Poland's Constitutional Breakdown

Abstract After its double victory in the 2015 presidential and parliamentary elections in Poland, the populist Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS)) party began to dismantle all major checks and balances characteristic of the separation of powers in a democratic state. Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, its regular courts including the Supreme Court, its National Council of the Judiciary, as well as its electoral commissions, civil service, and public media have all been subordinated to the executive and are single-handedly controlled by the party’s leader. In the process, political rights such as the freedom of assembly have been radically restricted, and the party has captured the entire state…