Sprawiedliwość - Justice
An exhibition with photographs by Piotr Wójcik about the judiciary in Poland (February 16 to April 7, 2024)
What happens when politics tries to undermine the rule of law? Piotr Wójcik's portrait photographs of Polish judges, public prosecutors and lawyers who opposed the erosion of the Polish rule of law impressively showed our interested audience: The preservation of the rule of law always requires the commitment of the individual!
With the documentary photo exhibition Explore SPRAWIEDLIWOŚĆ - JUSTICE (in German only) the Forum Law Foundation showed from February 16 to April 07, 2024 in Karlsruhe and Leipzig are showing these portraits for the first time in Germany.
Background: The PiS and judicial reform in Poland
The Polish right-wing conservative government of the PiS party ("Prawo i Sprawiedliwość" / "Law and Justice") fundamentally restructured the Polish justice system between 2015 and 2023. In 2016, for example, it merged the office of Minister of Justice with that of Prosecutor General, turning the public prosecutor's offices into an extension of the government. Judges, public prosecutors and lawyers opposed these interventions - and had to fear repression for doing so. The civilian population protested against the judicial reform and its consequences for the rule of law, which the EU Commission also called out.
Focus on commitment to the rule of law
Piotr Wójcik, long-standing photojournalist for the Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and university lecturer, took this commitment in his country as the impetus for the project: "I then decided to document and present the profiles of these people who had the courage to say 'no' to the destruction of the legal system in Poland." The statements of the people portrayed and 32 photographs provided an insight into the thoughts of Polish lawyers who accepted personal and professional sacrifices in order to stand up for the rule of law. Created between 2020 and 2021, the images and quotes speak of courage, but also illustrate concerns about fundamental principles of the rule of law - sometimes hopeful, sometimes thoughtful and very personal.
The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany was proclaimed 75 years ago. The exhibition impressively demonstrated that the rule of law cannot be taken for granted. This makes it all the more important to stand up for it. Selected photographs from the project were also shown in the display windows at the Foundation's Leipzig site.
Get an overview of the topics and portraits even after the exhibition on site with our free online presentation and listen to exclusive interviews that were conducted with the people portrayed in 2024.
Recording of the discussion evening "Poland after the parliamentary elections: How can a constitutional state be rebuilt?" from March 7, 2024
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Insights
Photographs © Piotr Wójcik
Translations of the original Polish quotations on behalf of the Stiftung Forum Recht
About the photographer Piotr Wójcik
Piotr Wójcik worked between 1989 and 2011 as a Photojournalist and head of the photo department at Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's second-largest daily newspaper. He has been a university lecturer since 2011 and taught at the film school in Łódź. He currently teaches at the Faculty of Documentary Film at the University of Warsaw. Together with Dominique Roynette, he founded the Fundacja Picture Docwith which he has been developing and promoting documentary film projects for over ten years. Piotr Wójcik is also the author of books and exhibitions and focuses on social problems in Poland and the Roma community in Europe in his work.
The exhibition SPRAWIEDLIWOŚĆ - JUSTICE was a collaboration between the Forum Recht Foundation and Fundicja Picture Doc Warsaw. Find out more about the Fundacja Picture Doc under picture-doc.org.
Accompanying program
Get an overview of our extensive program accompanying the exhibition. At the beginning of the year, we invited people to reflect together on the situation in Poland and the role of the independence of the judiciary during guided tours and talks as well as other formats. Were you unable to take part in our formats back then? Subscribe to our Newsletter and don't miss out on any future offers!
Karlsruhe
Thursday, February 15, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
Opening
With a welcoming address by Dr. Stephan N. Barthelmess (Acting Director of the Stiftung Forum Recht), a discussion with photographer Piotr Wójcik (Fundacia Picture Doc) and a short lecture by Prof.'in Dr. Paulina Starski (Chair of German and Foreign Public Law, European and International Law, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg)
Stiftung Forum Recht, Karlstraße 45 A, 76133 Karlsruhe
Friday, February 16, 2024, 5:00 p.m.
Guided tour and discussion
with photographer Piotr Wójcik and curator Dominique Roynette
Stiftung Forum Recht, Karlstraße 45 A, 76133 Karlsruhe
Thursday, February 22, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
"Poland and democracy - judges under pressure"
Documentary film followed by a discussion, admission 8.00 euros
Kinemathek Karlsruhe, Kaiserpassage 6, 76133 Karlsruhe
Sunday, April 07, 2024, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Polish brunch with music and guided tours
in cooperation with Forum Polnischer Kultur Polonia e.V.
Stiftung Forum Recht, Karlstraße 45 A, 76133 Karlsruhe
Sunday, April 07, 2024, 5:30 p.m.
"Poland and democracy - judges under pressure"
Documentary film, admission 8,00 Euro
Kinemathek Karlsruhe, Kaiserpassage 6, 76133 Karlsruhe
Leipzig
Thursday, March 07, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
"Poland after the parliamentary elections: How can the rule of law
be rebuilt?"
Moderated discussion with guests from the judiciary, media and civil society in cooperation with the Neue Richtervereinigung e.V. and the Deutsch-Polnischen Richtervereinigung e.V.
Stiftung Forum Recht, Universitätsstraße 20, 04109 Leipzig
The event was also held in the Livestream transferred.