Co-organised by the ELI, the Polish Ministry of Justice, and the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the event examined the Polish judiciary crisis through the lens of European standards.

Entitled ‘ELI-Mount Scopus European Standards of Judicial Independence in a Stress Test: The Polish Crisis of Judicial Appointment’, the conference explored key issues facing the rule of law in Poland, including judicial appointments, safeguards of judicial tenure, the boundaries of judges’ public expression (especially on social media) and the legal weight of judgments delivered by individuals appointed through flawed procedures.

Distinguished speakers included Adam Bodnar (Minister of Justice, Poland), Pascal Pichonnaz (Professor, Fribourg University; ELI President), Nicolaas Bel (Deputy Head of Unit C1 Rule of Law, DG JUST), Wojciech Sadurski (Professor, University of Sydney), Aneta Wiewiórowska (Vice-Director, Ministry of Justice, Poland; ELI Executive Committee member), Odile Ammann (Associate Professor, University of Lausanne), Laurent Pech (Professor, University College Dublin), Barbara Grabowska-Moroz (Senior Research Fellow and Director of Rule of Law Clinic, CEU Democracy Institute), Maciej Taborowski (Professor, Institute of Legal Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences), Marta Kożuchowska–Warywoda (Director, Ministry of Justice, Poland) and several Co-Reporters of the Standards, Fryderyk Zoll (Professor, Jagiellonian University of Cracow and University of Osnabrueck), Shimon Shetreet (Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Leah Wortham (Professor Emerita, The Catholic University of America).

The ELI-Mount Scopus Standards, developed jointly with the International Association of Judicial Independence and World Peace, aim to provide a coherent European reference for upholding judicial integrity. Poland's ongoing situation offers a concrete and urgent case to assess whether these Standards can guide efforts to restore judicial legitimacy in accordance with European norms and human rights principles.

The Standards are available here.

The programme of the Conference is available here.

ELI is grateful to the member of its Executive Committee, Aneta Wiewiórowska, for her support in coordinating the event.