Appeal for protection of the last independent state institution for protection of civil rights in Poland
Will the Rafto Laureate 2018, Ombudsman Adam Bodnar, to be removed from office?According to law and established precedent, the Polish Ombudsman for human rights holds the office until the upper and lower house of parliament can agree on a replacement.
The current Ombudsman has been a brave critic reforms of the Law and Justice party PiS which undermine rule of law and the independence of judges in Poland. Tuesday October 20, the PiS members of the lower house will have the Constitutional Court, brought under government control in 2016, to consider if keeping Bodnar as interim Ombudsman is unconstitutional. We fear these actions aim to pacify the Office pf the Ombudsman.
Together with the International Commission of Jurists, the Norwegian Bar Association, the Norwegian Judges Association, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the Rafto Foundation has written a letter appealing for the Marshalls of the lower and upper Houses of parliament in Poland to reconsider their course of action.
