Aktualne kierunki rozwoju władzy sądowniczej. Marsz Tysiąca Tóg rok później

Fellow panelists, distinguished judges, a guest participants of this webinar!

It is an honor to be included on this program. Thank you members of Iustitia.

I met Iustitia’s first president, Judge Teresa Romer, at a regional Rule of Law conferences, in Bulgaria in 1995. Judge Romer was excited about planning judicial education programs on a regional basis; helping to bolster public trust in, and support for judiciaries. She knew that such trust and support would help to affirm the independence of the judiciary.

I met with her, and members of Iustitia, again in 1996 when I was participating in a 15 nation regional education program in Warsaw. Judge Romer was still enthusiastic about providing continuing education programs for Polish judges. I developed great respect for her and the judges who with her, and had great hope for their efforts. It was clear to me then that Poland was becoming a shining example of an emerging democracy.

Thanks to my friend, Judge Bogdan Jedrys, I have been following with interest and sadness the recent struggles of the Polish judiciary to maintain their independence during very troubling times. So, I am happy to be here today in solidarity with the judges and the people of Poland, in support of your efforts to maintain the independence of the judiciary, and to talk about some aspects of the judicial system in the United States.

I am moved by the documentary on the March of 1000 Robes. So I may stray from my written remarks. I have worked on International Rule of Law programs for thirty years. I met with Iraqi judges, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, to work on their efforts to gain public trust and enhance the independence of the judiciary. A year later his son, an attorney was assassinated on his way to work.

In 1996, worked with a Council of Europe international team, and the Chief Justice of the Albanian, Supreme Court on legislation to create a magistrates school in Albania. Soon after the passage of the law, the new government told him he had to leave office so a new Chief Justice could be named. When he refused because the constitution guaranteed he could complete his term, he was removed from office at gunpoint.

There is no question democracy and the rule of law are fragile, as the Polish people have discovered.

A law student in Jakarta, Indonesia asked me why an American judge was in Jakarta

to talk about how Indonesian judges and courts should perform. I told him that was not why I was there But that were universal principles and norms of judicial independence that applied to all democracies.

I always felt confident talking about U.S. democracy wherever I went.

But now I join you during one of the darkest periods in American history. It is two days before the end of the term of the only president to be impeached twice. The most recent, for inciting an armed insurrection; an assault on our capitol and duly elected legislators. For months he promoted an alternate reality, fueled by conspiracy theories and misinformation. It is a time when we prepare to prevent further violence at President Biden’s inauguration.

Today is also the day that we celebrate Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. whose life was taken in the struggle for civil rights. Marches, protests, and boycotts are legitimate ways to seek change. An armed attack incited by the president is not. I am embarrassed and outraged by the attempt to overthrow a fair and valid election by the president and prominent ­elected officials. The president’s seditious conduct demonstrated the fragility of democracy and the rule of law; a fragility the Polish people have discovered since their transition from the Soviet Union and their free parliamentary elections.

But it also gave me a deeper insight into the durability of our system of justice. It showed the value and strength of an independent judiciary and highlighted importance of judiciary to faith in democracy.