PLANNED TIGHTENING OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE PENAL CODE
On 16 May 2019 (after a debate that lasted only two days) the Sejm adopted a comprehensive amendment of the Penal Code. The works on the amendment had been carried out for some time already, but then the Sejm speeded them up to urgently solve the problem of paedophilia (after the movie of the Sekielski brothers). The Senate proposed 43 amendments to the bill, and on 11 June the Sejm’s Legislative Committee issued its opinion on them. On 13 June, by the Sejm’s vote, all the amendments except one were adopted. Now the act is awaiting signature by the Polish President, although its certain solutions may rise objections. all opinions on the bill
THE CHR HAS REQUESTED THE PRESIDENT TO VETO THE ACT WHICH TIGHTENS THE PENAL LAW (MORE)
ADAM BODNAR’S REGIONAL MEETINGS IN THE ZACHODNIOPOMORSKIE AND WIELKOPOLSKIE VOIVODESHIPS:
- Piła – about retirement pensions, employee rights, consumer rights, poor work of courts and poor operation of the law. (more)
- Mock court trial with the participation of students from Złocieniec and the CHR. (more)
- Goleniów – about changes in the Penal Code, the public media, environmental protection, rights of LGBT persons and shared parenting. (more)
- Białogard – about the situation of customs officers, election standards, access to medical services and transport exclusion (more)
- Koszalin – about crosses at schools and the Sejm; about nazi and communist symbols remaining in the public space; about retirement pensions, care for elderly persons and waste collection fee systems (more)
- An idyllic dream: a meeting with representatives of Pracownia Pozarządowa [Non-governmental Project] and the Polish Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability in Koszalin (more)
- Kołobrzeg – about reduction of retirement pensions of officers of security services that operated within the system of the Polish People’s Republic; about social care homes, and the institutions’ obligation to reply to letters from citizens (more)
- Świnoujście – about election rights, retirement pensions, environmental protection and the situation of local media (more)
- Szczecin – about the rights of fathers; environmental protection activities, marginalized influence of the young generation and the situation of deaf persons.
(FULL REPORTS ON THE CHR’S REGIONAL MEETINGS)
STANDARDS OF ASSISTANCE FOR CHILDREN WHOSE PARENTS HAVE SEPARATED: A GUIDEBOOK FOR PARENTS AND PROFESSIONALS
Summer holidays are starting. For families in crisis and those who have split up it is a source of additional stress. They need to agree on who and how will spend the holidays with the child, and how the costs should be shared… Will the parents end up in court again, or will they manage? For many children, this is the time when they are asked the usual question: do you prefer to go with your dad, or with your mum? The CHR and the NGOs Forum that has published a guidebook for parents and professionals discussed the standards of assistance provision to children whose parents have separated. (more information)
THE WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY: older persons’ abuse is a serious social, moral and legal problem. (more)
HUMAN RIGHTS AND BIOETHICAL CHALLENGES RELATED TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES – a seminar at the CHR Office. (more)
MYTHS ABOUT SEXUALITY EDUCATION AT SCHOOLS (more)
WORK
- May an employee of the Internal Security Agency earn more than his superior? The Commissioner has doubts as to the changes in salary levels and basic salary amounts, introduced by the Internal Security Agency. (more)
- A policewomen with 12 years of experience worked on the basement level of the court building in Rzeszów court, which also served as a cloakroom for police officers. The matter raised doubts of the Commissioner who wrote to Police Commander-in-Chief Jarosław Szymczyk, PhD. (more)
- The rules of disciplinary proceedings against property appraisers cause the CHR’s doubts as they are different than for other professions based on public trust. For example, the Professional Liability Committee has a double role: it formulates disciplinary charges and examines them. (more)
RETIREMENT PENSIONS
- The CHR’s position on appeals against decisions on of the Retirement and Disability Pensions Unit of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, on the reduction, from 1 October 2017, of retirement pensions of former officers of state security agencies that operated within the system of the Polish People’s Republic. (more)
- The CHR’s opinion on the bill to implement the Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment on retirement pensions for women born in 1953. (more)
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
- The Commissioner analyzed the plans of chicken farms construction in Kruszyniany. The CHR Office employees will examine the administrative decisions permitting the construction of the farms and will verify whether the procedures have been carried out in accordance with all the regulations and environmental standards. (more)
- As a result of the CHR’s complaint the court annulled the prohibition to enter the parks in Zbąszyń with dogs, as such prohibitions may not be formulated by municipal councils under the quoted regulations. Dog owners may, however, be required to have their dogs on a leash and to clean up after them”. (more)
COURTS
- The proceeding regarding incitement of hatred on the grounds of national and racial differences and propagation of the totalitarian system of state on the ONR website has been discontinued. The text that was published there propagated ideologies of racial separatism and white race supremacy, emphasized the CHR who appealed to court against the decision of the prosecutor's office. (more)
- The CHR supports in court the Environmental Association of Friends of the Noteć River Region, based in Śmiłów. It demands onerous construction projects be compliant with applicable environmental regulations and respect the rights of residents. (more)
- During World War II, a Polish citizen of Austrian origin signed Deutsche Volksliste in order to keep the Polish independence movement informed about the occupying forces’ actions. The Supreme Court, following the CHR’s appeal, annulled the court judgment of 1946 that found the citizen guilty. (more)
PERSONAL DIGNITY
- Parents of still-born children whose gender cannot be determined are not entitled to social security benefits, including the funeral allowance. In January 2017, the Senate undertook related legislative initiative but it has not yet been undertaken by the Sejm. (more)
- The Department of Forensic Medicine of the Medical University of Łódź carried out a scientific experiment that involved the use of pneumatic weapon at a human corpse. This raised the CHR’s doubts regarding the violation of the rule of respect for the deceased. (more)
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
The police confiscated a projector that was intended to be used to show the movie „Don’t tell anyone” on the building of the Armed Forces Church. According to the CHR, there were no grounds for confiscating the device. (more)
HEALTHCARE
Social care homes, schools and foundations have great difficulties with purchasing medicines for their clients, warns the CHR. The situation is a result of the amendment to the Law on Medicinal Products, which entered into force on 6 June 2019. (more)
ACCESS TO RAILWAY TRANSPORT
Media inform about a reduced number of train connections to Kostrzyn where the annual Pol'and'Rock Festival takes place. There are suspicions regarding the possibility of use, by public railway operators, of illegal practices against the collective interest of the passengers. The CHR has written to the President of the Rail Transport Authority with regard to the matter. (more)
THE CHRONICLE
More rights for pedestrians. A conference under the auspices of the CHR, held in Warsaw. (more)