The law is not only reacting to current events but is also anticipating upcoming challenges. In the face of all current threats, what we need above all is a sense of responsibility and solidarity – prof. Adam Bodnar reminded students at the NYU

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and war crimes committed by Russian troops prompt us to reflect on the potential criminal responsibility of the perpetrators. In the diplomatic and legal worlds, there is a discussion on how to create mechanisms capable of holding people criminally responsible for all the acts they have perpetrated.

Concerted effort of the CJEU and the ECtHR may result in the hindering of some of the negative effects of changes in the judiciary. So far it has been the CJEU that has been active, with the courageous involvement of national judges and civil society – writes prof. Adam Bodnar, the Commissioner for Human Rights

When I meet with people from all over Poland, I can see no severe opposition against damaging the judiciary system. The area is a complex one, and judges are a kind of “elite” with which not many people identify. Moreover, why all this alarm? After all, nothing is really happening. These are the common opinions. My role is thus to explain that the truth is completely different. That what is happening is a crime against the judiciary system, and that sooner or later its effects will be experienced by everyone. So I have to educate people on how to prevent those processes, wrote Commissioner for Human Rights Adam Bodnar for Magazyn TVN24.

This distinction is an important recognition for all rule of law defenders in Poland – the Ombudsman is just one of them – said Dr Adam Bodnar in the Hague

Remarks by Dr Adam Bodnar, Polish Commissioner for Human Rights, on Human Rights and Solidarity at the University of Connecticut (4 April 2019)

On 19–21 September 2018, a delegation of the LIBE Committee of the European Parliament visited Warsaw to examine the rule of law in Poland. In follow-up to that mission, LIBE Coordinators held a public hearing with external experts and stakeholders during the Committee meeting of 20 November 2018 in Brussels. Adam Bodnar took part in the public hearing. He spoke about judicial reforms in Poland and the threats to the rule of law