19 December 2024
Schrödinger’s Judges
What happens when judges are both legitimate and illegitimate at the same time? In post-2023 Poland, tension arises between ‘old judges’ (pre-2018), accusing ‘neo-judges’ of ethical compromise, and the new government, which aims to maintain judicial continuity. As a result, neo-judges find themselves in a state akin to Schrödinger's cat, their legitimacy simultaneously affirmed and denied. This paradox encapsulates the broader struggle over judicial authority and political influence in the country. Continue reading >>
0 
15 July 2022
The Poverty of Militant Doctrinal Constitutionalism in the European Union
The rule of law crisis discussion is transforming the entire academic field of comparative constitutional law. Success is measured not in volumes of empirically based analysis or critical examination of existing legal practices but more and more in op-eds in which Poland, Hungary or the Commission should be chastised like unruly children in the most imaginative and entertaining way possible. It is possible because of the ultimately fatal grip of constitutional law scholarship and constitutional design in the EU which blurs the distinction between theoretical and more practical uses of constitutional concepts. Continue reading >>09 November 2020
Divine Decision-Making
The most recent abortion decision of 22 October 2020 of Poland’s Constitutional Court (“the Court”) did not come as a surprise. It is not, as some commentators would like to see, an aberration, a departure from previous liberal and human rights-based standards by a group of judges linked to the Law and Justice party. Rather, it is a consequence of the right-wing constitutionalism that has dominated the Court for years. This discourse that introduced religious dogma as the basis for legal reasoning is undemocratic and exclusionary. It presents religious worldviews as textual consequences of the constitution without taking into account the voice of citizens. The persistence of this type of constitutionalism can be demonstrated on example of a number of cases important for the public sphere in Poland. Continue reading >>
0