On rebuilding and … keeping the rule of law

Abstract

When I think about the challenge of rebuilding the rule of law in Poland after years filled with unimaginably lawless legal and factual acts and hateful words tearing the Polish Constitution to shreds and offering adequate recipes, the starting point is framing the discussion. Given the scale of unconstitutional destruction of 2015 – 2023, the rebuilding must be about optimal rather than perfect solutions. Optimal due to the sum of what is possible from a legal and factual perspective within the framework set out by the Constitution, its principles and values, and the binding judgments of supranational and international courts. A correct description of the starting point determines the route and provides the background against which one can evaluate more detailed legislative choices made along the way. The route must be determined by “fidelity to the Constitution”. Fidelity is an attitude of commitment, dedication, and submission, for as a politician, legislator, and citizen, I submit to the discipline of the constitutional document, which I pledge to uphold and restore its central place at the apex of the legal system.