Through a reorganization of existing courts and the establishment of new ones, the Ministry of Justice will achieve total control over the entirety of the justice system. The reorganization will put all judges under a microscope and facilitate a far-ranging purge of the courts. There may not be enough places for independent-minded judges in the “new” courts, or perhaps they will be exiled someplace far away from their present posts.

Polish constitutional court delivered a ruling concerning the National Council of the Judiciary. The judgement might be crucial for the preliminary reference proceedings pending before the Court of Justice of the EU.

The Court opened – through the second subparagraph of Article 19(1) TEU – of the possibility to apply Article 47 of the Charter

The assertion presented by the media, that the sole objective of the so-called ‘great reform of the justice system’ lies in a one-off replacement of judicial personnel with a view to replace the key judicial office holders by those subordinated to the Minister of Justice is an overlyoptimistic simplification of matters. The authors of the ‘reform of the justice system’ were far more ambitious.

In the last few months, the use of the new disciplinary procedures has become increasingly bald-faced. Increasingly, the authorities do not appear to be ashamed of their real motives, which are unabashedly political’ – writes prof. Piotr Mikuli at I-CONNECT.

Prosecutor Bogdan Święczkowski announces the doctrine of infallibility of the Ziobro-Święczkowski prosecutor’s office.

The rule of law reigns in Poland, but does not necessarily govern. And reigning without governing means powerlessness – writes Ewa Łętowska.

Through the Act of 8 December 2017 on the Supreme Court, drafted by the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda, the Law and Justice party has made radical changes in the system of judges’ disciplinary responsibility

Today, the European Commission has launched an infringement procedure by sending a Letter of Formal Notice to Poland regarding the new disciplinary regime for judges. The Polish government has 2 months to reply.

Competitive bids for providing assistance to victims of crime are being won by organisations with no experience, but with political connections with Zbigniew Ziobro and PiS. The losers are organisations that have been helping victims for years. Victims are also losing – they have no one to turn to for help.