Anna Gieniusz-Kłubowicz
Attorney since 2001, specialist in criminal law and criminal proceedings, family law, engaged in pro bono civil disobedience cases Bar Association in Białystok
I am a huge advocate of applying the Constitution directly. I refer to constitutional standards in many of the letters that come out of my office. It is a living source of law, a fundamental principle, and should never be questioned. Nor should it be violated by our public authorities, as is currently the case.
•••
I am a classic example of my generation and I continue to uphold the legal traditions of my family: both my mother and aunt are attorneys. I was always going to be a lawyer with my interests in history and humanities and by the fact that I was in a humanities class in high school.
•••
My first case concerned a beating that took place at a stadium in a small town. My mother was an attorney there and I knew the client from my high school days. Upon leaving the courtroom, outraged, he questioned me in front of everyone: “Have you ever defended in a case like this?” “Of course,” I replied, although it was in fact my first! My first time in a court and as a defence counsel. The judges laughed at me afterwards. I was a public defender and used whatever case law I could find in my closing speech! He was convicted, but the sentence was lenient.
•••
Before 2015, I was not aware of the way the police treat people who oppose political decision-makers. This escalated during the (politically-charged) protests about the monthly commemorations of the Smolensk air disaster in which (PiS founder) President Lech Kaczyński died. My friends were not able to take part because they were blocked by the police somewhere on the edge of the city, and the media had their equipment confiscated. I had heard about this but it was only when I saw the video material available to the court that I understood the scale of the phenomenon. Camera-wielding police were seemingly ‘hunting’ for protesters in order to capture them on film, catch them and take detailed notes of people’s behaviour. I had no idea that there were usually only a handful of protesters and that the police were no doubt using excessive force. They were checking people’s IDs and detaining them without any justification: the protesters were innocent. I am glad to have contributed, if only at a local level. Here in the Podlasie region there have been some acquittals. In 2020, we had an extremely large number of cases – some seventy odd people were arrested but there were only three convictions in the first instance. They were all changed to acquittals by the regional court. The courts are becoming convinced that we are right, that people are coming here and demonstrating their views is indeed a way to exercise their freedom of speech.
•••
At the moment we have a legal system that has been completely turned on its head and has been degraded and devalued for the past five years. The concept of the rule of law has been degraded because those in power carelessly pass laws which are then repealed. That is why we should appeal all the more to the Constitution, which they have not yet managed to change or overturn yet.
•••
There have been attempts by the authorities to bind attorneys and make the bar dependent on the ruling party in some way. There are proposals from the Ministry of Justice to take disciplinary jurisdiction away from the Bar Council and give it to the unconstitutional Disciplinary Chamber, which was created within the Supreme Court. There are also proposals from the Ministry of Justice that disciplinary proceedings against attorneys should be conducted by a public prosecutor. And of course, he – as Prosecutor General – would be the chief spokesman for the disciplinary prosecution. This is an attack on the very foundation and independence of the bar.
