Civil suit by Law and Justice Party (plaintiff) against Professor Wojciech Sadurski

Civil suit by Prawo i Sprawiedliwość i.e. Law and Justice Party (plaintiff) against Professor Wojciech Sadurski (University of Sydney and University of Warsaw). Case number II C21/19, suit lodged on 21 January 2019 in the District Court for Warsaw, 2^nd Civil Law Department. Court hearing set for 27 November 2019 at 9:00 am, Warsaw, District Court (Sąd Okręgowy), 2^nd Civil Law Department, address: Al. Solidarności 127 room 212.

The suit “for protection of personal rights ” [in Polish ”pozew o ochronę dóbr osobistych”] under Articles 23 and 24 par. 1 of Civil Code.

Factual basis: W. Sadurski published a text on Twitter (10 November 2018) characterizing PiS as “an organized criminal group”. The Tweet called upon citizens to boycott a so called “Independence March” to be held in Warsaw. The full text read: “If anyone still had any doubts, after the maneuver of the past two days this much should be clear: no honest person should go in a parade of defenders of the White race, who have hidden for a moment their “falangas” [a neo-Nazi symbol] and swastikas, in collusion with an organized criminal group PiS”.

In the Justification for its suit, the Plaintiff cited “the common understanding of Organized Criminal Group”, and the fact that the party is not such a group and has no criminal character. The Plaintiff claims that such a statement insults thousands of members of PiS and imputed criminal actions to them. The Plaintiff claims that the Defendant breached the ”personal rights ” of the Plaintiff, that he went far beyond the acceptable limits of freedom of expression, that he cannot claim that he acted in the public interest, and that the Defendant’s action was illegal. The Plaintiff cited several other public statements of the Defendant in which he used the concept of an organized criminal group  to describe the modus operandi of PiS, including in a public rally in Warsaw on 28 July 2018 and in a TV interview on TVN24 station on 27 July 2018.

Note: All additional information and comment may be obtained from Professor Wojciech Sadurski: wojciech.sadurski@sydney.edu.au