Taking women's rights seriously : Women's struggle for a new "social contract" in Poland
Pravni zapisi 2024, t. 15, nr 1, s. 20-56.
Współautorstwo: Śledzińska-Simon, Anna
The article traces the trajectory of the struggle for woman’s rights in Poland from 1989 to the present. It argues that the democratic transition successfully shaped the foundations of a liberal regime, but was accompanied from the outset by an agreement between the government and the Catholic Church that limited reproductive rights and led to a re-traditionalization of gender roles. This context is crucial to understanding the Constitutional Tribunal’s interpretation of the constitution, which reinforced a kind of sexual contract, seeking to domesticate women. The change of government in 2015 significantly weakened guarantees of the rule of law and further curtailed reproductive rights, prompting mass protests and the mobilization of democratic opposition. This article posits that the overthrow of the illiberal regime in the recent parliamentary elections marks the beginning of a new social contract in Poland, in which woman’s rights are taken seriously.
Ovaj članak prati tok borbe za prava žena u Poljskoj od 1989. do danas. U njemu se tvrdi da je demokratska tranzicija uspešno oblikovala temelje liberalnog režima, ali da je od samog početka bila praćena sporazumom između vlade i Katoličke crkve koji je ograničio reproduktivna prava i doveo do vraćanja tradicionalnim rodnim ulogama. Ovaj kontekst je ključan za razumevanje tumačenja Ustavnog suda, koji je ojačao neku vrstu ugovora o rodu, nastojeći da primiri žene. Promena vlasti 2015. godine znatno je oslabila garancije vladavine prava i dodatno umanjila reproduktivna prava, što je izazvalo masovne proteste i mobilizaciju demokratske opozicije. U članku se tvrdi da svrgavanje neliberalnog režima na nedavnim parlamentarnim izborima označava početak novog društvenog ugovora u Poljskoj, u kojem se prava žena shvataju ozbiljno.
Introduction to the Special Section ‘Memory Laws and the Rule of Law’
European Constitutional Law Review 2023, t. 19, nr 4, s. 591-601.
Współautorstwo: Rhein-Fischer, Paula
The articles in this Special Section demonstrate that modest attempts to reconcile society and consolidate democracy by transitional justice measures may not prevent a democratising state from turning into an illiberal populist regime. Memory laws are an important part of the governance toolkit in the rule of law backsliding states and can contribute to further moving away from transnational standards on the rule of law and human rights. Governments in states experiencing rule of law backsliding adopt diverse strategies regarding memory laws, sometimes concurrently. Frequently, these strategies involve bold and straightforward historical policies and laws aimed at whitewashing a country’s national history. In other instances, political leaders may opt to disguise their true intentions, for example, by utilising and distorting pre-existing legal mechanisms such as strategic civil lawsuits against their critics. It is important for the governments of liberal democracies to be aware of this inherent risk of memory laws when they decide to join the trend of governing the memory of the past.
Memory Laws, Rule of Law, and Democratic Backsliding : The Case of Poland
Journal of Illiberalism Studies 2023, t. 3, nr 3, s. 71-87.
This article argues that the memory laws adopted during the democratic backsliding in Poland from 2015 to 2023 are a perversion of classic European memory laws that aimed at safeguarding democracy from internal dismantlement and protecting the rights and freedoms of individuals from social ills, such as in the case of Holocaust denial. The new wave of Polish memory laws was an element of an anti-liberal turn in Poland and contributed to a further move away from the rule of law, human rights, and European legal standards. The mechanisms adopted in those laws are removed from their stated official purposes and are examples of penal populism and populist revanchism instead of transitional justice. This article argues that adopting such memory laws was possible due to democratic backsliding and that they reinforce the erosion of democratic standards by restricting the rights of individuals. Moreover, the politically subordinate Constitutional Tribunal’s reaction to the motions about the constitutionality of these memory laws further evidences a systemic lack of independent, centralized judicial review. This phenomenon has far-reaching, negative consequences for democratic standards.
The Politicisation of Constitutional Review of Memory Laws
European Constitutional Law Review 2023, t. 19, nr 4, s. 664-689.
Współautorstwo: Rhein-Fischer, Paula
This article examines the judicial review of memory laws by constitutional courts and argues that it is prone to politicisation – understood as the process in which the room for political (non-legal) manoeuvre and decision-making is widened – as opposed to juridification, the process in which issues are settled according to pre-established ‘objective’ legal principles and rules. This assertion is founded upon the analysis of how two very different constitutional courts – the German Federal Constitutional Court and the Polish Constitutional Tribunal after 2015 – have dealt with memory laws, which refer here to legal regulations that inscribe a state-approved interpretation of history into law, most often entailing restrictions of the rights and freedoms of individuals. The article contextualises and juxtaposes legal techniques used by those constitutional courts to navigate a highly sensitive intersection of the rights and freedoms of individuals and historical policy.
Reframing LGBT rights advocacy in the context of the rule of law backsliding : The case of Poland
Intersections: East European Journal of Society and Politics 2021, t. 7, nr 4, s. 85-103.
Współautorstwo: Grabowska-Moroz, Barbara
Adopting the methods of institutional analysis and case law analysis, the paper answers how specific elements of rule of law backsliding impact advocacy for minorities’ rights’ recognition. The phenomenon is analysed in the case of Poland, a state that since 2015 has been experiencing directed erosion on rule of law standards. Between 2018 and 2020, governmental leaders in Poland targeted lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the context of electoral campaigns. The paper discusses long-term legal, political, and social factors contributing to creating an environment where such anti-LGBT campaigns are possible. It further demonstrates that specific elements of rule of law backsliding, such as politically subordinating the Constitutional Tribunal and the office of the Prosecutor General, enable authorities to apply discriminatory legal instruments to limit the targeted minority’s rights and also make resistance to it with legal means more complex. Against this backdrop, the paper argues that human rights defenders’ immediate responses - private civil lawsuits, artistic projects, and monitoring of discriminatory actions of the authorities - were key for drawing domestic and international attention to anti-LGBT campaigns, which later led to the European Union’s institutions concrete actions and an independent Commissioner for Human Rights’ legal actions. Cumulatively, these actions contributed to reversing elements of the anti-LGBT campaign in Poland.
Prezentacja przetworzonego Znaku Polski Walczącej w ramach zgromadzeń publicznych
Państwo i Prawo 2019, nr 12, s. 24-38.
Artykuł omawia i analizuje całe dotychczasowe orzecznictwo polskich sądów dotyczące znieważenia ustawowo chronionego znaku „Polski Walczącej” w kontekście prezentacji przetworzonych wersji znaku w ramach zgromadzeń publicznych. Publiczne znieważenie znaku jest wykroczeniem na gruncie ustawy z 10.06.2014 r. o ochronie znaku „Polski Walczącej”. Orzecznictwo polskich sądów nie jest jednolite. Z analizy wynika, że w orzecznictwie dominuje pogląd, iż znieważenia prawnie chronionego znaku nie stanowi dodanie do niego innych, neutralnych symboli ani inny, nieobraźliwy sposób przetworzenia znaku „Polski Walczącej”.. Krytyce zostaje poddana interpretacja proponowana przez niektóre sądy, że zakazana jest publiczna prezentacja karykatury znaku „Polski Walczącej”, a także jego użycie w debacie publicznej na aktualne tematy społeczne i polityczne. Artykuł konkluduje, że powyższa interpretacja jest niezgodna z intencją ustawodawcy, który ustanowił znak „Polski Walczącej” dobrem wspólnym wszystkich obywateli Rzeczpospolitej. Artykuł wskazuje również, że wąsko pojmowane prawo posługiwania się znakiem „Polski Walczącej” jest też niezgodne ze standardami Konwencji Praw Człowieka i Podstawowych Wolności dotyczącymi wolności wypowiedzi.
The article discusses and examines all of the existing case law concerning the offence of disparaging the historical ‘Fighting Poland’ emblem in the context of using the modified sign during public assemblies. The symbol of Poles’ resistance during the Second World War and in its aftermath is protected from insult under the Act of 10 June 2014 on the ‘Fighting Poland’ Emblem Protection. Courts’ approach to the interpretation of the offence is not uniform. The analysis unravels that the majority of courts in Poland consider that adding inoffensive, neutral symbols to the emblem or otherwise modifying it in an inoffensive manner does not amount to an insult of the emblem. The article criticizes and refutes an interpretation that it is prohibited to present a caricature of the emblem in public or to use the emblem in public debate on pertinent social and political issues. The article concludes that such interpretation is contrary to the intention of the legislator who established the emblem as a common good of all citizens of the Republic of Poland. A highly restrictive understanding of the right to use the emblem is also incompatible with the freedom of expression standards derived from the European Convention of Human Rights.
European Court of Human Rights, freedom of expression and debating the past and history
Problemy Współczesnego Prawa Międzynarodowego, Europejskiego i Porównawczego 2019, t. 17, s. 33-46.
The article provides an overview of standards of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) concerning freedom of expression and its interpretation by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in case law regarding application of Article 10 and 17 ECHR in cases with public debate on the past and history in the background. The article demonstrates that the ECtHR has considered expressions with clear and sole intent to insult and expressions denying or casting doubt on established historical fact as not protected as free expression under ECHR, and provides relevant examples from ECtHR case law. Furthermore, the article discusses a state’s positive obligation under ECHR to assure conditions for free study and debate on the past and history to take place. It finds that the ECtHR has elaborated a certain standard of public debate on historical topics, yet that this standard is only derivative of reasoning in cases where protecting public order and rights and reputations of others are considered as protected values. The article also points to the declared and actual role of the ECtHR itself in historical disputes. The article concludes with encouraging ECtHR to clearly establish whether such grounds as “protecting historical truth” or “protecting reputation of state or nation” validate introducing limits to free expression and to become more assertive in claiming its role as actor in historical disputes.
W artykule omówiono standardy Europejskiej Konwencji Praw Człowieka (EKPC) dotyczące wolności wypowiedzi oraz ich interpretację przez Europejski Trybunał Praw Człowieka (ETPC) w związku z zastosowaniem art. 10 i 17 EKPC w sprawach, których tłem jest publiczna debata o przeszłości i historii. W artykule starano się dowieść, że ETPC uznaje, iż wypowiedzi, których wyłącznym i oczywistym celem jest znieważenie, a także które zaprzeczają lub podważają fakty historyczne, nie są chronione w ramach wolności wypowiedzi przez EKPC. Następnie omówiono pozytywny obowiązek zapewnienia przez państwo w ramach systemu EKPC warunków do wolnych badań i debat o przeszłości i historii. Wskazano również, że ETPC wypracował pewien standard debaty o przeszłości i historii, ale jako pochodną decyzji i wyroków w sprawach, w których dobrem chronionym był porządek publiczny oraz prawa i wolności innych osób. W artykule wskazano także na deklarowaną i faktyczną rolę ETPC w debatach historycznych. Konkludując, stwierdzono, że ETPC powinien wyraźnie określić, czy „ochrona prawdy historycznej” i „dobrego imienia państwa i narodu” są na gruncie EKPC podstawą do ograniczania wolności wypowiedzi, a także zasugerowano, żeby ETPC otwarcie przyznał, iż bierze udział w debatach o przeszłości.
Reckoning with the Communist Past in Poland Thirty Years After the Regime Change in the Light of the European Convention on Human Rights
Polish Yearbook of International Law 2019, t. XXXIX, s. 135-157.
The article discusses the point of interconnection between historical policy and international human rights law standards on the example of a so-called decommunisation Act enacted in Poland in 2016 that reduces retirement pensions and other benefits to individuals who were employed or in service in selected state formations and institutions in 1944-1990, amending the Act adopted in 2009. The Act of 16 December 2016 is analyzed in the light of the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), including relevant standards on coming to terms with the past as an element of transitional justice. The examination concludes that there is a discrepancy between the rationale for adopting this legislation in Poland, namely to reckon with the communist past and as such increase social trust in state institutions, and the legal solutions contained in the 2016 Act.
Law-Secured Narratives of the Past in Poland in Light of International Human Rights Law Standards
Polish Yearbook of International Law 2018, t. XXXVIII, s. 59-72.
Współautorstwo: Gliszczyńska-Grabias, Aleksandra; Baranowska, Grażyna
Given the whole spectrum of doubts and controversies that arise in discussions about lawsaffecting historical memory (and their subcategory of memory laws), the question ofassessingthem in the context ofinternationalstandards ofhuman rights protection -and in particularthe European system ofhuman rights protection -is often overlooked. Thus this article focuseson the implications and conditions for introducing memory laws in light of internationalhuman rights standards using selected examples of various types of recently-adopted Polishmemory laws as case studies. The authors begin with a briefdescription ofthe phenomenon ofmemory laws and the most significant threats that they pose to the protection ofinternationalhuman rights standards. hefollowing sections analyse selected Polish laws affecting historicalmemory vis-a-vis these standards. The analysis covers non-binding declaratory laws affectinghistorical memory, and acts that include criminal law sanctions. The article attempts tosketch the circumstances linking laws affecting historical memory with the human rightsprotection standards, including those entailed both in binding treaties and other instrumentsof international law
Memory Laws in European and Comparative Perspective MELA (www.melaproject.org) research con-sortium is supported with HERA grant no. 15.094.
Cytowania La criminalisation de l’expression historique en Pologne : la loi mémorielle de 2018
Archives de politique criminelle 2018, t. 40, s. 175-188.
Współautorstwo: Belavusaǔ, Uladzìslaǔ
L'article analyse l'impact d'une loi mémorielle de 2018 sur les droits fondamentaux en Pologne et situe ce texte législatif dans une tendance plus vaste de criminalisation de certaines déclarations concernant l'histoire ou la mémoire historique en Europe. La loi a suscité l'intérêt des médias internationaux faisant écho au tollé diplomatique soulevé en Europe, en Israël et aux États-Unis. Ce texte modifie la loi sur l'Institut de la Mémoire Nationale qui criminalise inter alia des déclarations sur l'implication de l'État polonais et de la nation polonaise dans les atrocités de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, lorsque de telles déclarations sont contraires aux faits historiques établis. Cette loi aura certainement des répercussions négatives sur la liberté d'expression concernant l'histoire polonaise, tout particulièrement si l'on tient compte du déclin récent de l'État de droit et de la démocratie libérale en Pologne.
The article analyzes the 2018 Polish memory law concerning historical expression, the Law of 26 January 2018 to amend the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Polish Nation, from fundamental rights perspective and situates it within a wider trend to criminalize expressions about history or historical memory in Europe. The bill, among others, envisaged criminal and civil liability for a new criminal offense of accusing publicly and against the facts, the Polish nation, or the Polish state, of being responsible or complicit in the Nazi crimes committed by the Third German Reich or other crimes against peace and humanity, or war crimes. The bill also required the Institute of National Remembrance to investigate historical crimes of 'Ukrainian nationalists'.
Renaming streets : a key element of identity politics
New Eastern Europe 2018, nr 3-4, s. 161-166.