http://dx.doi.org/10.17176/20230605-231201-0 https://verfassungsblog.de/spotlight-interpretation-and-its-devastating-effects/ Spotlight Interpretation and its Devastating Effects - On a Peculiar Method of Constitutional Interpretation Granat, Mirosław eng 2023-06-05 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Constitutional Interpretation judicial independence Poland Rule of Law Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 After 1989 Poland struggled to build up a free state based on the rule of law. More recently, illiberal constitutionalism has been damaging these hard-won gains. This blogpost will argue that the systematic dismantling of Poland’s rule of law, without officially amending the Constitution, was possible due to a peculiar interpretative technique called spotlight interpretation. Its essence lies in the opportunistic interpretation of systemically important constitutional provisions to achieve the short-term political goals of the ruling majority, and it has arguably been central to the destruction of judicial independence in Poland’s constitutional order.