In its second report, the Civil Development Forum (FOR) evaluates measures used by the European Union, Council of Europe and other international actors to deal with the rule of law breakdown in Poland

‘The only way to contain the increasing lawlessness that we are witnessing in Poland is for your Commission to step up to the task it is given under the Treaties to enforce EU law. Do not further delay action in the name of dialogue. One simply cannot engage in dialogue with a pyromaniac who is actively adding fuel to a blaze. The rule of law in Poland is not merely being attacked. It is being destroyed in plain sight. ‘ – writes a dozen of law professors from across the globe to the European Commission President

The rule of law in Poland and other member states is important not only for the citizens of these countries, but also for the future of the European project as a club of countries with high-quality democratic institutions safeguarding human rights – says Civil Development Forum (FOR)

“The involvement of a judge, who speaks up on such public matters related to the rule of law is certainly not a political voice.” Prof. Marek Safjan, judge of the Court of Justice of the EU and retired judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, comments on the reports that the disciplinary commissioners want to prosecute 1,200 judges throughout Poland who signed the letter to the OSCE asking it to oversee the postal presidential elections, which were to be held in May 2020.

The paper shows how deterioration of the law-making standards enabled the adoption of laws that amplified the constitutional crisis and undermined confidence in Polish courts’ independence.

Jarosław Kaczyński’s party pushed for presidential elections on the 10th of May at all costs. The plan backfired. The election will be most likely be held on the 28th of June or at the beginning of July. An explainer about the biggest political crisis in Poland’s recent history

Constitutional law professor accuses the President of the Republic of Poland of breaching several provisions of the Constitution of Poland by appointing Małgorzata Manowska the new First President of the Supreme Court

New acting first president of the Supreme Court judge Kamil Zaradkiewicz asks the Supreme Court’s judges to refrain from public activity, in particular in the media

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.

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.