Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar participated in the international conference "Humboldt Speeches on Europe"
03.07.2024
On July 2, 2024, Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar delivered a lecture titled "The Rule of Law as a Key Value of European Integration" as part of the "Humboldt Speeches on Europe" series organized by the Walter Hallstein Institute. The conference focused on the challenges facing contemporary Europe.
Minister Adam Bodnar stressed that one of the biggest challenges is restoring the rule of law in Poland. He emphasized that the current Polish government is focused on rebuilding the rule of law and constitutional order. He also noted that Polish citizens took the first step towards restoring democratic standards in the 2023 parliamentary elections.
"However, it must be remembered that this is a long and complicated process, which requires political and social prudence and must be carried out in accordance with the applicable law," said Minister Bodnar.
The head of the ministry pointed out that between 2015 and 2023, Poland experienced the greatest crisis of the rule of law.
"It involved, among other things, the extreme politicization of the prosecutor's office, the limitation of judicial independence, the politicization of the Constitutional Tribunal, and led to the undermining of the principles of judicial independence," the minister indicated.
One of the tools for restoring the rule of law is the Action Plan, which includes a comprehensive reform of the judicial system. This primarily involves amending laws such as those concerning the National Council of the Judiciary, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal, the so-called muzzle law, two laws concerning the prosecutor's office, and resolving the issue of so-called neo-judges.
The result of the reform plan presented by Minister Adam Bodnar and the actions taken by the government was the conclusion of the procedure under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union and the unblocking of funds from the National Recovery Plan.