MONOGRAPH - All Rise - Judicial Resistance in Poland

Table of Contents

• Glossary of Acronyms 11
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 13
• Key Takeaways for Stakeholders: 13
• Introduction 15
• The Turning Point 16
• Key Research Questions and Analytical Framework 19
• Monograph Structure 20
• Chapter 1. The Tradition of Judicial Resistance in Poland 22
• Judicial Solidarity Movement in the 1980s 23
• Protests of Polish Judges in Democratic Poland (2008–2014) 24
• Chapter 2. The Law and Justice Party’s Grab on the Independent Judiciary 26
• A Loss of Public Confidence in Judges 31
• Chapter 3. Judicial Activism, Disobedience, and Resistance 33
• Constructive and Disruptive Activism 33
• Becoming a People’s Judge 36
• Judges’ Freedom of Expression 39
• Resistance Emerges Against the Populist Onslaught (2015–2017) 41
• The Year the Judges Rose Up (2017) 43
• Judges’ Resistance Actions in 2017 45
• Judicial Resistance Continues (2018–2023) 50
• Changes in the Way Judges Perceived Their Function 51
• Judges’ Associations: The Engine Behind Judicial Resistance 53
• Size and Demographics of Judicial Resistance 57
• Chapter 4. Professional Groups in Support of Judicial Independence 59
• Action Democracy (AD) 59
• Committee for the Defense of the Democracy (KOD) 60
• Free Courts Initiative 61
• The Citizens of Poland (ORP) 63
• The Osiatyński Archive (OA) 64
• The Human Rights Commission (HRC) of the Polish Bar Association 65
• Lex Super Omnia and Resisting Prosecutors 66
• The Justice Defense Committee (KOS) 69
• Polish Commissioner for Human Rights 70
• Chapter 5. Impact of Judicial Resistance 72
• Polish Resistance Became a European Concern 72
• Judges Engaged Citizens 74
• Politicians Learned What Was at Stake 74
• The Legal Profession Came Together 75
• Judicial Resistance Pierced the Opponent 75
• Chapter 6. Catalog of Judicial Resistance Actions 78
• Acts of Expression 78
• 1. Acts of Expression Using the Medium of Human Body 79
• 2. Acts of Expression Using Medium of Material Arts 85
• 3. Acts of Expression Using the Medium of Digital Technology 90
• 4. Acts of Expression Using the Medium of Human Language 93
• Acts of Omission 104
• 5. Acts of Omission as Political/Judicial Noncooperation 104
• 6. Acts of Omission as Social Noncooperation 109
• Acts of Commission 115
• 7. Political/Judicial Disruptive Intervention 115
• 8. Political/Judicial Creative Intervention 122
• 9. Economic Creative Intervention 126
• 10. Legal Aid to Prosecuted Judges 128
• 11. Social Creative Intervention 128
• 12. Psychological Creative Intervention 130
• Key Findings and Takeaways for Stakeholders 136
• Takeaways for Judges 137
• Takeaways for Lawyers 139
• Takeaways for other Domesic and International Allies 140
• Takeaways for Activists 141
• Takeaways for Scholars 142
• Appendix I. Resistance by Judges in Global Perspective 143
• Pakistan 143
• Egypt 145
• Romania 146
• France 147
• Other Examples of Judicial Resistance 148
• Appendix II. Structure of the Judiciary of Poland 150
• The Court Bodies 151
• The Board of the Court 152
• Judicial Self-Government: General Assemblies of the Courts 152
• Conflict Between the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Tribunal 153
• Appendix III. The Interviews 155
• Works Cited 157
• Acknowledgments 181