MAIN MATTERS
Several judges who speak publicly about the situation in the system of justice, or have asked questions to the Court of Justice of the EU, have been called by disciplinary ombudsmen for common courts to provide explanations. Deputy CHR Stanisław Trociuk has requested the ombudsmen to describe the reasons for calling the judges to provide explanations, and to indicate the persons on whose application such explanations have been requested. (more)
Adam Bodnar , Polish Commissioner for Human Rights and his Office are this year's laureates of the Norwegian Rafto Prize awarded since 1987 to human rights defenders across the world. Professor Thorolf Rafto’s work was focused on defending human rights, in particular in the countries of Central Europe: Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The Rafto Prize awarded in 2018 draws attention to the issue of threats to democracy and human rights in Poland. (more)
Adam Bodnar together with ten young leaders from Europe took part in a meeting with Barack Obama in Amsterdam. The meeting, organized by the Foundation headed by the former US president, concerned challenges faced by European societies, and was held in the form of a round table. (more)
UN Special Rapporteur Karima Bennoune talked to the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights about the state of respecting cultural rights in Poland. Among others, the following subjects were mentioned: the amendment to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance, the changes concerning the World War II Museum and the way persons who established it have been treated, and the situation of the TVP public television. (more)
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION FORUM IN LUBLIN
Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights Dr Sylwia Spurek together with the Equal Treatment Team that works within the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights invite all those interested to take part in the Anti-Discrimination Forum in Lublin, which will be held on 12 October (Friday) at Galeria Labirynt. (details and application form)
THE COMMISSIONER ON CITIZENS’ ISSUES
The system of organization of minority religion lessons and ethics lessons should be improved so that more parents know that such lessons are possible. In his address to Minister of National Education Anna Zalewska, the Commissioner again drew attention to the issue. (more)
A woman lost 75 thousand PLN because of a forged loan agreement. As a result of a civil court's judgment issued based on a claim of a debt collection company, the money was seized by a bailiff. Five years later, a man from whom the woman allegedly borrowed the money was finally convicted for forging the loan agreement. The Commissioner applied to the court that issued the payment order to resume the proceedings, dismiss the claim of the debt collection company and return the money to the woman. (more)
A fine of 200 zlotys was imposed on a citizen who, when using a remote controller, opened a building’s gate that hit a car driving by. A court considered this an offense consisting in a failure to demonstrate due caution while driving a vehicle. However, the court did not examine whether the offence could also be connected with the way in which the car was driven. In connection with that, the CHR filed a cassation appeal was accepted by the Supreme Court. (more)
In the case of an appeal filed to the benefit of an accused person, the appellate court may not take an steps deteriorating the person’s situation. Therefore, as a result of the Commissioner’s cassation appeal, the Supreme Court annulled a judgment of the appellate district court that took into account a longer period of time over which the offence was committed, than the time determined by a court before, because this could have deteriorated the accused person’s situation. (more)
In 1960, inhabitants of Zielona Góra protested against moving the parish of St. Jadwiga from the building called Catholic Home. The militia of that time used force but the people were defending themselves. Hundreds of people were convicted by the court, as a result of the repressions that followed. Following the CHR’s cassation appeal, the Supreme Court recently issued a formal decision annulling the judgment concerning a person who was then minor and took part in the so-called Zielona Góra unrest. (more)
Persons with speech disabilities complain about the fact that they are refused participation in Polish Television quiz shows. However, as part of Polish Television’s public mission, activities should be taken to ensure full inclusion of people with disabilities in community life. Explanation concerning the matter have been requested from Marcin Wolski, director of TVP2, by Deputy CHR for equal treatment Sylwia Spurek. (more)
The Commissioner for Human Rights took ex-officio action to explain the matter of refusal by the cinema in Ostrołęka to show the move entitled Kler. Information about this was published by the media. The decision was made by the city authorities that may influence the list of movies shown at the cinema run by the city’s local cultural centre. (more)
LEGISLATION
The police is expected to take over from the Road Traffic Inspection the control over road safety cameras and devices checking whether cars do not drive when the red light is on, replied the Ministry of Infrastructure to the CHR’s information that there are no implementing regulations concerning the devices. (more)
Last year, there were many instances of racist or fascist content or symbols noticed in public space, which expressed hatred towards people of other nationalities, backgrounds or religions. The Commissioner inquired the Ministry of the Interior and Administration about the effects of work of the inter-ministerial team on counteracting the propagation of fascism and hate speech. (more)
The Municipal Council of Warsaw agreed that “troublesome passengers” may be removed from public transport vehicles without taking into account the "principles of social coexistence". The CHR complained against the regulations as they allow to remove also older people or children from vehicles. The Voivodeship Administrative Court agreed with the CHR's complaint, but the Municipal Council took the case to the Supreme Administrative Court. The Commissioner has now requested dismissal of the cassation appeal filed by the Council. (more)
Gdańsk offers cheaper tickets for the city’s public transport to pensioners, but only those who are at least 55 (women) and 60 (men). The Commissioner found that this violates the constitutional principle of equal treatment and appealed against the relevant resolution of the municipal council to an administrative court. The Voivodeship Administrative Court agreed with the Commissioner and annulled the resolution of the Municipal Council of Gdańsk. (more)
Owners of hotels and holiday facilities purchased from the Employees’ Holiday Fund may lose their properties. The Act of 2015 the Employees’ Holiday Fund undermined their titles to the properties and made it practically impossible for those people to exercise their rights. In June 2018, the CHR appealed to the Prime Minister for a systemic solution of the issue but received no answer. Meanwhile, court proceedings are already initiated under the provisions of the new Act, and thus Adam Bodnar has again addressed the Prime Minister with regard to the matter. (more)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs translated the recommendation on human rights and business, adopted on 2 March 2016 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The recommendations and guidelines included in the recommendation are intended to help the Member States to prevent and remedy instances of violation of human rights by businesses. (more)
THE CHRONICLE
Early diagnosis of the Alzheimer’s disease, the need for screening examinations, and the principles of communicating with people suffering of dementia-related diseases were the main topics of the conferenceheld at the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights. details and broadcast of the event
Over two years ago, a process has started which granted Poland’s national security services the powers that may affect the rights of citizens relating to privacy. A conference on surveillance was held at the CHR Office. It was attended by Roman Zakharov who was involved in a similar case that was examined by the European Court of Human Rights. (more)
In Częstochowa, a Civic Activity Centre has been launched. The facility will offer, among others, a community care centre for minors, a consultancy and information point, a municipal bathing facility and a point offering clothes to persons without a home, a centre for senior persons, and a hostel (run as part of the municipal services infrastructure). The opening ceremony was attended by Adam Bodnar. (more)