Following the demonstration in support of the justice system reform, the “Gazeta Polska” clubs and Niezależna.pl started an initiative of sending letters of support of the judicial reform conducted by the Law and Justice party. Below we present the English version of the letter, which you are free to copy and share.
Dear Sir or Madam,
We belong to the millions of Poles who demand reforms in Polish courts. According to repeated opinion polls, around 80 percent of our compatriots are demanding profound changes in the justice system. Among them are people with both highly conservative and liberal-leftist views. There are citizens who support this government as well as those who voted for opposition parties today. It is a fact that the two-fold, unconditional victory of the current ruling party resulted, inter-alia, from the promise to reform the current, inefficient and corrupt justice system. A lot of Poles did not participate in the elections simply because the courts, which are the most important representative of the Polish state for ordinary citizens, have not changed since the Communist era. Public opinion is shaken by tragic reports of abuses during hearings but also about ordinary crimes committed by judges. Extremely often, a judge’s gown provides impunity. Justices caught violating the law did not refrain from imposing the law on other citizens. There has been no effective system to stop this pathology. Relationships of the judiciary with the political world but often with ordinary mafia groups allowed not only for their impunity but even to censor information that is unfavorable to them. Journalists and social activists revealing irregularities in courts were often ruthlessly punished and often deprived of real rights to defend themselves during the hearings. In this way, censorship began to return to Poland. Dramatically inappropiate court decisions have contributed to many scandals that deprived the state treasury and ordinary citizens of great benefits. The most famous was the Supreme Court’s resolution on easing the penalties for VAT fraud, which deprived the Polish budget of tens of billions of euros.
Dear Sir or Madam,
Poles paid a great price to regain independence and restore democracy. All the more we suffer from the last remnant of the Communist system, which is the justice system. The Supreme Court has people placed there by the Communist regime. One of the most important people in this institution is an officer delegated by military services while they were subordinate to Moscow. Such people formed the present justice system. As a result, Communist criminals, with the blood of people fighting for freedom on their hands, were acquitted. Those responsible for genocide, torture but also racist persecution were not punished, ensuring impunity for those who, on behalf of the Communist authorities, committed anti-Semitic purges in 1968. They were not punished because many judges took part in these crimes. Most of them have already retired, but the terrible law enforcement system, hostile to ordinary people, has remained.
Dear Sir or Madam,
Recently in Warsaw there was a demonstration of tens of thousands of citizens demanding changes in the courts. Politicians did not participate in it. But among the speakers were the creators of "Solidarity" and other organizations that, by opposing the Communist dictatorship, led to the liberation of Poland and set the example of the struggle for civil rights for peoples of Eastern Europe. Many of the participants in this demonstration spent years in jail punished for fighting for freedom. It is a paradox that next to them stood people hurt by current courts. The common demand is to restore elementary rights for ordinary citizens. Unfortunately, there are politicians and business people in Poland who make use of corrupt courts. They try to convince the European Union’s institutions that the reform of the judiciary is an attack on the independence of judges. They do not mind that, at the same time, they want to deprive hundreds of judges, not demoralized by the law enforcement system created in times of totalitarianism, of giving verdicts.
Dear Sir or Madam,
We want changes in Polish courts modeled on solutions existing in other European countries. We want fair trials and judges independent of politicians and mafia. Today, this process has only just begun. It was started by democratic elections and the representatives of the nation who have the support of the vast majority of society in this matter. An attempt to block these changes is a denial of the values for which our Fathers wanted to unite Europe. Poles feel European and therefore do not want courts that are Communist relics.
We never felt more like Poles when we fought for freedom.
We have never felt more like Europeans when we demanded that the courts respect fundamental human rights.
If freedom and justice are still valuable to you, stand on our side.