COURTS AND THE SYSTEM OF JUSTICE
- Mariusz Krasoń, regional prosecutor from Kraków was urgently transferred to the district prosecutor's office in Wrocław. The National Prosecutor's reply to the CHR’s letter does not contain any justification for that decision. Bogdan Święczkowski has referred to the "dynamically changing staffing needs" of prosecutors’ offices, and to the requirement concerning prosecutors’ availability. (more)
- The analysis of proceedings conducted with regard to domestic violence cases has revealed that in many cases the procedures are characterized by shortcomings. This has a negative influence on the rights of the victims. The solution to the problem could be to provide regular training for judges and prosecutors and for trainee judges and prosecutors, as required in the EU. (more)
- Poland is losing the case before the European Court of Human Rights because the courts fail to provide appropriate instructions to citizens who have lodged civil law cases without having a representing lawyer. The Commissioner has written to the Minister of Justice with regard to the proper fulfilment of the court's obligation to provide information, as indicated in the Code of Civil Procedure. (more)
PUBLIC INFORMATION
- The President of the Personal Data Protection Authority has forwarded to the CHR documents concerning the authority’s proceeding that related to the obligation of the Chancellery of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland not to disclose personal data of judges who have supported candidates for the National Council of the Judiciary. (more)
- The document on a person’s appointment to the position of a prosecutor constitutes public information, ruled the Provincial Administrative Court in Kraków. It recognized a citizen's complaint and concluded that the city prosecutor's office demonstrated negligence. If such a document is classified as an internal document, there is a lack of transparency of the process of appointing prosecutors , indicated the Commissioner who joined the proceeding. (more)
EQUAL TREATMENT
- The UN Committee has examined Poland's report on the implementation of the Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. The Committee’s rapporteur has pointed, among others, to the weakening of the system of institutional protection of human rights and to the lack of the state’s appropriate response to instances of hate crimes and hate speech. (report on the meeting)
- People with disabilities as well as seniors often live in large-size residential care institutions, even against their will, because there is still a shortage of appropriate support for them in their local communities. The CHR has once again appealed to the government to develop a comprehensive strategy for de-institutionalization of the support system for such persons, and for discontinuance of the system of legal incapacitation. (more)
- According to the new Act on court bailiffs, adopted in 2018, a bailiff who within 7 years does not complete a master-level course in law is going to lose his/her job position. The Commissioner has received a complaint that the regulation violates the principle of rights acquired. The Commissioner agrees that the new regulation limits the constitutional rights of bailiffs who, at the time of their appointment, were not required to have university-level education in law. (more)
- Not all students and doctoral students in Poland have equal-size concessions for public transport tickets. The differences are dependent on the students’ citizenship or place of education. This is not only contrary to the Polish law, but also to EU standards, has emphasized the CHR. (more)
RIGHTS OF PERSONS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY
- The Commissioner is looking into the cases of Dawid Kostecki and Bruno Kwiecień who died in Polish prisons in early August. (more)
- The UN Committee against Torture has assessed the situation in Poland. It has pointed out, among others, that despite its recommendations, a crime of torture has not yet been introduced as such into the Penal Code, and that persons deprived of their liberty are in practice not able to use the assistance of a defending lawyer from the very moment of their detention. (closing remarks of the Committee)
- The Prison Service is against the extension, to one and a half years, of the time limit for considering that a prisoner who is leaving a penitentiary facility poses a risk to other people. Today, the time limit is eight months. According to judges and the CHR, the time is not sufficient for experts to draw up an opinion on such a difficult issue. (more)
EDUCATION
- Recruitment for the school year 2019/2020 to secondary schools for pupils who have completed primary schools, and recruitment to upper secondary schools for those who have completed lower secondary schools was conducted more smoothly than in the past years, considers the Minister of National Education. The minister has concluded that last year, in the first round of the recruitment process 86% of candidates were admitted to schools. This year, in the first round 89% of candidates were admitted. (more)