When it comes to the reckoning – and the first act of reckoning will be the CJEU judgment on the legality of the Tribunal – it will turn out that it is only (with the accent on ‘only’) ‘President Julia’ who is responsible for the whole of the demolition of the rule of law. The others were ‘only implementing the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal’.

A member of the government removes a judge from adjudicating during a court session, forcing the stoppage of adjudication. Such situations did not even arise under martial law.

Support from a part of the opposition for the presidential bill for revitalising the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court would, among other things, be in conflict with the recently concluded Agreement for the Rule of Law. And in conflict with the rulings of the European courts – in Luxembourg and Strasbourg.

The reform of disciplinary proceedings is to involve the – repeatedly announced – liquidation of the Disciplinary Chamber and the establishment of a new Chamber, the Professional Liability Chamber. The judges of what has been the Disciplinary Chamber to date are to be parcelled out to other chambers, which means they will be dominated by neo-judges. Well, unless they choose to retire – on very financially-attractive terms.

In the Ministry of Justice, convicted persons without a higher education degree will be able to supervise courts and judges. An amendment to this end, using the insertion method, has been included in PiS’s draft amendment to the act on misdemeanours.

Prosecutor Wojciech Pełeszok did not want to support the arrests of demonstrators. He was posted to a prosecution office at a level lower. This is how you break someone’s back: punishing, for example, for taking advantage of the guarantee of independence. Other prosecutors see this – and prefer to be obedient.

Voting entirely by post can breach the constitutional principle of the universality of the elections. The campaign being conducted does not respect the principle of equal opportunities for the candidates, while the citizens are not receiving even a minimal amount of knowledge about the elections. Held in this way, they cannot be consistent with international standards.

The expected ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal would confirm that the current Polish National Council of Judiciary (KRS), suspended from the European Networks of Councils of Judiciary in September 2018, is legal and capable of guaranteeing independence of judiciary, which critics claim it is not

‘Why was the hearing cancelled? Either there is a problem with the unanimity of the judges, while the Tribunal likes to speak as one in political matters, or the leaders of the party and the government stopped the consideration of the case, fearing a suspected Polexit.’ argues Ewa Siedlecka in her article

In Poland reckoning with the Polish People’s Republic is still underway – and doesn’t look to end any time soon. It is nor hampered by death of people and groups publicly charged