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Human Rights against Democratic Backsliding in Poland
21 October 2022, 2:00 pm–7:30 pm
A panel discussion and film screening organised by Dr Agnieszka Kubal for the SSEES Politics and Sociology seminar series.
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
SSEES
Location
-
Masaryk RoomSSEES Building16 Taviton streetLondonWC1H 0BW
The advancement to power of ‘Law and Justice’ party in 2015, and the subsequent ‘legal reforms’ allegedly aimed at democratizing the judicial system brought about systemic attacks on judicial independence and embroiled the country in a full-blown constitutional crisis. While there are many excellent works on how these legal reforms amounted to a rule of law backsliding, this crisis has also sparked an awakening among prominent sections of the Polish legal professions – judges, barristers, human rights lawyers and activists – who push back against it in their everyday practice, often with dire consequences for their professional careers and development. There are currently circa 100 applications against the Polish government to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) that concern the human rights dimensions of the political changes within the justice system. This event will examine the reasons for this unprecedented human rights mobilisation and discuss the potential for international human rights and legal instruments to bring about meaningful changes in Poland.
The integral part of the event is a screening of a documentary Judges under Pressure (2021) co-authored by Kacper Lisowski and Iwona Harris, as an important voice in the discussion about judicial activism and human rights mobilisation in Poland. The documentary will be followed by a Q and A with its main protagonists: Judges Igor Tuleya, Joanna Hetnarowicz-Sikora and Waldemar Żurek.
Please register early as we expect the event – especially the screening of the documentary – to be very popular. If you would like to attend the whole event (panel discussion and film screening), please make sure to book both tickets as places are limited.
The film screening will now take place in the following venue:
Drayton House B20 Jevons LT, Drayton House
30 Gordon St, London WC1H 0AX
- Programme
2 – 4:30PM Panel Discussion: Human Rights against Democratic Backsliding in Poland
Judge Joanna Hetnarowicz-Sikora, Justitia Judicial Association, ‘Review of Rule of Law cases from Poland before the ECtHR’
Professor John Morijn, Groningen University, ‘The Language of Power’
Dr Marcin Mrowicki, Warsaw University, ‘Strategic Nature, Dynamics and Impact of Judicial Resistance against Authoritarian Backsliding in Poland’
Dr Agnieszka Kubal, UCL ‘Women’s Complaint to the ECtHR following the Abortion Law as a window into the Polish society.’
4:30 – 5PM Tea break
5 – 6:30PM Screening of Documentary Judges under Pressure
6:30 – 7:30PM Q and A
Judge Waldemar Żurek – Themis Judicial Association, Judge Igor Tuleya – District Court of Warsaw, Judge Joanna Hetnarowicz-Sikora – Justitia Judicial Association, Iwona Harris (Producer) and Kacper Lisowski (Director) – Lollipop Production.
Chair: Dr Agnieszka Kubal
The event has been generously funded by the British Academy: BA/Leverhulme small research grant on ‘Sociology of Human Rights in Poland’ and BA Knowledge Frontiers Symposium seed funding for ‘Judicial Activism in times of crisis’ awarded to Dr Kubal.
Image credit: Lollipop Films Sp. z o.o.
About the Speakers
Judge Igor Tuleya
Judge Igor Tuleya is a Polish lawyer, judge at the district court of Warsaw and a former spokesperson for this court. He is a symbol of Polish judicial independence and resistance against the reforms leading to democratic backsliding. He has been suspended from judicial practice for over two years by the Law and Justice government. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom of Speech 2022 by the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk for his judicial activism.
Judge Joanna Hetnarowicz-Sikora
Judge Joanna Hetnarowicz-Sikora is a Polish lawyer, judge at a regional court of Słupsk, member of the Justitia Professional Association. She has been active and outspoken critic of the recent reforms of the justice system threatening judicial independence. Suspended from office for her activism she has returned to judicial practice following the Interim Measure of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). She is the author of many amicus curiae in rule of law cases before the ECtHR and Court of Justice of the European Union from Poland.
Judge Waldemar Żurek
Judge Waldemar Żurek is a Polish lawyer, judge at the district court of Kraków, member of the Themis Professional Association, a former member of the Polish National Judiciary Council (elected for two consecutive terms), and a former spokesperson for the Council until March 2018. In a 2022 judgment Żurek vs Poland, the ECtHR said that Judge Żurek had ‘a right and an obligation to speak out against the reforms of the justice system in defence of the rule of law, and that the disciplinary proceedings against him were to send a chilling effect of the suppression of free speech among the entire judicial profession in Poland.’
Professor John Morijn
Professor John Morijn is Chair in law, politics and international relations and an Assistant professor of European human rights law at Groningen University in the Netherlands. He specialises in European and international human rights law; he has written extensively on the rule of law crisis in Poland. He is also a Commissioner for the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights.
Dr Marcin Mrowicki
Dr Marcin Mrowicki is Assistant Professor at the University of Warsaw, Centre for Europe. Between 2012-2016 he served as lawyer in the ECtHR. Since 2016 he is a lawyer in the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights' Office. He specializes in human rights and EU law. His forthcoming monograph (co-authored with Maciej Bartkowski) entitled ‘Strategic Nature, Dynamics and Impact of Judicial Resistance against Authoritarian Backsliding in Poland’ will be published by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.
Iwona Harris
Iwona Harris is a film producer, filmmaker, and production manager. She graduated from the Faculty of Film Production at the prestigious Łódź Film School. Since 2010 she creates under the brand Lollipop Films. Iwona has produced feature-length as well as short films and documentaries. As an independent filmmaker she debuted with the documentary ‘The Lady of Korczew’ (2018), directed by Sławomir Rogowski with photos by Kacper Lisowski. Together with Kacper Lisowski she is the co-author and producer of the documentary ‘Judges under Pressure’ (2021).
Kacper Lisowski
Kacper Lisowski is an award-winning director, scriptwriter and director of photography. He graduated from the prestigious Łódź Film School and from the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing in Warsaw. He directed and shot his first documentary, ‘Whisky and Milk’ in 2012 and debuted with the feature film ‘Father’s Day’ in 2014 which was critically acclaimed internationally and in Poland. He joined Lollipop Films in early 2020 as co-owner of the company. He is the director of ‘Judges under Pressure’ (2021).
Dr Agnieszka Kubal
Dr Agnieszka Kubal (Chair) is Associate Professor at SSEES, UCL. She is a socio-legal scholar specialising in migration and human rights.