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At the 23-24 June 2011 meeting of the European Council, held in Brussels, the EU Member States’ heads of government and state discussed the impact of increased immigration on the Schengen Agreement, the treaty which removed internal border controls in the countries forming the Schengen Area. The proposal to depart from the Schengen rules, one of the most notable achievements of the European integration, must give rise to serious doubts.

The Human Rights Defender (RPO) filed motion with the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) to conduct a constitutional review of the laws governing the use of technical measures as part of investigative techniques used by law enforcement agencies. The RPO cites the HFHR’s statement on the matter.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has made a critical assessment of the legislative process for the amendment of a number of laws needed to properly organise the European Football Championships EURO 2012. In particular, the HFHR has reservations regarding the course of the work done so far.

On Wednesday, 8 June 2011, the Circuit Court in Poznań acquitted Łukasz Kasprowicz, the blogger charged with defaming the mayor of Mosina, a town near Poznań in western Poland. Mr. Kasprowicz was found not guilty on 13 of the 15 counts. The Court discontinued the proceedings regarding the remaining two counts, citing the negligible social harm presented by the alleged offences.

According to the proposed scheme of the legal executive profession (‘doradca prawny’), law graduates will be qualified to provide legal advice and draft legal opinions, pleadings and contracts. They will also be authorised to act before public administration bodies and represent clients in civil matters pending before the lowest level (district) courts. In the opinion of the HFHR, such a proposal raises substantial doubts.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered the judgement in the case of Zabłocki v. Poland (31 May 2011, Application No. 10104/08), another decision concerning legal measures used in the Polish lustration proceedings. Once again, the Court found a violation of the right to a fair trial under Article 6 § 1 read in conjunction with Article 6 § 3 of the Convention.

In May 2011, the Senate, the upper House of the Polish Parliament, discussed its amendments to the Family Support and Substitute Custody Act. Senators voted for the adoption of an amendment which bans homosexuals from acting as foster family and running family-type children’s homes. The HFHR intervened in this matter with Grzegorz Schetyna, Speaker of the lower House.

On Thursday, 2 June 2011, Anna Rucka, a journalist with the Przekrój weekly, was acquitted by the District Court in Zakopane. Ms Rucka was accused of disseminating false business information, a misdemeanour under the Polish unfair competition law. The case was conducted as part of the Observatory of the Freedom of Media in Poland Programme – the HFHR’s project.

The author of the AntyKomor-pl website posted critical and satirical remarks regarding the incumbent Polish President Bronisław Komorowski. In the early morning of 17 May 2011, officers of the Internal Security Agency (Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego, ABW) searched the apartment of the website creator as part of an investigation into the allegation of a potential insult to the head of state.