Meeting of the Weimar Triangle of Lawyers in Warsaw: Adoption of Two Resolutions with Regard to the Situation in Poland and Belarus

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Meeting of the Weimar Triangle of Lawyers in Warsaw: Adoption of two resolutions with regard to the situation in Poland and Belarus The Weimar Triangle of Lawyers, an alliance of the Paris Bar Association, the Warsaw Bar Association and the German Bar Association, was established almost a year ago in response to the growing attacks on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Poland. In view of the worsening crisis in Poland and other Eastern European countries, in particular Belarus, a meeting of the Weimar Triangle was held in Warsaw on 10 September 2020. Representatives of the legal professions of the three countries had a long discussion with Adam Bodnar, the Polish Ombudsman for Citizen Rights, as well as with the Association of Judges IUSTITIA and the NGOs Amnesty International, the Helsinki Foundation and Konstytucja. While the independence of Polish courts is continuously violated and judges and prosecutors face sanctions as soon as they pronounce justice, the rights of LGBT persons also have recently been violated. As an expression of their deep concern and their unwavering commitment to the rule of law and the proper administration of justice, two resolutions were signed by Marie-Aimée Peyron, former President of the Paris Bar, Mikolaj Pietrzak, President of the Warsaw Bar and Ulrich Schellenberg, former President of the German Bar Association. At the same time, they also support Belarusian lawyers who are threatened and arrested by the authorities for protecting the rights and freedoms of protesting citizens. The Weimar Triangle of Lawyers calls on the Polish government to respect its European and international obligations in order to protect the rights of all its citizens as well as the European judicial area. The Weimar Triangle of Lawyers calls on the Belarusian authorities to respect the fundamental rights of access to justice and to engage in a dialogue with the civil society. .

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