Many thanks to @danielhegedus.bsky.social and @veghzsuzsanna.bsky.social for inviting me to contribute and to @nickbouchet.bsky.social for excellent editorial guidance.
The report is here: www.gmfus.org/sites/defaul...
I have summarised the process of rule-of-law repair in Poland in an 18-page report for @gmfus.bsky.social.
I also consider who, in 2026, will more often set the tone for proposals on judicial reform: the cabinet of Donald Tusk or President Karol Nawrocki.
📢The 2026 ICON•S Annual Conference Call for Submissions is out!
Join us in #Dublin from June 29 – July 1, 2026!
Read the 🧵for details ⬇️
W tych nieustająco ciekawych czasach z @annawojcik.bsky.social w OKO.press nagrałyśmy podcast o tym, po co decentralizować władzę w Polsce i co z tego wynika.
Bardzo zapraszam do odsłuchu! oko.press/decentraliza....
1/2
6/ “The legal order is more important than the self-satisfaction of a social class in Poland.” - Nawrocki about judges in Poland who reject PiS-era changes in courts and demand the rule of law repair.
5/ Following Nawrocki’s remarks in parliament, PiS MPs began chanting “Constitution!” — a slogan previously used by critics of PiS judicial reforms during the party’s eight years in power.
4/ He claimed that the current National Prosecutor is acting “illegally,” and that the PiS-appointed National Prosecutor had been dismissed illegally by Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar.
3/ Nawrocki declared that he will not administer the oath of office to “judges who undermine the constitutional legal order.”
He also signaled his opposition to judicial involvement in drafting legislation.
2/ A Council for the Restoration of the State System will be established at the Presidential Palace. Nawrocki will invite academics to the council.
The new Polish president also argued that Poland needs a new constitution and pledged to work on a draft to be ready by 2030.
1/ “Poland must return to the path of the rule of law. Today, it is no longer on that path.”
Nawrocki supports PiS narrative about the coup d'état and the rule of law backsliding under Tusk.
President Nawrocki starts his five-year term in Poland.
This presidency is expected to bring a much more difficult cohabitation with Tusk's government than under President Duda. Nawrocki is set to clash with the government over the rule of law. And he is already criticizing judges. Let's unpack.
We'll see whether the Tusk government will be a mere interlude or the beginning of a sustained democratic renewal in Poland. Paradoxically, Nawrocki’s hardline presidency may galvanize voters who fear Viktor Orbán-style illiberalism.
cc: @illsp.bsky.social
Adam Bodnar is an international hero for the rule of law. If the government of Poland feels it must expel him, they are abandoning the values they purported to defend.
Poland owes the unblocking of the National Recovery Plan funds and the end of the Article 7 TEU procedure to Bodnar. The country’s accession to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office was a milestone. Bodnar laid the institutional foundations for the further repair of the rule of law.
The Adam Bodnar era as Minister of Justice in Poland exposed all the paradoxes of liberal democracy and how difficult it is to repair a state after years of deliberate erosion of democratic standards and the rule of law.
oko.press/koniec-epoki...
Big government reshuffle in Poland. Donald Tusk has decided that Justice Minister Adam Bodnar's 1.5-year mission to repair the rule of law and improve the efficiency of the courts has come to an end.
In spring, I have summarized main achievements and challenges of the rule of law repair in Poland ⬇️
🇵🇱⚖️Adam Bodnar is out as the Polish Minister of Justice/Prosecutor General, why? First, being a good academic/human rights defender doesn't necessarily make you a good politician; second, you can't please everyone who wants to be pleased; third, timid people aren't suited for savage times. 1/
Komisja Europejska w dorocznym raporcie o stanie praworządności chwali Polskę - niekiedy na wyrost. Zaleca kontynuowanie reformy sądów i wprowadzenie szeroko zakrojonej reformy systemu medialnego. Rząd Tuska ma wiele do zrobienia, a pole manewru może ograniczyć prezydent.
oko.press/komisja-euro...
Our democracies are grounded in the rule of law, the very safeguard of our rights.
But, how is it applied in EU countries?
Today we'll share our findings. Stay tuned for the Annual Rule of Law report ↓
Taking the opportunity of my travel to Warsaw to attend the #WorldJusticeForum2025 to catch up with this excellent - but depressing - overview of the #ruleoflaw state of play in Poland & likely future developments
🇵🇱 "This result underscores the strong polarization of the Polish electorate and is set to profoundly influence the country’s democratic trajectory."
@annawojcik.bsky.social analyzes the outcome of Poland's presidential election and its impact on the restoration of the rule of law:
✍️ In her op-ed, @annawojcik.bsky.social examines the outcome of Poland’s presidential election and explores what the future strategy of the pro-democratic governing coalition must entail. 🇵🇱🗳️
🧑💻 Read it now:
👉 tinyurl.com/2nyy2rhp
I wonder what are your predictions for Poland's rule of law repair @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social @mariaskora.bsky.social @democracytalk.bsky.social @profpech.bsky.social
For the duration of his term, Nawrocki’s five-year presidency will significantly hinder, and may even entirely block, the resolution of the constitutional crisis in which Poland has been mired since a decade - my take for @revdem2020.bsky.social
revdem.ceu.edu/2025/06/11/r...
Spot on: „The message listed all of the crimes allegedly committed by a series of Polish center-right and center-left governments, twisting the record and rewriting the history of the past 30 years into a story of trauma and victimization.” The PiS narrative of decline of Poland in the 1990s-2000s.
Latest action from @goodlobbyprofs.bsky.social: In short, we lodged a complaint with @ec.europa.eu under the Conditionality Regulation requesting the activation of this instrument in relation to the deliberate & systemic deterioration of the #ruleoflaw in Slovakia
www.thegoodlobby.eu/the-good-lob...
The Polish paradox:
- Poles are most enthusiastic about European Union membership when it comes to thinking the EU will help them face the future
- 51% voted for a candidate who will prevent Poland playing its full role in the EU.
Personally, I like the persona of Tusk. But for a big chunk of voters he’s responsible for a decads when they or their parents’ lives were miserable.
I work on democracy and the rule of law but I have grown up and live in Poland so the answer is not culture but capitalism.
And, of course, under 40 year-olds unfulfilled ambitions, being tired of trying to make it in Poland, limited social mobility, rising class divide/inequalities, cost of living crisis - the Polish variant of capitalism.
