A new HFHR programme COURTWATCH was launched at the end of 2004. 100 people already participate in this programme and they include appropriately trained graduates of the School on Human Rights, as well as students, who cooperate with the HFHR. They observe the functioning of courts, especially the access to courts, the working habits of courts and judges, as well as the courts’ “friendliness”.

The programme’s fundamental objective is to examine the courts’ work and functioning, and to present the means of effectively benefiting from the transparency principle expressed in the Polish Constitution. It is important to show that there are non-government organisations interested in the quality of the judges’ and courts’ work, and that they observe this activity. The objective is also to persuade local communities to observe the courts that function within their area.

“It is not our objective (…) to observe cases from the point of view of their contents. Our observers are not familiar with the court records of the proceedings they monitor. (…) They only examine the formal issues and the standards of the trails.” – said the programme’s co-ordinator, Maria Ejchart, in a press statement.

The “chronicle of the court’s workday” – prepared in accordance with a detailed questionnaire – are the result of the observers’ full day’s presence at the court. These reports will be presented to the chairmen of particular common courts, common court departments and military court departments of the Ministry of Justice, as well as the Sejm’s Administration of Justice and Human Rights Commissions. We will also place them on the HFHR website.