudicates lacks the necessary...
View ArticleDrifting Case-law on Judicial Independence
Introduction In a preliminary ruling of 29 March 2022, in case C-132/20 Getin Noble Bank, the CJEU answered questions on judicial independence of judges appointed under an undemocratic regime and of...
View ArticleJust a Feint?
In the shadow of the Russian assault on Ukraine, another battle rages on: the struggle for the rule of law in Poland. This battle, too, saw attacks that quickly turned into retreats and resounding...
View ArticleDie Kapitulation
Es sind keine guten Zeiten für das Recht in Europa. Eine der fundamentalsten Rechtsideen überhaupt, pacta sunt servanda, dass man sich an Absprachen hält, scheint nicht mehr viel zu gelten. In der...
View ArticleThe European Commission Cedes its Crucial Leverage vis-à-vis the Rule of Law...
The worst thing about the European Commission’s decision of 1 June 2022 to approve Poland’s EUR 36 billion national recovery plan, despite this country’s very meek (to put it mildly) assurances about...
View ArticleCensuring von der Leyen’s Capitulation on the Rule of Law
The spectre of a motion of censure is looming over the von der Leyen Commission. While this rather extraordinary, perhaps desperate, measure appears unlikely to attain the required number of signatures...
View ArticleCovering Up and Rewarding the Destruction of the Rule of Law One Milestone at...
Once upon a time, when still a candidate for President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen solemnly declared: “there can be no compromise when it comes to respecting the Rule of Law. There...
View ArticlePregnancy Registry in Poland
In Poland and beyond, a media storm broke out in the beginning of June because of the so-called „pregnancy registry.“ It is not actually a registry but a regulation of the Minister of Health, which...
View ArticleGoverning the Memory of the Present
Putin’s Russia is a global champion of memory laws that fabricate the state’s perennial innocence and glory and make it a criminal offense to diverge from the state-sanctioned historical narratives....
View ArticleThe Selective Nature of a pan-European Willkommenskultur
Four months into Russia’s war on Ukraine, there has been a tremendous show of support for Ukrainians fleeing violence and the atrocities of war – in Europe and elsewhere in the world. As is well-known,...
View ArticleHolidays with smog
The Polish energy policy is seeing further controversies. Alongside problems related to the war in Ukraine and support for refugees, rampant inflation and rising prices of products and services, the...
View ArticleElektronische Überwachung in Zeiten einer demokratischen Krise
Vor dem Hintergrund der anhaltenden demokratischen Krise in Polen wird der fortschreitenden Ausweitung staatlicher Überwachungsbefugnisse zunehmend Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Diese Entwicklung begann in...
View ArticleExtinguishing the Court
Piero Calamandrei, great Italian legal scholar and politician, said on January 14, 1947: “If, during the period when fascism assaulted the Italian State, a rigid Constitution had been in force, fascism...
View ArticleTesting judicial independence
Despite the recent abolition of the Disciplinary Chamber, the crisis in the Polish judiciary is still far from resolved. The main reason for this is that the status of judges appointed at the request...
View ArticleKein Geld ohne Reform
Polen stehen rund 35,4 Mrd. Euro aus dem im Dezember vom Europäischen Rat beschlossenen Nachcorona-Sonderbudget („Next Generation“) zu. Bisher sind Zahlungen an Polen nicht geflossen. Die...
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Standing
If a EU institution does what is is not allowed to do, you file a lawsuit at a EU Court. So one might think. Usually, you don’t, though. Usually, you wouldn’t even need to: After all, it is the member...
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