Report on the Activities of the Commissioner for Human Rights and on the State of Observance of Human and Civil Rights and Freedoms in 2024
Date:
Dear Readers,
The seriousness and authority of the state is to a large extent determined by the stability and consistency of the activities of its constitutional institutions. Citizens want the state to protect their freedoms and rights in a reliable, consistent and transparent manner. However, it is no secret that for some time, we have been experiencing serious problems in this regard in our country. The status, functioning and even legality of certain state bodies give rise to strong, publicly expressed controversy and debate. As a result, a part of society feels lost and confused, and citizens have problems assessing the current legal situation and recognising the competences and actual scopes of powers of particular state institutions.
One of the main tasks of the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in 2024 was to reduce, by as much as possible within its statutory powers, the undoubted lack of legal stability and certainty. To convince citizens that every case, every application and every inquiry addressed to the CHR would receive an appropriate and competent response. This required a great amount of work, as people’s needs in this area remain extremely high: in 2024, the CHR Office received 77,925 applications for assistance – but we feel that we have succeeded. Wherever possible, we took up cases for clarification, and in other cases we provided information on whom to contact about them. We also undertook numerous initiatives and made requests to the competent authorities to improve the law and streamline the functioning of public institutions.
When I took office in 2021, I declared: “The Commissioner for Human Rights should be an independent advocate for the whole of society. I will be such a Commissioner.” In my fourth year in office, I am pleased to say that we are succeeding in realising this vision. And most importantly, the vision is working. Thanks to this, we enjoy continued trust of citizens. They appreciate the fact that even in such a dynamically changing political and legal situation in the country, an institution that respects the Constitution and the rules of a democratic state and serves to protect the rights of individuals continues to operate.
I strongly recommend reading this summary of the Report on the Activities of the Commissioner for Human Rights in 2024, as well as its full version available on the website bip.brpo.gov.pl.
