Interventions Together with the Institute of Public Finance, we submitted a petition to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister regarding the Central Register of Contracts, which is to come into force in Poland in January 2026. The Central Register of Contracts (CRU) is an ICT system created for entities performing public tasks, whose purpose is…
Interventions Together with other organizations, we appealed to, among others, the Speakers of the Sejm and Senate as well as parliamentary groups and circles, for the swift disclosure of information about the candidates for the position of President of the Supreme Audit Office (the highest state audit body in Poland) and for the organization…
Summary of the report The entire report is available at this link In 2024, we continued our intensive efforts to protect the right to information, strengthen transparency in public life and support civic engagement. One of the most important events was the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, which found that the refusal…
In light of public statements by the European Commission and the latest EU Council meetings on 6 and 24 June 2025, civil society organisations have expressed their concerns about the growing pressure for a potential ‘stop the clock’ mechanism to suspend or delay the implementation and enforcement of the AI Act. Attempts to delay the…
On July 2nd over 50 organisations in 18 countries participated in a European Day of Action against SLAPPs, calling on governments to protect us from oligarchs and tech bros who weaponise the law against those speaking out in the public good. The EU anti-SLAPP directive was passed to protect journalists, activists, and public watchdogs. But…
Madrid, 16 June 2025 – Access Info Europe today announces the launch of the Helen Darbishire Award which celebrates those who have used their right to information to have a positive impact on society. The Helen Darbishire Award (previously the Access Info Impact Award) recognises those who have significantly leveraged their right to information to…
Together with over 300 other organizations from across Europe, we have signed an open letter on the Hungarian draft law on “transparency in public life” addressed to the President of the European Commission and the Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, and the Rule of Law. The proposed law is yet another attempt to restrict freedom of…
The international community of civil society organizations working on the right to information has lost one of its most charismatic and key figures – Helen Darbishire. She passed away after several months of illness, fully aware that her time was coming, having said her goodbyes to family and friends. She knew that her life had…
Report presents the key developments in the area of justice system, anti-corruption framework, media freedom and civil society space in Poland in 2022 Submitted by: Citizens Network Watchdog Poland Civil Development Forum (FOR) Free Courts Foundation Institute of Public Affairs Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights Polish Federation of Non-governmental…
On 20 December 2022 – just before Christmas, when Poles are busy with family matters, President Andrzej Duda – silently – signed a law that exempts from liability mayors who broke the law in connection with the organisation of the 2020 presidential ‘envelope elections’. The election finally took place in July 2020, the vote was…
On February 5, 2020, the Speaker of the Polish Sejm ordered the election of the President of the Republic for May 10, 2020, and on March 13, the Decree of the Minister of Health on the declaration of an epidemic emergency in the territory of the Republic of Poland was published. Despite the worsening epidemic…
Recording a local council’s committee meeting in your municipality? Fine, the law allows you to do so. Unless you want to do it in Bielsk Podlaski, in which case expect the councillors to call the police. Such an adventure met Jan Mordań, a resident of the village of Haćki, who went to a meeting of…
In December 2021, we launched the next edition of the Watchdog School (SIS). It is a series of meetings for residents of cities and communes observing the actions of local authorities, speaking out on public issues and standing for the change when problems are diagnosed where they live. For many years the School has gathered…
I. Transparency in the National Report preparation process as an example of insufficient protection of the right to information 1. The National Report should include a description of the methodology and the extensive consultation process conducted, including consultations with civil society [A/HRC/DEC/17/119, Chapter II, 2, A; Guidance Note on the National Report for the UPR…
Detailed information on the amicus curiae opinion of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights is available on the Foundation’s website. And the opinion itself, in English, is also available on our webiste. The detailed description of the case.
Detailed information on the amicus curiae opinion of the Access Info Europe is available on its website. And the opinion itself, in English, is also available on our webiste. The detailed description of the case.
On September 6, 2021, as we celebrated 20 years of the Access to Public Information Act, a motion to repeal the decree imposing a state of emergency on the border with Belarus was unsuccessfully pursued in the Sejm. We wrote at the time: “The regulation on introduction of state of emergency is a short act…
The biggest problem in access to information was the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border and the introduction of the state of emergency. On the one hand, the regulation on the state of emergency restricted the Act on Access to Public Information, access for journalists and activists for 3 months (September-November 2021), and then the amendment…
In 2021, almost nothing happened in terms of guarantees for NGOs. It was a crisis year in which there was sustained pressure on democracy and the rule of law. The only positives were that organizations led to public hearings being held on the National Recovery Plan and the election of an independent person as Ombudsman,…
Organizations call on senators for systemic solutions to the lack of control over special services’ activities. The problem of uncontrolled intelligence activities requires systemic solutions. Human rights organizations call on senators serving on the Extraordinary Committee on Pegasus not to stop at investigating the surveillance of senators Krzysztof Brejza, Ewa Wrzosek and Roman Giertych. Not…
9 January 2021 Dr hab. Michal Bernaczyk Associate Professor of the University of Wroclaw Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics Constitutional Law Department To whom it may concern, members of the international community, transparency advocacy groups, journalists, members of international media associations Explanatory Memorandum on the Motion submitted to the Polish Constitutional Tribunal…
Roksana Maślankiewicz: Tell me, which came first in your case – the right to information or animal rights? How did you learn about the right to information? Anna Gdula: I started by advocating for animal rights. In 2012, I met Iza Kadłucka on Facebook. We founded the first “Lex Nova” Foundation. During the first years…
After hearing the case brought by the Opole Voivodeship against Alina Czyżewska for the protection of personal rights, the court dismissed the claim. By criticising and condemning the actions of the authorities of the Opole Voivodeship, Czyżewska did not violate the personal rights of the inhabitants and residents, as alleged by the board of the…
Michał Zemełka, member of the Citizens’ Network Watchdog Poland, interviewed by Roksana Maślankiewicz. Tell us about your activity, how did you get interested in the issues of citizen control and the right to information? When did it start? What pushed you to become a watchdog? For as long as I can remember, human and civil…
Krzysztof Jakubowski, member of the Citizens’ Network Watchdog Poland, Founder and President of the Freedom Foundation (Fundacja Wolności), Man of the Year 2017 according to the Jury of the competition organised by “Dziennik Wschodni” is interviewed by Joanna Gucman-Muż. Joanna Gucman-Muż: As you know, Watchdog is celebrating its eighteenth anniversary this year. How many years…
Jacek Werder, a member of the Citizens Network Watchdog Poland, is interviewed by Paula Kłucińska. Paula Kłucińska: How did you get started as a watchdog? Jacek Werder: I was interested in local politics on a casual basis for about a dozen years, but never consistently or systematically. That changed a bit after I moved…
On 17 September 2021, the Sejm adopted the so-called anti-corruption bill authored by the Kukiz’15 party, and on 6 October it was passed to the Senate committees. Our representatives, Katarzyna Batko-Tołuć and Adam Dobrawy, participated in the session, presenting the our Association’s opinion on the Act (link to the opinion). After we presented our opinion,…
Ewa Majda, member of the Citizens’ Network Watchdog Poland, talks about her activity in conversation with Agnieszka Zdanowicz. Agnieszka Zdanowicz: Ewa, have you always felt the need to be socially engaged? Ewa Majda: Yes, that urge has always been in me. I’ve had periods of increased and reduced activity – I’ve been active in school…
If we want to know what the government is doing, we must have access to all documents concerning its functioning, not just the ones it wants to show us. The European Court of Human Rights has just announced that it has accepted complaint No. 10103/20 lodged by Sieć Obywatelska Watchdog Polska (the Citizens Network Watchdog…
An interview with Marzena Błaszczyk, member of the Board of the Citizens’ Network Watchdog Poland, Chair of the Board of the association MODrzew and Vice-Chair of the Voice of Pedestrians Association. Martyna Bójko: Where did your social engagement start? What pushed you in that direction? Marzena Błaszczyk: When I was on maternity leave, I had…