The Fight for Poland’s Next Ombudsperson

A Report from the Battlefield

19 January 2021

The ruling party’s discrediting of a widely supported candidate to become the next ombudsperson of the Polish Republic is only the latest chapter in an ongoing series about the dismantling of the Polish justice system. Will civil society’s candidate prevail over a government’s representative?

In October 2020, there was a striking image in the Polish Sejm: a civic society candidate was sitting on the floors in the corridors of the parliament, evoking only the condescending laughter from those in power.

When she runs for the third time in the unequal race for the Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich (RPO), the Office of Ombudsperson, will she suddenly become a source of threat for the ruling class?

Telegraphic update

Since 2015, the rule of law has not been at its best in Poland. This is only a euphemism to describe the results of certain events and actions undertook by the ruling party during the last five years.

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Jarosław Gwizdak

Visegrad Insight Fellow. Former judge and Court President in Katowice. He currently works as a teacher, columnist and activist. He was the first person awarded the „Civic Judge of the Year” prize.

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