News - Commissioner for Human Rights

National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture issued a report on ad hoc visits to the rooms for detained persons or persons brought for sobering up within the units reporting to the Warsaw Police Headquarters and to the Voivodeship (i.e.

On 19 May 2021 a hearing took place before the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Grzęda v Poland. The Grand Chamber of the ECtHR considered allegations of a judge who was a member of the National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ). The judge’s term of office was prematurely terminated by legislation in 2018, contrary to an explicit guarantee in the Constitution.

• At a plenary session of the Senate, Commissioner for Human Rights prof. Adam Bodnar presented a report on the activities of the Commissioner in 2020 and on the state of observance of human and civil rights and freedoms.

In response to the CHR’s request dated 26 January 2021, ODIHR provided Urgent Opinion on the Draft Act Amending the Code of Procedure in Petty Offence Cases of Poland.

The Commissioner for Human Rights received a letter from the municipal ombudspersons in the Netherlands, who are concerned about the way the Polish government is handling the election procedure for a new ombudsman.

Commissioner for Human Rights Adam Bodnar took part in panel discussion “Is there a case for rekindled democracy assistance in Central and Eastern Europe?” organized on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of IDEA

Full text of the speech:

The issue of abortion concerns people who find themselves in most dramatic situations of life. For the last several decades, Poland’s law in this area has been restrictive, although considered to constitute a political and social compromise. In practice, in many places of the country the law was not complied with (e.g.

On 9th September 2020, the 5-years term of the current Polish Ombudsman (Commissioner for Human Rights) Adam Bodnar, ended. The Parliament did not select a new person for this position yet. Thus, following the Article 3.6 of the Law on the Commissioner, Professor Bodnar stays in the office until the appointment of the new Commissioner for Human Rights.

Adam Bodnar, the outgoing Human Rights Commissioner was one of the guests of the Verfassungsblog -  a journalistic and academic forum of debate on topical events and developments in constitutional law and politics in Germany, the emerging common European constitutional space and beyond. He took part in a discussion about disciplinary proceedings for judges.

Following an invitation from the authorities of Poland, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deployed a Special Election Assessment Mission (SEAM) on 15 June.

• “In 2020, Poland is a completely different state than it was in 2015,” said Prof. Adam Bodnar, presenting the state of rights and freedoms in 2019, summarizing his five-year term.

On Monday, 6 July 2020, a hearing at the Court of Justice in Luxembourg took place before the Grand Chamber concerning the process of appointment of judges of the Supreme Court (Case C-824/18 A.B. and others).