The developments in the Polish judiciary can be difficult to understand for the uninitiated. Polish Ombudsman Adam Bodnar therefore adresses nine popular opinions and possible responses in a recent article.

‘I believe that the internal sense of independence, professional integrity and decency of judges will be a source of effective defence against the attempts of the executive branch of power. However, an in-depth analysis should be continued of the factors that have made, and are still making, the crime against the Polish judiciary possible, and of how to prevent such processes in the future.’

‘When I meet with people from all over Poland, I can see no severe opposition against damaging the judiciary system. The area is a complex one, and judges are a kind of “elite” with which not many people identify. Moreover, why all this alarm? After all, nothing is really happening. These are the common opinions. My role is thus to explain that the truth is completely different. That what is happening is a crime against the judiciary system, and that sooner or later its effects will be experienced by everyone. So I have to educate people on how to prevent those processes.’

Read the whole article on his website.

Photo: Adrian Grycuk