Commissioner for Human Rights

Newsletter Commissioner for Human Rights in Poland 12-20 December 2017

Newsletter  12 -20 December 2017

MAIN MATTERS

The CHR on the amendments to the Act on the Supreme Court and the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary

Free courts are the only guarantee of civil liberties, free elections and free Poland, repeated Adam Bodnar during the debate on the amendments to the Acts relating to courts. He took the floor throughout the debate, speaking about the threats posed to citizens by the new laws. He also submitted his written opinions to the Speaker of the Senate, and took part in a meeting of the Senate Committee [more] and a session of the Senate [on the National Council of the Judiciary - more] [and on the Supreme Court - more]. However, the Senate accepted the Acts without any amendments, and the President announced that he considered them adopted without any objections.

The First Polish Congress on Civil Rights

After the congress held on 8 – 9 December 2017, the congress website has been successively supplemented with movies recorded during the panels. Video or audio recordings of the following panels are already available:

·         Summary of the First Polish Congress on Civil Rights

·         Opening session of the First Polish Congress on Civil Rights

·         Human rights as seen from the perspectives of different generations

·         Courts - debtors to citizens

·         Current international challenges in the protection of civil rights

·         Direct application of the Constitution in the practice of common courts

·         Panel of Polish Commissioners for Human Rights: the past, present and future

·         Civil rights in the media. What information to convey and how?

·         Christians and human rights - 40 years later

·         What human rights are missing from the Polish Constitution?

·         Hospitality, or the host and the guest in view of civil rights

·         European Convention on Human Rights in citizens’ hands

·         Measures required for equal treatment. Current challenges

·         Is it possible to fully eliminate torture in Poland?

·         The Act on retirement benefits for persons serving in the state uniformed services and intelligence services under the former political system – social justice or repression?

·         The dark side of the integration: problems of Polish citizens living abroad

·         Woman as an (un)truly full*citizen/ *delete as appropriate  [more]

An electronic version of the exhibition entitled Generous Poland and presenting best social initiatives discovered by Commissioner Adam Bodnar during his regional meetings across Poland is available here.

The Parliament is working on amendments to the electoral law. The Commissioner reiterated his call for maintaining the current facilitated voting options [more]. He also submitted to the Speaker of the Senate a comprehensive opinion on the proposed amendments [more].

At the beginning of 2018, the Commissioner for Human Rights will, for the third time, invite representatives of non-governmental organizations and the academic community to submit proposals of topics for research projects concerning anti-discrimination [more]