05 April 2023
In Jerusalem my Heart wanted to Scream out: “I am Polin, too” …
I went to Israel at a moment’s notice to share the lessons and cautionary tales of anti-constitutional capture in Poland and to explain the mechanics behind systemic and legalistic dismantling of the liberal foundations of the legal order. However, during my stay in Israel, I realized that as much the Israelis wanted to learn from me, they might as well teach Poles crucial lessons, not less these of civic engagement and mobilization. Continue reading >>
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04 April 2023
Frozen
After years of inaction, the European Commission and Council jointly acted to freeze EU funds totaling more than €28.7 billion for Hungary and more than €110 billion for Poland at the end of 2022, citing rule-of-law violations. Surprisingly, the decisions were taken not just (or even primarily) using the new Conditionality Regulation designed for that purpose. Instead, they used a variety of other legal tools to which rule-of-law conditionality was attached. It remains somewhat mysterious, however, precisely which funds and what proportion of those funds have been suspended, and how those suspensions have been legally justified. This post, a shorter version of a SIEPS paper that will be published soon, describes what we know about the complex set of funding suspensions intended to make EU Member States pay for their rule-of-law violations. Continue reading >>
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31 January 2023
Battling the hydra in EU anti-discrimination law
Can a company refuse to conclude or renew a contract with a self-employed person because he is gay? And may contractual freedom prevail over the prohibition of discrimination in such a situation? A short answer stemming from the recent ECJ judgment in J.K. v. TP would be a resounding no. Yet, a further analysis is in order because the judgment also brings a significant shift in the ECJ’s anti-discrimination case law. Continue reading >>
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17 January 2023
7 Years Later: Poland as a Legal Black Hole
The EU is faced with a Member State where all of its top courts are now unlawfully composed; where every single judicial appointment procedure since 2018 is inherently defective due to the involvement of an unconstitutional body; and where core EU and ECHR requirements relating to effective judicial protection and the fundamental right to an independent court established by law have been held “unconstitutional” in 2021 and 2022 by the body masquerading as Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal. Continue reading >>
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24 December 2022
A fragmented response to media freedom at risk in the Union
The Polish and Hungarian governments have famously parted ways over responses to the Russo-Ukraine war. However, internally, both continue to rely on similar structural changes in the media environment that help them target voters and undermine elections fairness. The EU’s response to the media freedom and pluralism crisis in Hungary and Poland has been more restrained and also qualitatively different from its answer to the judicial independence crisis or threats to academic freedoms and minority rights. Continue reading >>
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11 November 2022
#DefendingTheDefenders – Episode 1: Poland
We Need to Talk About the Rule of Law is back for a second season that focuses on the impact of rule of law erosions on attorneys. In the first episode, we talk to MIKOŁAJ PIETRZAK. He is an attorney and the Dean of the Warsaw Bar Association, which is the oldest professional legal association in Poland and the administrative association of attorneys in Warsaw. Continue reading >>
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31 October 2022
A Chamber of Certain Liability
The establishment of the Chamber of Professional Liability is the latest installment in the saga, in which the Polish Law & Justice government tries to ‘reform’ the Supreme Court. It shows, in a nutshell, all the major issues of the rule of law crisis in Poland: conflict with the European Commission and loss of EU funds; apparent concessions and leaving old issues intact; split in the Polish legal community between lawful and unlawful judges. All the elements of drama are here and it all begins with the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. Continue reading >>
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27 September 2022
Defending the Judiciary
The strategies of judicial resistance employed by the Polish judiciary after 2015 are diverse and complementary. They respond to changing and intensifying the pressure of political power on the judiciary. They are a consequence of the judgments of the CJEU and the ECHR concerning the administration of justice in Poland. Continue reading >>
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12 September 2022
Pandering to peoples’ emotions is no solution
Poland’s next parliamentary elections will be held in autumn 2023. Polish academics are currently discussing how to repair the country's judiciary if the PiS government gets voted out of office. In this blogpost, Marcin Matczak offers a personal account of the on-going debate and advocates for a pragmatic rather than an emotional response. Continue reading >>
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09 September 2022
No Longer Feeling the Energy
On 25 August 2022, the government of Poland surprised all when it sent a previously approved (but unannounced) bill on the termination of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) to the State’s lower chamber. The ECT is the biggest multilateral investment treaty in the world and the only one to exclusively regulate cooperation in the energy sector. Continue reading >>
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