On 9 April 2021, in the Warszawa-Wola District Court, a criminal trial was to commence in which the defendant is the management board of the Lux Veritatis Foundation. One of the members of the Foundation’s board is Tadeusz Rydzyk (from the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer) who, thanks to the media channels he operates…
At the end of May 2021, an unexpected breakthrough took place after ten months of hanging around in the matter of choosing the Ombudsperson in Poland. For the first time, a candidate has been put forward who has a chance to be selected for this position and meets the standard that the Ombudsperson should meet.…
If we were to find a case which constitutes the quintessence of how the system of protection of our rights is being destroyed, it is the criminal case that the Polish state is trying to bring against Judge Igor Tuleya. The judiciary is disliked by other branches. It is because it has a great power…
On 9 September 2020, Poland’s Human Rights Ombudsman Adam Bodnar’s term of office came to an end. The Republic of Poland, if it had a responsible government, should have prepared itself for this by 10 August 2020 at the latest. Unfortunately, the only group to start preparations were the citizens themselves, who submitted a civic…
107 entities signed a petition to the First President of the Supreme Court, appealing for the withdrawal of her motion to the Constitutional Court. The motion concerns the examination of the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Act on access to public information. If the Constitutional Court rules these provisions are unconstitutional, citizens will lose…
We asked the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Health about the basis for the introduction of the national quarantine and information about the Medical Council, which was supposed to be a subsidiary body of the Prime Minister. Instead of information, we got a demonstration of different ways to inform about… the…
Although Michał Woś, the Minister of the Environment, has set up a working group to promote transparency in NGO funding, he himself gives evasive answers and restricts the citizen’s right of access to public information. For this reason, we are taking legal action and filing a complaint of his inaction. What exactly is it all…
From the beginning of the pandemic local governments had to face up to a difficult problem – how to organise council sessions in a safe way, at the same time without breaking regulations. It turns out it is not that simple. When the pandemic broke out, there were no dedicated regulations in force that would…
The objective of the Association is to promote and protect human rights and freedom, and civil liberties, as well as activities supporting the development of democracy, and to support monitoring and education activities, in particular those taken by members of the Association and individuals cooperating with them, in order to increase the transparency and integrity…
Who would have thought that it will be a judge that will be held accountable for potential irregularities in the preparation of Acts by the Sejm. No, not the Speaker of the Sejm. And not the governing majority either. Not even those that have been concealing information, for example, the Marshal’s Guard. Instead of waiting…
“I’m against raging transparency. Ivan Krastev, an eminent political scientist, has demonstrated that transparency can kill democracy” – claimed Andrzej Zybertowicz, advisor to President Andrzej Duda, on RMF FM radio station in January 2019. Even though Andrzej Zybertowicz explained that it was his personal opinion, there is no denying that in 2019, for the first…
Two weeks ago we talked to Katarzyną Batko-Tołuć, the board member of the Citizens Network Watchdog Poland about the project sprawdzamyjakjest.pl. that has recently been launched. Gerere Foundation, experts in gamification, helped them design the tool. Jacek Siadkowski – president of the Gerere Foundation talked about the creation process of the new tool and how…
In times of disinformation and political marketing, citizens need someone to watch their hands. It can be difficult and time-consuming to check how an authority, especially one at a local level, functions. Citizens Network Watchdog Polska, the winner of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation’s “Sector 3.0” award, wants to help us carry out this task.Technology can…
In 2018, we carried out our regular activities related to the improvement of transparency – we submitted requests for public information, wrote texts and appeared in court. We promoted knowledge about transparency and tried to reach new target groups. We used the rights vested in public benefit organisations, entitling us to free broadcasting time. We…
The Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw ruled that the source code of the Random Case Allocation System in common courts does not constitute public information. According to the court, overseeing the functioning of tools used by the administration is not the role of the society but of professional bodies. The introduction of computer random allocation…
The Citizens Network Watchdog Poland was established by a group of local actvists on October 28th, 2003. The court registered the organization on November 27, 2003. In 2018 we celebrated our 2018 anniversary. We also prepared a report from our activities and their results over 15 years. From the report you will learn: On our…
Within the past 15 years, we have participated in about 650 court cases. Some we initiated ourselves, some we supported, and some we joined. We have selected a number of examples, focusing on cases that have changed Poland. And how have we impacted Poland? We have changed it into a country where citizens have a…
In 2018, a book by prof. Rafał Matyja, conservative political scientist, entitled “Emergency Exit”, brought a new outlook on the events in the political life. The author of the book recommends generational change in political life and rejection of the main divisions connected with two strong parties – Civil Platform and Law and Justice. However,…
38 Polish NGOs called upon prof. Jacek Czaputowicz, Polish Minister of Public Affairs and Zbigniew Boniek, the President of Polish Football Association (PZPN) to undertake urgent actions leading to releasing persons arrested or convicted for political reasons by the Russian Federation. Organizations present alarming facts and figures: Lists of the Memorial Human Rights Defence Centre…
What can be done when voters cannot identify with any of the candidates in the elections? Is there a threat that the next elections in Poland will be manipulated? Is it worth doing local debates for small groups of participants? These and other questions were asked during a three-hour debate in Lubartów (Est of Poland,…
Being concerned with the future of our country and influenced by the Rafał Matyja’s book entitled “Emergency Exit”, we decided to listen how the youth see Poland. Matyja writes on the need of the generational change and improving governance and transparency, as the current political elites are unable to stop harmful destruction of state. While…
A group of 16 organization requested Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to withdraw from proceeding the law on transparency of public life. Each of us sees different dangers brought by this law. They derive from the fact that the law was made without prior discussion, reflection and assumptions. On the way some amendments recommended by citizens…
By conducting legal considerations about whether something is or is not public information, we lose the essence of transparency. This is neither necessary from the point of view of the law applied in Poland nor in accordance with the standards set by the European Court of Human Rights. Polish laws on the right to information…
Where is Poland today? The most important challenges for 2018: local government elections and the change of the law on access to public information, and in the years to come – elections to the parliament as well as presidential elections. These make natural opportunities to take actions directed to politicians. Elections to local governments –…
They came from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Belarus to discuss how citizens can influence the decision making. They were curious how Poles use their rights, how the rights are guaranteed in laws and how citizens take stands on public issues. Why do we call them “Rebels”? After all, they wanted to know how…
Can public authorities have their own media? What is the difference between media whose head is the mayor of a city and the politicized public television? Is it possible to make efficient regulation around active citizens’ activity in the Internet? Do parties have any idea how to make public media independent? Do they want to…
In violation of Article 61 of the Constitution, the judgments of the courts create the possibility of avoiding transparency and create restrictions that have neither a constitutional nor a statutory basis. Courts have allowed for great discretionary power, so the sense of responsibility for the way the law is created has not been generated in…
One of the goals of the draft Act on Openness of Public Life presented by Minister Kamiński (coordinator of special intelligence services) on October 23rd, 2017 is increasing the openness of the legislative process. Such idea may only be applauded, unfortunately the Minister misdiagnosed problems of the transparency of legislative processes, and the Act picks…
Public Information: Persistent Non-transparency The draft opens another door to limit the right of access to information: government may refuse to disclose information if it deems the request has been filed in a ‘persistent’ manner and it would ‘significantly burden the operation of the target entity’. Access to information secured in the constitution of democratic…
The Citizens Network Watchdog Poland presents its opinion on the new legislation entitled: Openness/Transparency of Public Life. This opinion mostly focuses on the part of the draft act that concerns access to information. The draft bill concerns much broader phenomena. Overview of the opinions on that by Polish NGOs can be read on the Citizens…
