Public distrust of courts in Poland rises to record high of 57%

Well over half of Poles say they distrust their country's courts, the highest level ever recorded by pollster IBRiS. Only just over one third party say that they do trust the courts.

The findings show that distrust has risen significantly since Donald Tusk's ruling coalition came to power in late 2023, promising to restore the independence and improve the efficiency of Poland's courts after the controversial judicial reforms of the former Law and Justice (PiS) government.

IBRiS has since 2016 been regularly conducting polls on public trust and distrust in various major institutions in Poland.

Its latest findings, commissioned by the Rzeczpospolita daily, show that trust in the courts has fallen to 36%, down from 42% last year and the lowest level since 2020. Meanwhile, distrust has risen to 57%, its highest ever level and well up from last year's figure of 44%.

Distrust in the courts is now much higher than when PiS left office in 2023, when it stood at 41%, while trust is now lower than the 38% recorded at that time.

During its eight years in power, the national-conservative PiS sought to radically overhaul the justice system. It argued that its reforms were intended to rid the courts of the remaining investigations of communism and to increase their efficiency and effectiveness.

However, a wide range of expert bodies , as well as domestic and European court rulings, found PiS's reforms to have violated the rule of law. Opinion polls also show that a majority of the Polish public regarded PiS's policies as undermining judicial independence and worsening the functioning of courts .

When Tusk's government – ​​a broad coalition ranging from left to center-right – replaced PiS in office in December 2023, it pledged to restore the rule of law by reversing PiS-era reforms and introducing its own measures to improve courts' independence and effectiveness.

However, some parts of Tusk's proposed reforms – such as overhauling the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) – were blocked by PiS-aligned former President Andrzej Duda. But in many cases, Tusk's coalition has not yet even managed to push judicial legislation through parliament, despite having a majority there.

In other cases, the government has used non-legislative methods to seek to overhaul the justice system, such as by replacing PiS-era prosecutors and presidents of courts . However, some of those moves have been legally controversial and were rejected by the courts still under the influence of PiS appointees .

The situation has created legal chaos , with the government and its allies recognizing the legitimacy of certain judicial institutions but not others, and PiS, now the main opposition party, likewise but in reverse.

Tusk himself last year admitted that, in his efforts to restore democracy in Poland, he may sometimes take actions that will be “not fully compliant with the law”. But he said that this was because of the legal chaos left behind by PiS.

In January this year, a poll by SW Research on behalf of Rzeczpospolita , found that more Poles (35%) thought the rule of law had worsened under the Tusk government than those who thought it had improved (24%). gThe latest IBRiS findings appear to echo those results.

However, the annual Rule of Law Index published by the World Justice Project did last year find that the rule of law had improved in Poland under Tusk's government, with Poland rising from 36th to 33rd place in its ranking.

Krystian Markiewicz, a judge who was a prominent critic of PiS's reforms, told Rzeczpospolita that the new IBRiS poll “is a red card we should all heed, both judges and politicians”.

He added, however, that the findings were not surprising, given the crisis surrounding the judiciary and the fact that court proceedings are getting longer on average. “In such a situation, it's difficult to expect public trust. We have a huge task ahead of us.”

Przemysław Rosati, president of the Supreme Bar Council, told the newspaper that the situation is “a consequence of actions taken by politicians regarding the courts.” He warned that “politicians of all persuasions must wake up from their slumber” and “focus their efforts on building trust in the courts”.

Main image credit: tomislav medak/Flickr (under CC BY 2.0 )