Rule of law violations are worse than ever under Donald Tusk, says Polish professor of constitutional law

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In a conversation with Frenchman Olivier Bault, Professor Anna Labno, a professor of constitutional law who teaches at the Tarnów Academy in Poland, talks about a year of breaking the rule of law in the name of restoring the rule of law. “It’s only been a year,” proclaims the slogan of Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform on the first anniversary of the establishment of the left-liberal coalition government that succeeded eight years of Law and Justice (PiS) rule, but a lot has happened during that year in terms of dismantling the rule of law in Poland in the name of “militant democracy.”

In the interview, Prof. Labno compares the actions of the current ruling coalition to those of the previous PiS-led United Right coalition, which was so often criticized in Brussels and in the foreign media for allegedly violating the rule of law. Incidentally, she recalls the origin of the dispute over the three supposedly illegitimate judges of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (out of 15), which causes today’s rulers to refuse to publish its rulings.

The constitutional law professor also explains what is meant by the concept of “militant democracy” (also called “defensive democracy”) to which Prime Minister Donald Tusk refers to justify his modus operandi. She also speaks about the reform of the National Council of the Judiciary, which was passed by the Polish Parliament in 2017. In addition, she talks about the change in the position of National Prosecutor in January this year and criticizes in harsh terms the proposal for the vetting of judges announced in September by Justice Minister Adam Bodnar, saying that “this is no way to reform the judicial system” and that “this is inconceivable in a democratic system.”

"What is being proposed today is a violation of judicial independence, the independence of the courts, that is, a denial of everything that is the foundation of a democratic state,” the professor of constitutional law goes on to say.

The entire conversation lasts 37 minutes.