Commissioner for Human Rights

Newsletter Commissioner for Human Rights in Poland 5-9 August 2019

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

The CHR has called upon President Andrzej Duda to veto the amendment to the Act on environmental protection, which will seriously impede local communities’ participation in procedures regarding construction projects arduous for the environment. The Commissioner has justified his motion by the risk posed by the amendment to citizens’ rights and freedoms. (more)

COURTS AND THE SYSTEM OF JUSTICE

  • For one and a half years, the Minister of Justice has not responded to the Commissioner for Human Rights’ inquiry regarding checks on persons who enter court buildings, although he was twice requested to do so by the Prime Minister's office. Disregarding the tasks arising from the Act on the Commissioner constitutes a clear violation of the law. (more)
  • The Commissioner has requested the Constitutional Tribunal to discontinue the proceedings regarding legal questions concerning the legality of appointing the Supreme Court judges in the period 2000-2018. The questions have been asked by Kamil Zaradkiewicz, judge of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court. (more)
  • The Commissioner has requested the President to challenge before the Constitutional Tribunal the changes in the civil court procedure. They relate, among others, to the possibility to conduct the proceedings by a court in the absence of the defending lawyer and the defendant;  to issue, by the appeal court, a judgment convicting the defendant with regard to whom the first instance court has conditionally discontinued the proceedings; and to issue a life sentence in the case it has not been adjudicated by the first instance court. (more).
  • How to ensure the public character of convicting judgments in criminal proceedings? The CHR has again appealed to the Minister of Justice with regard to the matter. (more)

EQUAL TREATMENT

  • The UN Committee examined, on 6 - 7 August 2019, Poland's report on the implementation of the Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. In his report, the CHR pointed out, among others that not all groups at risk of hate crime are sufficiently protected against it. The Commissioner also emphasized that the language of public debate, on migration, including the language used by the media is getting more radical, and wrote that negative stereotypes of national and ethnic minorities still exist in the society. (more)
  • Poland may face discrimination in the services market, warns the CHR. It may be an effect of the annulment by the Constitutional Tribunal of the provision of the Code of petty offenses, according to which unfounded refusal to provide a service was subject to penalty. Part of the society has incorrectly considered that the Constitutional Tribunal has introduced a commonly applicable conscience clause for all service providers. (more)
  • Stereotypical roles attributed to women and men can prevent girls and women from pursuing their sports passions. They may also be concerned about discrimination in access to sports facilities, as shown by the case of a dispute over a girls football team’s access to the Orlik football pitch in the Mokotów district of Warsaw. The Commissioner has written to Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski with regard to the provision of systemic support for sports activities for girls and women. (more)
  • The case of the employee who has been dismissed by IKEA. The employer and the District Labour Inspector have responded to the Commissioner’s letter. Their replies make it possible to formulate initial conclusions regarding the relation between the employer and the employee in the context of preventing discrimination at the workplace. The final decision as to whether the dismissal has been against the law will be issued by an independent court. (more)
  • The police about the Equality March in Bialystok: 25 persons were detained, charges were raised against several persons suspected of various offences, 75 fines were imposed and several applications were filed with courts for imposing penalties for committed offenses. The province’s Police Commander emphasized that thanks to her involvement, there was no escalation of the events and the legal assembly was not blocked. (more)

RIGHTS OF PERSONS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY

  • Prisoners complain that meals are delivered to their cells by windows in their cell doors. The Commissioner has pointed out to the Prison Service several times that such a system used in relation to all prisoners violates their dignity. Meals should be delivered through opened doors to cells, unless there are special security reasons present. (more)
  • The NFZ health fund does not refund medical services provided by external medical entities to patients of the National Centre for preventing dissocial behaviours in Gostynin. The Commissioner has inquired the director of the Centre about the matter in the context of providing adequate medical care to the patients. (more)
  • Prisoners from some temporary detention facilities and prisons do not have the possibility to wear summer clothes in summertime, or to have anything to drink with them during walks. In some facilities, detainees during family visits may not play with their small children in the visit room as detainees are required to remain seated at a table. The reason is that not all internal regulations of penitentiary facilities guarantee full rights to persons deprived of liberty. (more)

OTHER NEWS

  • The Commissioner has started an ex officio examination of the case of scandalous treatment of people who stayed at the homeless shelter in Pokrzywnica (Mazowieckie Voivodeship), which case was discussed on the media. The Commissioner has requested the Director of the Social Policy Department of the Mazowieckie Voivodship Office to provide information on whether the office is aware of the case and has taken any inspection activities. (more)
  • Gdańsk mayor Aleksandra Dulkiewicz receives more and more letters with threats and insults. According to media information, some of these letters relate, among others, to the content of the TVP news programme “Wiadomości” [The News]. The Commissioner has requested the President of the National Broadcasting Council to assess whether the public broadcaster has correctly fulfilled its statutory obligation to remain impartial in this area. (more)
  • In Poland, there is no position of a public administration official entitled to confirm a person’s death and act as a guardian of the body. The Commissioner has been requesting for several years to regulate the matter by establishing such a position, but without any effect. He has therefore requested heads of municipal administration bodies in several dozen towns to consider the establishment, as in some cities elsewhere, of the position of a county coroner, or to consider the conclusion of contracts with healthcare providing entities  for the provision of such services. (more)