The president of the District Court in Bydgoszcz does not intend – at least for the time being – to stand up in defence of the three judges in whose judgment Przemysław Radzik took an interest. ‘I believe the defence of the independence of the court also requires me, just as any judge, to be prudent in my comments,’ Jarosław Błażejewski tells us.

The new, politically elected National Council of the Judiciary will meet at an extraordinary session next Monday, 28 August. It was called by Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro to oppose what he claims to be the ‘politicisation of the judiciary.’ The NCJ is also expected to support Ziobro in further ‘reforming’ the courts. ‘This meeting will be a tribute of the NCJ’s surrender to Ziobro,’ Iustitia’s press officer tells Onet.

‘This can be an instrument for initiating operational control, namely wiretapping, for conducting criminal proceedings and therefore for intimidation,’ Counsellor Marcin Wolny of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights tells Onet about the provision regarding disinformation in the PiS deputies’ so-called Spy Act, which has already been passed.

While wondering whether the change in the regulations is good, it would be worth asking yourself who will benefit from it. Local governments, residents and nature will lose out on the change in the Assessment Act, while the government and the investors it selects will gain on the basis of criteria known only to the politicians. Good change?

‘We cannot remain silent in the light of such an intensity of ill will and such a gross violation of fundamental human and civil rights. It is also our duty, which arises from our judicial conscience and our knowledge of the law, to point out that cooperation with the commission according to the principles of this unprecedented act constitutes a violation of values that are dear to our traditions and respect for the common good,’ wrote the retired judges of the Constitutional Tribunal.

The president of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw, Piotr Schab, does not respect the law, while there is interference in final judgments to the benefit of the prosecutor’s office in the court he manages – as arises from the declaration of 43 judges of that court.

People who hold degrees in medicine, political science or no degree at all are specialists in criminal proceedings and state security. One also has a BSc in farming, one is a construction engineer and there is a technical college graduate. Such a bill could not have been prepared by this group of people – it was prepared by someone else and presented to them for signature, says Professor Mirosław Wyrzykowski.

PiS MPs have submitted a bill to the Sejm toughening the penalties for espionage and introducing an unintentional variant of this offence. ‘This could be a provision for abuse and to be used politically,’ warns a criminal law judge.

PiS is trying to force through an Act appointing a commission ‘To investigate Russian influence’ in the Sejm.

‘The structure of voters has changed. This will clearly reduce PiS’s chances in the elections. A motion was filed in 2014, as well as in 2018 and six months ago. The Sejm is not dealing with it at all for the third time, even though it is obliged to respect the opinion of the National Electoral Commission (NEC),’ says the former head of the NEC, Judge Wojciech Hermeliński.