Through the populist Law and Justice Party (PiS), which sits in government and has a majority in the national assembly, Poland has moved in an authoritarian direction. Just before Christmas last year, in more than 150 cities around the country, demonstrations were held against the government’s proposal to introduce a law that punishes judges, and lawyers for making decisions contradictory to the government’s opinion. In Poland, the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General are now the same person, and the authorities are taking over more and more of the control over the courts. At the same time, lawyers, judges, and democracy advocates are struggling to retain the rule of law.

A disciplinary system was established in Poland in 2017 as a part of the legal changes in the judiciary to ensure that judges were subordinated to political will. The system undermines the free and independent position of the courts in Poland.

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