The Lighthouse of EU Law Shines on the Polish Constitutional Tribunal
Last week, legal scholars from all over the world met in Freiburg at the ConTrans conference. On the one end of the spectrum, scholars like Woijcech Sadurski advocated for a revolutionary approach, simply dismantling the current Tribunal and re-building it from scratch. On the other end stands Adam Bodnar, who stressed the importance of legality in the transition process. In my view, EU law shines a possible way ahead – it can justify disregarding the Tribunal’s decisions and empower ordinary courts to assume the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. Eventually, this would lead to a decentralised constitutional review.
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Militant Public Administration
An unprecedented scandal surrounding a Polish governmental fund established to aid crime victims highlights the role of civil servants in authoritarian state capture. The revelations surrounding the Justice Fund show broad levels of bureaucratic acquiescence with shocking abuses of power, and only belated effort to document and report these abuses. The Polish case shows it is time for a democratically militant public administration – the new vision of civil service better prepared to fend off authoritarian encroachment from elected politicians.
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On Rebuilding and … Keeping the Rule of Law
When I think about the challenge of rebuilding the rule of law in Poland after years filled with unimaginably lawless legal and factual acts and hateful words tearing the Polish Constitution to shreds and offering adequate recipes, the starting point is framing the discussion. A correct description of the starting point determines the route and provides the background against which one can evaluate more detailed legislative choices made along the way. The route must be determined by “fidelity to the Constitution”. Finally, our avowed destination must be framed in clear terms as restoring the meaning and respect to the basic elements of the Polish legal order. I argue that the latter must become the new narrative of lawyers, politicians and citizens alike if we are to succeed.
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The Autocratic Party-Structure of PiS
Political parties are the heart of every parliamentary democracy. This post aims to explore what categorises political party-structure as autocratic and postulates a reform of political parties in Poland as partially inspired by German legal solutions. Namely, the main executive body of the party must consist of at least three members elected no less frequently than every two years. Furthermore, all party members must be allowed to propose electoral candidates. Finally, decisions on party offices and electoral nominations must be carried out by a secret ballot.
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On the border, the war is relatively close
500 meters away from Poland.
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Pushbacks From Europe’s Borders Enter the Mainstream
The Polish reckoning with the illiberal turn of the past years seemingly does not apply to the unlawful practice of pushbacks on the Poland-Belarus border. The unlawful practices, best exemplified by pushbacks, have come to be accepted in the European mainstream. The humanitarian crisis on the Poland-Belarus border and its handling by the new government, together with its rejection of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, vividly illustrates this point.
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Hercules or Sisyphus? On the legacy of statutory lawlessness in post-autocratic Poland
A constitutional responsibility.
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Herkules oder Sisyphus? Vom Erbe des gesetzlichen Unrechts im post-autokratischen Polen
Eine verfassungsrechtliche Verantwortung.
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Polish(ing) Broken Tribunal
Resetting the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland after the Law and Justice Party's eight years in power is a Herculean task. However, the constitutional and political room for maneuver for the new government turns out to be quite limited.
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Restoration of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal as Reading the Constitution Forward
The question of how to restore the fallen and degenerated body that once was the Polish Constitutional Tribunal is finally to make its way to the Parliament this week. The stakes are clear: If we get lost in legalese and accept half-baked solutions, it will taint all ambitions and legislative projects aimed at restoring the rule of law in Poland. To avoid this mistake, the “fake court” should be “zeroed out” and newly appointed.
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Polish Re-Democratisation as “Building Back Better”
Since the new Polish government took power, it has taken first steps to restore the rule of law. These have been quite different in nature, from the soft appeals to comply with the case law of the CJEU to more uncompromising and confrontational measures, like taking control of the public broadcasting TVP. It is clear that restoring a damaged liberal democracy requires a different mindset than fighting its demise. While the latter aims to strategically delay the anticipated undemocratic endeavours, the former must constructively rebuild. I call this ‘Building Back Better’, akin to the UN risk-reduction approach employed to avoid future disasters.
Continue reading >>Why Poland Should Join the European Public Prosecutor
After the Polish parliamentary elections, the question of rebuilding the rule of law in Poland has been frequently raised in academic debate. The discourse is largely dominated by the status of the so-called neo-judges and the legal effects of rulings of the politically appropriated Constitutional Tribunal. We would like to highlight another problem that the new government will have to deal with – the functioning of the public prosecutor's office occupied by people associated with the Law and Justice party. There is a great risk that high-level prosecutors may effectively block or obstruct investigations into the irregularities committed under the PiS government. We believe that a partial solution to this problem might come from Poland's quick accession to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office planned by the democratic opposition.
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The Great Yes or the Great No
As we gear up for the most consequential elections in Poland since 1989, the situation on the ground after 8 years of the paranoid polarizing and no-holds-barred politics, forces all those concerned about the future, to ask where Poland is heading. On 14 October 2023, we must understand that POLEXIT is much more than a mere dispute over institutions, rule of law, judicial independence, etc. What is at stake now is incomparably greater. It is the defense of a certain way of life, values and belonging to a community of law and values, a civic Poland in Europe and Europe in civic Poland and finally of “Me and You” as part of Europe.
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