A two-day festival in Groningen, September 2021.
In 2021, inspired by a lecture by Professor John Morijn at the NGIZ, we organised a two-day festival in Groningen to bring attention to the ongoing rule of law violations in Poland and spark interest among students to engage with the topic. The festival brought together judges, lawyers, journalists, and academics from Poland and the Netherlands, and was attended by 100+ participants.
Tickets and merchandise raised EUR 1,446, donated in full to Oko.Press, an independent Polish investigative newspaper under serious political pressure back then.
The event gathered great interest among students from the University of Groningen and beyond, bringing together over 100 participants. This inspired us to continue our project and expand our focus to Europe as a whole.
The programme
The festival opened on Friday evening with a panel asking the most fundamental question: what is at stake, and why should we care? Judge Igor Tuleya, himself the subject of disciplinary proceedings by the Polish government at that time, joined Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias and journalist Anna Wójcik to set the stakes. That evening, attendees could also join a private dinner with one of our Polish rule of law heroes, followed by a screening of A Thousand Robes, a documentary on the Polish judicial crisis, with a discussion led by Kacper Lisowski, Michał Wawrykiewicz, and Fred van der Winkel.
Saturday brought a full day of parallel sessions.
On the legal front lines, lawyers Paulina Kieszkowska-Knapik and Michał Wawrykiewicz of Wolne Sady (#FreeCourts) spoke about defending rule of law activists, while Judges Igor Tuleya and Dariusz Mazur discussed judicial independence.
Journalists Anna Wojcik, Mariusz Jałoszewski, and Kacper Lisowski addressed how the crisis was being documented, and Dominik Kuc examined what Poland's violations of LGBTQ+ rights reveal about the EU's broader stakes.
An online-only session co-hosted by the Meijers Committee and NGIZ Noord, Wake Up Call for Academia, brought together John Morijn, Adam Bodnar, Anna Wójcik, Wojciech Sadurski, Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias, and Esther Hesp to ask EU scholars directly: why should you care about Poland, and what should you do? The day closed with a conversation between a Polish and a Dutch judge, Dariusz Mazur and Lydia Heuveling van Beek, on what judicial solidarity across borders actually looks like, before a community conversation on what we had learned and what comes next. ELSA hosted the closing reception.
Saturday brought a full day of parallel sessions.
On the legal front lines, lawyers Paulina Kieszkowska-Knapik and Michał Wawrykiewicz of Wolne Sady (#FreeCourts) spoke about defending rule of law activists, while Judges Igor Tuleya and Dariusz Mazur discussed judicial independence.
Journalists Anna Wojcik, Mariusz Jałoszewski, and Kacper Lisowski addressed how the crisis was being documented, and Dominik Kuc examined what Poland's violations of LGBTQ+ rights reveal about the EU's broader stakes.
Special feature from
Věra Jourová
Festival supporters
