Judge Alina Czubieniak did not agree for an intellectually disabled illiterate boy without a defence attorney to be held in custody. Minister Ziobro did not like her judgment, because the local press was roaring that the judge had released a ‘paedophile’. The minister wanted the judge to receive a disciplinary penalty and the new Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court has just punished the judge for her verdict

Rule of Law in Poland is a new English-language online resource on the backsliding of the rule of law in Poland

A selection of experts answer the question. Sadurski / Krygier / Halmai / Pech / Belavusau / Csaky / Chapman / Dam

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

Frans Timmermans spoke with journalists on Tuesday, 19 February 2019, just prior to another debate in the General Affairs Council of the EU over breach of rule of law within the Article 7 TEU procedure initiated against Poland. This was the first meeting of the Council since the Polish government presented its report on 11 December 2018

The Polish Constitutional Court, once a proud institution and an effective check on the will of the majority, is now a shell of its former self

Since 2015, Poland has been facing an ongoing constitutional crisis which affects the work and position of the judiciary. The numerous legal changes concerning the work of the courts (from top-rank courts such as the Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Court to common courts) as well as prosecution were accompanied by smear campaigns and attacks against judges and certain prosecutors.

Provisions subordinating the judiciary to the executive (including disciplinary proceedings against judges), which are completely incompatible with European standards, are still in place.

The Justice Defence Committee (KOS) published a report entitled “A country that punishes. Pressure and repression of Polish judges and prosecutors”. The main objective of the report is to present how new disciplinary mechanisms in the judiciary and public prosecution service are being used as tools of political pressure and intimidation.

The Supreme Court has not been the sole judicial institution under attack by the ruling majority. Since November 2015 the PiS has been increasing political control over other key bodies of the system, including the Constitutional Tribunal, the prosecution, the National Council of Judiciary, and ordinary courts.