1000 lawyers in Wrocław!

Lawyers discuss not only the law-making process in Poland, but also challenges facing the legal system, such as public health and migration.

– The legal problems to be solved in Europe and the world are many. The answer to them can be unpredictable, arbitrary moves by individual governments. Or rational and coordinated action based on predetermined rules. The rule of law and common sense suggest that only the latter can be effective. And how to achieve this in individual issues – this is what we want to discuss at the conference, explains Prof. Dariusz Adamski of the University of Wrocław.

A three-day international public law conference entitled. “Global Problems and Prospects in Public Law” takes place at the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics of the University of Wrocław. Key partners in this endeavour are the City Hall of Wrocław and the International Society of Public Law.

– Importantly, we are keen to discuss the responsibility of lawyers for how the law works and how it is perceived in society. To discuss the role of lawyers and writers in interpreting and solving global problems, we have invited Wrocław Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk, former Ombudsman Adam Bodnar and Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram, lawyer and co-founder of Free Courts,” says dr hab. Anna Śledzińska-Simon.

Participation in the conference is not restricted to lawyers, but has an open format. The conference is planned in a hybrid format: online and in-person sessions are held in parallel, and all events are streamed online. In total, around 1,000 people are taking part.

In addition to plenary sessions and 200 panel sessions, participants take part in numerous side and networking events. Adamski and Śledzińska-Simon acknowledge that the conference will be of historic importance.

– We want to show not only our hospitality and openness, but also our professionalism and our high scientific and content level. This is the first time that a legal congress of this kind is being held at a university in Central and Eastern Europe. We are delighted that, after months of preparation, we can be part of a truly international debate and even set the course for it, adds Adamski.

As the German minister, Katja Meier, said, it is not without reason that the meeting of lawyers from all over the world is in Poland.

– We have been in the European community for years and I think we share the same values of the European Union. One of these is the rule of law. Therefore, we are observing changes in the Polish legal system very carefully, and I make no secret of the fact that these observations fill me or us with great concern, especially when the foundations of the democratic independence of the courts are targeted. Time and time again, one can see dangerous actions indicating interference of the executive power in the independence of the Polish judiciary.

One of the guests at the conference was supposed to be the President of the Court of Justice from Luxembourg, Koen Lenarts, who had to cancel it the day before his arrival for health reasons. The organisation of the conference in Wrocław is welcomed by the city’s Vice-President Sebastian Lorenc

– The conference itself and its conclusions will provide important support for Polish democracy, for European integration processes, and for the maintenance and strengthening of all those values on which our European community is built.

The American organisers of the conference, as well as the President of the ICON-S association and the Minister of Justice of Italy, Marta Cartabia, emphasised in her welcoming speech that Wrocław and the University of Wrocław were deliberately chosen to host the meeting.

– Wrocław has always been a city that respects democracy, the principles that guide the European community and respects European values – this is probably the reason why the organisers from the international association ICON-S chose Wrocław and the University of Wrocław,” emphasises Lorenc.

The Wrocław meeting will conclude on Wednesday.