We are an independent, apolitical and self-governing association of Polish judges.
Our main mission is to defend freedom and civil rights, which are the democratic foundations of Poland - a member of the the European Union.
We have been operating for more than 25 years, also as part of different international organisations of judges. We associate over 3,500 judges, most of them in Poland.

News

Case Baka vs. Hungary

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The premature termination of the President of the Hungarian Supreme Court’s mandate on account of his criticisms of legislative reforms was contrary to the Convention Download judgement summary here: Grand Chamber judgment Baka v. Hungary – premature termination of the President of the Hungarian Supreme Court’s mandate Download full judgement here: CASE OF BAKA v. HUNGARY (2)...

Venice Commission opinion on draft acts on judiciary

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The Venice Commission has examined the Act on Ordinary Courts, the Draft Act on the National Council of the Judiciary, and the Draft Act on the Supreme Court, proposed by the President of the Republic. It has come to the conclusion that the Act and the Draft Acts, especially taken together and seen in the context of the 2016 Act on the Public Prosecutor’s Office, enable the legislative and executive powers to interfere in a severe and extensive manner in the administration of justice, and ther...

Poland: UN Human Rights Office troubled by shrinking civic space, growing extremist rhetoric

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“Over the past two-and-a-half years, through a series of new or amended laws and policies, the Office of the Prosecutor-General has been politicized, judiciary oversight of anti-terrorism activities restricted, and Executive control over the judiciary, the media and over funding for civil society tightened. Several independent institutions have either been dissolved, weakened, subjected to or threatened with funding cuts or smeared publicly by leading political figures and media outlets. The E...

Full-blown constitutional coup d’état in Poland (Verfassungsblog.de, prof. Tomasz Koncewicz)

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The Court is dead, long live the courts? On judicial review in Poland in 2017 and „judicial space” beyond How should Polish judges respond, now that the Constitutional Court is being used in the day-to-day politics, and keeps delivering goods for its political masters? We have to be unequivocal here. Any future decisions taken by the „fake Court” with the “fake” judges sitting on the cases will be marred by invalidity. The ordinary judges will have a valid claim not to follow ...

Changes to National Judiciary Council in a Nutshell

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National Judiciary Council (NJC) has been established by the act of December 20t, 1989 in the result of the project prepared by Solidarity (anticommunist opposition) lawyers. Based on the best practices of free European countries, the objective of NJC was to protect the independence of courts and judges – a feature of the judicial system unknown to the communist regime. -NJC was entrusted with nominations of judges, participation in the nominations of courts presidents and strengthening/p...