¹ The legislative package has been presented as a “reform” and this term will be further used to designate the recent changes in the judiciary.Google Scholar

² The amendments to the Act of 12 July 2017 on the System of Ordinary Courts, Official Journal 2017, Item 1452; the Act of 8 December 2017 on the Supreme Court, Official Journal 2018, Item 5; and the Act of 8 December 2017 on the National Council of the Judiciary, Official Journal 2018, Item 3.Google Scholar

³ For some authors, the government of the Law and Justice party brings Poland back to dictatorship. Andrzej Zoll, Marek Bartosik, Od Dyktatury do Demokracji. IZ Powrotem (2018).Google Scholar

⁴ Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland of 22 July 1952, Official Journal 1952, No 33, Item 232.Google Scholar

⁵ Article 60(1) of the 1952 Constitution.Google Scholar

⁶ Sfora szkoła sedziowska, Rzeczpospolita (October 6, 2012), http://www.rp.pl/artykul/939507-Stara-szkola-sedziowska.html Google Scholar

⁷ Strzembosz, supra note 10, 126. After 1989 such a rule was adopted for all courts.Google Scholar

⁸ Between 1990 and 2000 the Council refused to permit 511 judges to continue service for reasons related to their past. Ewa Siedlecka, Jak to sedziowie sie samooczyszczali, Gazeta Wyborcza (September 26, 2016), http://wyborcza.pI/1,75968,20746326,jak-to-sedziowie-sie-samooczyszczali.html Google Scholar

⁹ Judgment of 24 June 1998, Case no. K 3/98.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Strzembosz, supra note 10, 159.Google Scholar

¹¹ The European Court of Human Rights confirmed that the loss of status of a retired judge and of the special pension benefits attached to that status, as a result of the submission of a false lustration declaration, do not amount to an interference with one's property rights protected under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1. See Rasmussen v. Poland, judgment of 28 April 2009, App. No. 38886/05.Google Scholar

¹² According to Ewa Siedlecka, only 66 judges were deprived of their special pension benefits. Ewa Siedlecka, Bez końca, do grobowej deski, czyli zemsta na PRL. Ewa Siedlecka o 30 latach rozliczeń z komunizmem, Okopress, https://oko.press/bez-konca-grobowej-deski-czyli-zemsta-prl-ewa-siedlecka-o-30-latach-rozliczen-komunizmem/ Google Scholar

¹³ Official Journal 2006, No 219, Item 1592.Google Scholar

¹⁴ Judgment of 2 April 2015, Case No. P 31/12.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Morawiecki, M., Why My Government is Reforming Poland's Judiciary, Washington Examiner (Dec. 13, 2017), https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/prime-minister-mateusz-morawiecki-why-my-government-is-reforming-polands-judiciary Google Scholar

¹⁶ The system of ordinary courts is comprised of district, regional, and appellate courts. There are 377 ordinary courts, out of which there are 321 district courts, 45 regional courts, and 11 appellate courts. There are also 16 regional administrative courts and the Supreme Administrative Court but the status of administrative court judges is not specifically analysed in this study.Google Scholar

¹⁷ Article 144(3)(17) of the Constitution.Google Scholar

¹⁸ A judge of a district court must meet the following criteria: 1) hold only Polish citizenship, enjoy full civic and public rights; and not be sentenced by a court for a publicly indictable crime; 2) have a good character; 3) have graduated from a school of law in the Republic of Poland and hold a Master's degree or foreign legal studies recognized in Poland; 4) be eligible with regard to the state of health to perform the duties of a judge; 5) be at least 29 years old; 6) have passed the exam for a judge or a prosecutor; 7) have performed the duties of a judge for a period of at least three years as a probationary judge. Article 61(1) ASOC.Google Scholar

¹⁹ Official Journal 2018, Item 1045.Google Scholar

²⁰ Article 33a (14) of the Act of 23 January 2009 on the National School for Judges and Prosecutors, Official Journal 2009, No. 23, Item 157.Google Scholar

²¹ Article 106h ASOC.Google Scholar

²² Article 106k ASOC. In 2007, the Constitutional Tribunal found that the law granting probationary judges adjudicatory functions contravenes the principle of judicial independence because they could be removed by the MoJ. Judgment of 24.10.2007, Case no. SK 7/06.Google Scholar

²³ Article 2(1)(1a) ASOC.Google Scholar

²⁴ The National School for Judges and Prosecutors was established in 2009 to counteract local parochialisms of the judicial training organized by the appellate courts. It was designed to follow the best traditions of professional schools in Europe. However, the School remains institutionally related to the Ministry of Justice and this relationship was tightened in 2017. The MoJ appoints the Director of the School and the members of the Program Council. The MoJ may also object to the employment of individual lecturers.Google Scholar

²⁵ Article 106i(8) ASOC.Google Scholar

²⁶ Such as court referendaries and assistants, other legal professions trying to transfer to the profession of a judge (attorneys at law, legal advisers, notaries or prosecutors) and persons who completed the judicial training under the old system attached to the appellate courts.Google Scholar

²⁷ Article 9 ASOC.Google Scholar

²⁸ Judgment of 15 January 2009, Case no. K 45/07. In this decision the Tribunal explained that the Minister's power to issue reproaches against individual judges is constitutional as long as it does not interfere with the adjudicative function. The Tribunal also found that the Minister's power to appoint temporary court presidents is unconstitutional since the law did not provide any time limitations for serving in this capacity. The Tribunal upheld the practice to delegate judges to the Ministry of Justice provided that the delegated judges abstain from adjudication. However, the Tribunal struck down the law providing for the delegation of judges against their consent.Google Scholar

²⁹ The power of administrative supervision over administrative courts belongs to the President of the Supreme Administrative Court.Google Scholar

³⁰ See also judgment of 1 October 2015, Case Kp 1/15 (concerning the ministerial power to request access to pending case files)Google Scholar

³¹ Case no. K 45/07.Google Scholar

³² Case no. K 45/07.Google Scholar

³³ Article 3 of 27 July 2001 of the Act on the System of Ordinary Courts (further as ASOC), Official Journal of 2001, No 98, Item 170.Google Scholar

³⁴ It is comprised of the appeal court judges, the representatives of regional court judges acting on the area of the appellation, in the number corresponding to the number of the appeal court judges, and the representatives of district court judges acting in the area of the appellation, in the same number determined by the college of the appellate court.Google Scholar

³⁵ It is comprised of the regional court judges and the representatives of district court judges acting in the area of the region, in the number corresponding to the number of the regional court judges.Google Scholar

³⁶ It is comprised of all judges of a district court.Google Scholar

³⁷ The general assembly of judges in the appellation also expresses opinions about the annual information on the court activities prepared by the director general of the appellate court and the annual report delivered by the president of the appellate court.Google Scholar

³⁸ Among all bodies of judicial self-government, the position of the general assembly of judges in the appellation is the strongest, while the general assemblies of judges in court regions, and the general meetings of judges of district courts have more limited competences. The general assembly of judges in the appellation expresses opinions about candidates for judges of the appellate courts and candidates for judges of the regional courts in a given appellation, and about candidates for the president of the appellate court.Google Scholar

³⁹ Zawiślak, Katarzyna, Pozycja ustrojowa, kompetencje i skład Krajowej Rady Sadownictwa, 3(9) Iustitia 117 (2012).Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Ereciński, Tadeusz, Rola rady sadownictwa w państwie demokratycznym, 5 Prezeglad Sejmowy 3 (1994), 15.Google Scholar

⁴¹ Since 2006 the Council has also had an independent budget. Article 231 of the Act of 30 June 2005 on the public finances, Official Journal 2005, No. 249, item 2104.Google Scholar

⁴² Szczucki, Krzysztof, Komentarz do artykułu 186 Konstytucji RP, in Komentarz do Konstytucji RP (Marek Safjan & Łukasz Bosek eds.) (2016), para. 10.Google Scholar

⁴³ According to the established case-law of the Constitutional Tribunal, legislative proceedings disrespecting the obligation to consult the Council on acts concerning the independence of courts and judges or leaving the Council without time to react to legislative drafts or amendments to such drafts amount to a procedural breach of the Constitution and may result in a declaration that the acts adopted via such proceedings are unconstitutional. See i.e. judgments of 24 June 1998, Case no. K 3/98, and of 19 November 1996, Case no. K 7/95.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ Article 186 (2) of the Constitution.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ Case no. K 40/08.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Judgment of 9 December 2015, Case no. K 35/15.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Article 8(1) of the Act on the NCJ of 2011 as amended.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ Case no. K 40/08, para 44.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ In another decision the Constitutional Tribunal found that the law may not prohibit the judicial members of the Council from holding the office of president or vice-president of a court. Judgment of 18 July 2007, Case no. 25/07.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ Mikuli, Piotr, Konstytucyjność wyboru sedziów sadów powszechnych do KRS, 4(9) Krajowa Rada Sadownictwa 9 (2014).Google Scholar

⁵¹ The Act on the NCJ of 2011 introduced a complicated electoral system for judges of ordinary courts based on indirect voting, which evidently underprivileged judges of district courts.Google Scholar

⁵² As the lack of democratic representation of judges in the Council attracted much criticism, the Association of Polish Judges “lustitia” agreed to grant judges of the lower courts more equal representation in the Council. It proposed to introduce a new electoral system based on the principle of direct voting and reserved seats. See the draft amending the Act on the NCJ presented by “lustitia” as an alternative to the Act adopted by the Parliament in July 2017.Google Scholar

⁵³ The Prosecutor General argued that several provisions on the Act on the NCJ violate the principle of equal (passive and active) voting rights of judges of different courts in a way that restricts their ability to stand in elections for members of the National Council of the Judiciary. It also challenged the Act with respect to the concept of the individual mandate of elected members of the Council.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ Judgment of 21 June 2017, Case no. 5/17.Google Scholar

⁵⁵ The campaign “Fair courts” was commissioned by the government and was led by the Polish National Foundation endowed with millions of Polish zloty for outdoor and TV campaigns, Internet presence, as well as viral activities.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ Lyman, Rick, In Poland, An Assault on Courts Provokes Outrage, New York Times (July 19, 2017), https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/world/europe/poland-courts-law-and-justice-party.html Google Scholar

⁵⁷ Opinion on the MPs’ draft of the law amending the Act on the System of Ordinary Courts and other acts (Print no. 1491), (May 12, 2017).Google Scholar

⁵⁸ “Plowing up the courts” (July 19, 2017), https://www.rpo.gov.pl/en/content/%E2%80%9Cplowing-courts-adambodnar-onetpl-changes-judicial-system Google Scholar

⁵⁹ de Búrca, Grainne and Sadurski, Wojciech, Open Letter to Vice-President Frans Timmermans, Verfassungsblog (June 9, 2018), https://verfassungsblog.de/open-letter-to-vice-president-frans-timmermans/ Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Opinion No. 904/2017 (Dec. 11, 2017), http://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-AD(2017)031-e (noting that the reform bears “a striking resemblance with the institutions which existed in the Soviet Union and its satellites”).Google Scholar

⁶¹ Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers on his mission to Poland, A/HRC/38/38/Add1, (April 15, 2018), https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G18/084/27/PDF/G1808427.pdf?OpenElement Google Scholar

⁶² Reasoned Proposal under Article 7(1) for a Council Decision regarding rule of law in Poland (Dec. 20, 2017), 21, http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/just/document.cfm?action=display&doc_id=49108 Google Scholar

⁶³ Sadurski, Wojciech, How Democracy Dies (in Poland): A Case Study of Anti-Constitutional Populist Backsliding, Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 18/01 (Jan. 17, 2018), https://ssrn.com/abstract=3103491 Google Scholar

⁶⁴ Articles 23, 24, and 25 ASOC.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ This mechanism was introduced during the first government of the Law and Justice party (2005-2007). It replaced a provision which gave the MoJ the power to appoint the president of a court from two candidates presented by the general assembly of judges.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ On 12 April 2018 the Parliament adopted an amendment to the acts implementing the judicial reform. This amendment is presented as a concession to the recommendations made by the European Commission. It provides that the dismissal of a court president requires an opinion of the college of a respective court. If the college disagrees with the dismissal, the MoJ needs to seek the approval of the NCJ. Official Journal 2018, Item 848.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ Article 37e ASOC.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ Venice Commission, Opinion 904/2017, supra note 60, para 109.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ The college of a regional court now consists of the court president, the oldest vice-president, the representatives of district courts, elected by the meetings of district court judges from among the district court judges, one from each district court, and two representatives of regional court judges, elected by the meeting of regional court judges. See amendment to the ASOC of 12 April 2018, Official Journal 2018, Item 848.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ Article 12 of the Act on the Supreme Court, Official Journal 2018, Item 5.Google Scholar

⁷¹ The response of the Polish Judges Association “lustitia” to the White Paper on the Reform of the Polish Judiciary presented to the European Commission by the Government of the Republic of Poland (March 24, 2018), 37, https://www.iustitia.pl/images/pliki/response_to_the_white_paper_full.pdf Google Scholar

⁷² Act of 8 December 2017 amending the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary, Official Journal 2018, Item 5.Google Scholar

⁷³ According to the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers in Poland “(t)he fact that judges will no longer have a decisive role in the appointment of the 15 judicial members of the Council puts the new election method at odds with relevant international and regional standards”. Report, supra note 61, point 68.Google Scholar

⁷⁴ Judgment of 18 July 2007, K 25/07.Google Scholar

⁷⁵ Article 183 of the Constitution.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ Judgment of 9 November 1993, Case no. K 11/93.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ Judgment of 18 February 2004, Case no. K 12/03.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ Case no. K 11/93.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ Before the reform, the MoJ could appoint court presidents only in appellate and regional courts (less than 15% of all courts in Poland). In this respect, the government argued that the Minister did not have effective tools to react to bad management in district courts.Google Scholar

⁸⁰ Case no. K 12/03.Google Scholar

⁸¹ During the period of six months after the amendments came into force, the Minister removed 130 out of 730 court presidents, often against the will of the general assemblies of judges in these courts.Google Scholar

⁸² Article 37ga ASOC.Google Scholar

⁸³ Article 37h ASOC.Google Scholar

⁸⁴ Opinion, supra note 57, http://www.krs.pI/pl/aktualnosci/d,2017,5/4782,opinia-krajowej-rady-sadownictwa-dotyczaca-poselskiego-projektu-zmiany-ustawy-prawo-o-ustroju-sadow-powszechnych Google Scholar

⁸⁵ According to the Constitutional Tribunal, delegation of judges is not unconstitutional per se provided that it is based on their consent and that they remain detached from the adjudication. Judgment of 15 January 2009, Case no. K 45/07.Google Scholar

⁸⁶ Act of 28 January 2016 – Law on the Prosecutor's Office, Official Journal 2017, Item 177.Google Scholar

⁸⁷ To counteract this pressure, several NGOs, including two private associations of judges, established the Justice Defense Committee in June 2018 - http://www.inpris.pl/en/whats-going-on-at-inpris/article/t/powstal-komitet-obrony-sprawiedliwosci-kos/ Google Scholar

⁸⁸ Reform of the Judiciary in Poland Poses Risk to The Right to Fair Trial, (March 2018), https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/EUR3780592018ENGLISH.PDF (gathering testimonies from judges who reported being subjected to disciplinary proceedings or who feared sanctions for their decisions in cases involving governing-party politicians or for their participation in protests demanding the independence of the judiciary).Google Scholar

⁸⁹ 'They're trying to break me': Polish judges face state-led intimidation, Guardian (June 18, 2018), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/19/theyre-trying-to-break-me-polish-judges-face-state-led-intimidation?CMP=share_btn_link Google Scholar

⁹⁰ Bodnar, Adam & Bojarski, Łukasz, Judicial Independence in Poland, in Judicial Independence in Transition (Anja Seibert-Fohr ed 2012), 667-738, 668.Google Scholar

⁹¹ Koncewicz, Tomasz T., The Court is dead, long live the courts? On judicial review in Poland in 2017 and “judicial space” beyond, Verfassungsblog (March 8, 2018), https://verfassungsblog.de/the-court-is-dead-long-live-the-courts-on-judicial-review-in-poland-in-2017-and-judicial-space-beyond/.Google Scholar

⁹² Szczucki, Krzysztof, Komentarz do Artykułu 186 Konstytucji RP, in Komentarz do Konstytucji (Marek Safjan & Łukasz Bosek ed 2016), para. 61.Google Scholar

⁹³ Independence and Accountability of the Judiciary and of the Prosecution, ENCJ Report 2014-2015.Google Scholar

⁹⁴ Ocena polskiego sadownictwa w świetle badań, Court Watch Foundation Poland (May 2017), https://courtwatch.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Raport-Fundacji-Court-Watch-Polska-Ocena-polskichs%C4%85d%C3%B3w-w-%C5%9Bwietle-bada%C5%84-maj-2017.pdf Google Scholar

⁹⁵ CBOS, Opinion poll No 31, Warsaw (March 2017), https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2017/K_031_17.PDF Google Scholar

⁹⁶ Id at 6.Google Scholar

⁹⁷ Perceived independence of the national justice systems in the EU among the general public, Flash Eurobarometer No. 461 (May 2018), https://data.europa.eu/euodp/data/dataset/S2168_461_ENG Google Scholar

⁹⁸ Article 107(1) ASOC.Google Scholar

⁹⁹ Id at 49-50.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁰ Article 112b(1) ASOC.Google Scholar

¹⁰¹ In cases of the regional court judges, as well as the presidents and vice-presidents of district courts, the deputy disciplinary spokesman at the appellate court is the authorized prosecutor, and in cases of the district court judges and the probationary judges it is the deputy disciplinary spokesman at the regional court. Article 112 ASOC.Google Scholar

¹⁰² Article 110 ASOC.Google Scholar

¹⁰³ The Minister of Justice entrusts the duties of a disciplinary court judge at the appellate court to judges who have at least ten years of practice as a judge after consulting the National Council of the Judiciary.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁴ The response of the Polish Judges Association “lustitia” to the White Paper on the Reform of the Polish Judiciary presented to the European Commission by the Government of the Republic of Poland, supra note 71, 51.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁵ Article 5(1) of the Act on the Supreme Court, Official Journal 2018, Item 5.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁶ Article 37(1) ASOC.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁷ Article 31a ASOC.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁸ Act of 6 September 2001 on Access to Public Information, Official Journal 2001, No. 112, Item 1198.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁹ See annual reports on the realization of the plan of activities by district courts.Google Scholar

¹¹⁰ In December 2017, the media reported about the previous President of the Appeal Court in Cracow charged for accepting material benefits in exchange for the realization of public procurement contracts by external companies.Google Scholar

¹¹¹ Article 87(6) ASOC. Property declarations are published.Google Scholar

¹¹² For the database of the ordinary courts see – https://orzeczenia.ms.gov.pl/ The Supreme Court database is available at http://sn.pl/orzecznictwo/ Google Scholar

¹¹³ White Paper on the Reform of the Polish Judiciary, Chancellery of the Prime Minister (March 7, 2018), 38.Google Scholar

¹¹⁴ Judgment of 27 May 2008, Case no. SK 57/06.Google Scholar

¹¹⁵ Articles 34-37 of the Act on the NCJ. In 2007, the Constitutional Tribunal found that the power of the NCJ to determine criteria for evaluation and selection of candidates for judges without a statutory basis is contrary to the Constitution. Judgment of 29 November 2007, Case no. SK 43/06.Google Scholar

¹¹⁶ The Social Board at the Council would comprise several representatives of legal professions, law departments, civil society, and the Ombudsman in order to ensure the social control over the process of judicial appointments.Google Scholar

¹¹⁷ Article 20(1) of the Act on the NCJ.Google Scholar

¹¹⁸ Marcin Matczak, The Rule of Law in Poland: A Sorry Spectacle, Verfassungsblog (March 1, 2018, https://verfassungsblog.de/the-rule-of-law-in-poland-a-sorry-spectacle Google Scholar

¹¹⁹ In 2008, the President of the Republic, Lech Kaczyński, refused to appoint 10 judges recommended by the NCJ. He did not provide any reason for this decision. As the Presidential action was challenged before administrative courts, the Supreme Administrative Court found that it does not have jurisdiction over the acts of the President, which are not administrative in nature. Similarly, the Constitutional Tribunal discontinued the proceedings on procedural grounds. It found that it cannot review the constitutionality of the act which is specified in the Constitution, and not in a statute. See decision of the Constitutional Tribunal of 19 June 2012, Case no. SK 37/08, and decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court: I OSK 1872/12, I OSK 1882/12, I OSK 1874/12, I OSK 1883/12, I OSK 1875/12, I OSK 1890/12, I OSK 1873/12, I OSK 1891/12, I OSK 1878/12, I OSK 1879/12, I OSK 1885/12, I OSK 1870/12, I OSK 1871/12, I OSK 1887/12, I OSK 1880/12, I OSK 1881/12, I OSK 1884/12, I OSK 1886/12, I OSK 1888/12, I OSK 1876/12, I OSK 1877/12, I OSK 1889/12.Google Scholar

¹²⁰ For the second time, the conflict over the judicial appointments, yet also concerning persons who are already judges in lower courts, arose in 2016 during the term of office of President Andrzej Duda.Google Scholar

¹²¹ In 2014, the rejected candidates filed applications to the European Court of Human Rights but their claims were also rejected as inadmissible.Google Scholar

¹²² The Kyiv Recommendations on Judicial Independence in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia, Kyiv 23-25 June 2010, http://www.osce.org/odihr/71178. See also a critical statement of the International Commission of Jurists of 25 October 2007, http://www.hfhrpol.waw.pl/precedens/aktualnosci/oswiadczenie-miedzynarodowej-komisji-prawnikow.html and the Consultative Council of European Judges adopted during the 9^th Plenary meeting on 12-14 November 2008, http://www.hfhrpol.waw.pl/precedens/images/stories/Pdfy/deklaracja.pdf Google Scholar

¹²³ Judgment of 29 November 2007, Case no. SK 43/06.Google Scholar

¹²⁴ Judgment of 28 November 2007, Case no. K 39/07.Google Scholar

¹²⁵ Case no. SK 45/07.Google Scholar

¹²⁶ Judgment of 8 May 2012, Case no. K 7/10.Google Scholar

¹²⁷ Judgment of 24 October 2007, Case no. SK 7/06.Google Scholar

¹²⁸ Judgment of 12 December 2012, Case no. K 1/12.Google Scholar

¹²⁹ In 2008, the government proposed to create a separate competition commission that would be in charge of the selection of candidates for judges. The NCJ objected to having only the power of “presentment” of the candidates to the President of the Republic. The reform was never passed into law.Google Scholar

¹³⁰ The Act on the NCJ adopted in July 2017 provided that the NCJ presents two candidates for one judicial vacancy, thus leaving the final choice to the President of the Republic. This Act was however vetoed by the President of the Republic following the severe criticism of various experts who argued that it would make the constitutional role of the NCJ, and indirectly the judicial independence, illusory.Google Scholar

¹³¹ Bodnar & Bojarski, supra note 90, 668.Google Scholar

¹³² This postulate needs to be reassessed nowadays due to the reconstruction of the Supreme Court, and the increase of Presidential powers in the process of appointment of the First President of the Supreme Court.Google Scholar

¹³³ Dabrowski, Stanisław, Kilka uwag o kondycji sadownictwa, 2 Krajowa Rada Sadownictwa 46 (2010).Google Scholar

¹³⁴ Łetowska, Ewa, Sady odarte z godności, 8 Kultura Liberalna 2017, (Feb. 21, 2017), http://kulturaliberalna.pl/2017/02/21/ewa-letowska-wywiad-sady-reforma/ Google Scholar

¹³⁵ Lora, Joanna, Komunikacja sadów z obywatelami – badania empiryczne, wnioski, rekomendacje zmian (2009).Google Scholar

¹³⁶ Rutkowski and others v. Poland, judgment of 7 July 2015, Appl, No. 72287/10.Google Scholar

¹³⁷ Ocena polskiego sadownictwa w świetle badań, supra note 94, 19.Google Scholar

¹³⁸ Czarnota, Adam, Prawnicy naznaczeni socjalizmem, GAZETA PRAWNA (June 11, 2017), http://prawo.gazetaprawna.pl/artykuly/1049466,prawnicy-wymiar-sprawiedliwosci-czarnota.html Google Scholar

¹³⁹ CBOS, Opinion poll No. 112, Warsaw (September 2017), https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2017/K_112_17.PDF Google Scholar

¹⁴⁰ 53% of respondents agree that the EU, European politicians and institutions are not neutral in this conflict.Google Scholar

¹⁴¹ Note that the reform introduced rules that silence judges who wish to express their critical opinions about the judiciary in public. Article 89(1) ASOC.Google Scholar