Polish lustration law ruled unconstitutional

Last Friday Poland's constitutional court repealed most of what is known as the lustration law, which is aimed at uncovering cooperation with the former communist secret service. It also ruled that leftwing liberal EMP Bronislaw Geremek should not be dismissed from office. Jaroslaw Kurski comments on the move in the 'Gazeta Wyborcza', which opposed the law from the very beginning. "In the course of the trial it has become clear that the governing PiS party [Law and Justice Party] wanted to use secret service files to strengthen its rule. It even - unsuccessfully - tried to use them against the judges of the court. The court has taught the party a hard lesson in matters pertaining to the rule of law. It has demonstrated the difference between justice and revenge, between purging and retribution. This is a terrible defeat for the PiS. The judges have not only destroyed the showpiece project of the entire lustration-law camp, they have created a solid and inviolable constitutional foundation for the lustration law. The court resisted the considerable pressure exerted on it by the PiS and defended the rule of law in Poland. For this the judges deserve our respect and gratitude."

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