Finding a way out of Poland's rule-of-law crisis
Possible courses of action and reform
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On December 13, 2023, Poland entered a phase of unprecedented legal chaos. The government of Donald Tusk, invoking the principles of "transitional justice," engaged in systemic violations of the Constitution — from undermining the status of judges, through the unlawful takeover of the prosecution service, to blocking the publication of Constitutional Tribunal rulings.
The report by the Ordo Iuris Institute presents a precise roadmap for overcoming the rule of law crisis. Its authors, drawn from the legal and judicial community, identify concrete restorative measures and systemic reforms across eight key areas — ranging from the judiciary and the prosecution service to media freedom and religious education in schools.
The rule of law is not an abstraction — it is the foundation of security for each and every one of us. That is why this report is essential reading. By providing well-organized knowledge, charting a course for remedial action, and laying the groundwork for a cross-partisan dialogue on the shape of the justice system, it represents a significant contribution to the debate over the future of the constitutional state in Poland.
PhD in Law. Co-founder and President of the Polish Scientific Society. Vice President of the Hipolit Cegielski Center for Legal, Economic, and Social Analyses,
member of the boards of directors of Poland’s Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture Foundation and Center for Supporting Initiatives for Life and Family Foundation. Deputy editor-in-chief of the academic journal Legal Culture. Four-time recipient of the Rector’s Scholarship at the University of Lodz. He defended his doctoral dissertation titled Civic Tax Deduction as a Potential Source of Funding for Churches and Other Religious Associations in Poland – The Legal and Religious Perspective with unanimous distinction. Speaker at more than twenty international and national academic conferences. Author or co-author of more than twenty scholarly publications, including three monographs, as well as a dozen or so draft bills, more than sixty analyses, legal opinions, reports, and guides, and more than fifty popular-science commentaries. Graduate of leadership programs in law, management, and the operation of non-governmental organizations. His research focuses on church-state law, constitutional law, and human rights.
Judge of the Krakow Court of Appeal, President of the National Association of Judges “Judges of the Republic of Poland.” Graduate of the Jagiellonian University.
From 1997 to 1999, he served as a District Court assessor and adjudicated labor law cases. He was appointed judge in 1999 and since then has adjudicated civil cases. From 1999 to 2020, Judge of the District Court; from 2012 to 2020, assigned to adjudicate at the Regional Court. From 2020 to 2023, Judge of the Regional Court. Since March 2023, Judge of the Court of Appeals. As a judge, he served as head of a division, a supervisory judge, and as the President of the Court of Appeal. On May 25, 2012, the Polish Section of the International Commission of Jurists awarded him a distinction in the 2011 European Judge competition, and on March 29, 2018, awarded him the honorary title of European Judge 2017. Participant in numerous conferences and author of numerous scientific publications.
Graduated with a degree in law from the Faculty of Law and Administration at Jagiellonian University, received a scholarship to study at the Université de Liège in Belgium. Attorney-at-law, entered on the list of attorneys-at-law at the District Chamber of Attorneys-at-Law in Warsaw. She completed postgraduate studies in medical law and bioethics at Jagiellonian University. She has gained professional experience working at several Warsaw law firms.
Prosecutor, in the prosecutorial service since December 1993 , has served since November 2021 at the IPN Lustration Bureau, where he drafts cassation appeals
against final judgments handed down in lustration proceedings. Participates in cassation hearings before the Supreme Court. From 2007 to 2016, he served as the head of the Gdańsk Branch of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) Lustration Office. Regional Prosecutor in Gdańsk and Deputy Director of the Office of the National Prosecutor (2016–2021). Author of publications related to the activities of the Lustration Office, the verification of lustration declarations, and the lustration process. President of the Ad Vocem Independent Association of Prosecutors.
Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw (graduated with honors) and completed postgraduate studies on the topic of “Polish Personnel for the EU.” Senior analyst at the Ordo Iuris Institute, coordinator of the “Freedom and Rule of Law” program and the Rule of Law Observer website. Previously, he worked as Chief Specialist at the Office of the Ombudsman for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises from the beginning of its operations in 2018 until the end of the first Ombudsman’s term. The focus of his academic publications is primarily on the principle of subsidiarity.
PhD in Law. A judge serving since 2003 in Warsaw’s commercial courts, currently in the bankruptcy and reorganization division. President of the Main Board of the Lawyers for Poland Association. Prior to 2015, president of the Warsaw branch, vice president of the main board of directors and chairman of the international team of the Polish Judges Association “Iustitia.” From 2015 to 2019, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, overseeing departments responsible for human resources; organization and administrative oversight of the common court system; civil law legislation; international cooperation; strategy; and European Union funds. Lecturer at the National School of the Judiciary and Public Prosecution, War Studies University, and Collegium Intermarium. Participant and speaker at more than a dozen national seminars and several dozen international ones on civil procedure, and in particular on proceedings in commercial cases, the organization and systemic reforms of the judiciary, antitrust law, telecommunications law, and trademarks and utility models. Author of several dozen scholarly publications (case notes, articles, a commentary on special proceedings in the Code of Civil Procedure–co-author) and journalistic publications, primarily in the area of civil procedure and the organization and reform of the judiciary.
Advocate, PhD in Law. Student of Prof. Zbigniew Cieślak. Member and co- founder of the Warsaw Seminar on the Axiology of Administration. Specialist in administrative law and procedure, as well as public economic law. Author of numerous scholarly publications. Experienced practitioner.
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