President Andrzej Duda has submitted a bill on the Supreme Court to the Sejm that would give him the right to introduce his ‘commissioners’, acting presidents, to the old chambers of the Supreme Court. Lawyers are concerned that this could be a way of blocking an important matter in the CJEU regarding the legality of the appointment of new Supreme Court judges.

“The problem of SLAPPs against journalists, activists, and human rights defenders must be addressed on the EU level. Legislative action is needed. The EU anti-SLAPP Directive and Council of Europe Recommendations are fundamental to raise awareness about SLAPPs dangers and to lead to a change ” – argue lawyers and researchers of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom

Fidesz’s media empire keeps pushing the message that the entire opposition and the mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony are “rooting for coronavirus”, naming them as “the coalition of the death” – Edit Zgut on the media landscape and its prospects in Hungary

Polish national television, Telewizja Polska, mocks the media protest against taxing advertising. It does not have to worry about the new levy itself – the majority of its revenue is state aid. It has received PLN 5.9 billion since 2016. Added to that, hundreds of millions from orders from state institutions and advertisements from state-owned companies

The First President of the Supreme Court Malgorzata Manowska is attempting to remove four ‘old’ judges from cases in which questions were asked of the CJEU. ‘The groundless request is a pretext for eliminating me from the case,’ believes Judge Krzysztof Rączka.

Judge Tuleya will not come to the National Prosecutor’s Office for questioning for the second time. However, the Prosecutor’s Office is announcing that it will conduct ‘activities’ with respect to the judge. This means at least that he will be apprehended and brought to the prosecutor’s office by the police.

‘Advertising ‘contributions’ will mean the weakening or even liquidation of some media operating in Poland,’ write media publishers in Poland in a letter to the authorities. The government wants to introduce a new levy under the pretext of fighting the Covid pandemic.

The situation of a further threat to the rule of law is prompting retired judges of the Constitutional Tribunal to express their utmost concern and to inform the public.

The statistics on the work of the Constitutional Tribunal in 2019 give a picture of the Tribunal’s work in its third year under the presidency of judge Julia Przyłębska. The results are not impressive

In 2021, the term of office of the Polish judge on the European Court of Human Rights will end. The Foreign Ministry does not want to reveal who has entered the competition. What are the stakes of this choice? Prof. Lech Garlicki, a former judge on the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland and the EtCHR, explains