The General Assembly of the FBE on 19 November 2022 in Palermo, Italy resolved:

We are witnessing a decline of the rule of law in Poland under its present ruling coalition.

Since 2015 we note that:

a)  the constitutional court, packed with political nominees, ceased to act as a legitimate element of proper check-and-balances system;  

b) the repeated refusal by the government to comply with judgments of the Court of Justice of European Union and of the European Court of Human Rights finding violations of fair trial standards, in particular the right of access to an impartial tribunal established by law;

c) the overhaul of the judiciary subjugating the courts to political control and resulting in further extension of average length of judicial proceedings.

We are increasingly concerned about this continuous decline, undermining the legal protection of Poland’s citizens’ fundamental rights.