Latest

In Polish law there is in force a prohibition of discrimination in employment being a consequence of the constitutional rule of equality and a result of an implementation of EU directives. It is mostly applied to „classic” employment relationship (the employer and the employee). Article 16 of the Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation provides that this rule should be applied also to independent occupations and professions.

On 24 September 2009 The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights hosted a meeting with Antoni Słodkowski, who gave a lecture entitled “BURMA: political prisoners and labour camps”. The meeting was organized by the Viridairium.

On 2 September 2009 Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights directed a letter to the Ministry of Justice concerning the compatibility of search of premises in criminal proceedings with European Convention of Human Rights. The doubts concerning compliance this regulation with the Convention rose as a consequence of judgement Rachwalski and Ferenc v. Republic of Poland (application no. 47709/99).

During the Communist rule in the Republic of Poland, an administrative mechanism of property acquisition was put in place. It allowed the state to take over private properties located in the areas designated for construction of public roads without any particular statutory or contractual basis. In law, private owners still retained the title to such properties yet in fact the land was held by the state.

Human Rights House Network and the Observatory are organising a side event in Warsaw entitled “Addressing pressure on Human Rights Defenders in the Caucasus”.

Human Rights House Network representatives participate at the OSCE Human Implementation meeting in Warsaw, Poland.

On 15 September 2009 the European Court of Human Rights passed a judgement in the case of Jamrozy v. Republic of Poland (application no. 6093/04) concerning the extensive length of pre-trial detention. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights presented third-party comments on the case.

For about twenty years, gatherings of cyclist enthusiasts or ‘Critical Masses’ have been held all over the world to direct public attention to the bikers’ presence on roads. In the Republic of Poland, the movement is quite vigorous.

The Polish Constitution from 1997 deprived incapacitated persons of their voting rights. Meanwhile, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, signed by Republic of Poland, asserts the voting rights to mentally disabled people regardless of legal incapacitation. During last voting to European Parliament, incapacitated persons were not entitled to vote (as well as in every voting after 1997). Article 7 paragraph 2 point 3 of Polish Voting Ordinance do European Parliament points out that incapacitated persons are deprived of the right to vote.