19/05/2026 Monitoring
Ending a three-day visit to Warsaw, the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Poland, Christophe Brico (Monaco, EPP/CD) and Didier Marie (France, SOC), have reiterated their concern at the level of polarisation within the country.
“Key judicial bodies, notably the Constitutional Tribunal and the National Judicial Council, are politicised, undermining judicial independence, the separation of powers and the ability of these institutions to perform their constitutional functions,” warned the co-rapporteurs, calling on all actors to urgently make concerted efforts to depoliticise the senior judicial roles.
“There are significant concerns that some actors appear willing to manipulate the law, the constitution or legal procedures to seek to expand their own power or block the functions of other branches of government. These developments could constitute a misuse of power, undermining the constitution and constitutional and rule of law principles,” they said.
The co-rapporteurs concluded that Poland has still to resolve its long-running rule of law and constitutional crisis, and that enhanced efforts from all state actors are required for the country to remain in compliance with accepted European standards of judicial independence and respect for the rule of law.
PACE opened its monitoring of Poland on 28 January 2020. Poland is one of ten Council of Europe member states subject to the full monitoring procedure.