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…
