Our Rule of Law Festival

“Our Rule of Law Festival” was the first event of our team. Inspired by the NGIZ-led lecture by Professor John Morijn, we wanted to bring attention to the ongoing rule of law violations in Poland and spark interest among students to act on it.

Our Rule of Law Festival consisted of 2 days full of events with many prominent judges, journalists and lawyers both from Poland and the Netherlands. Polish guests we hosted in Groningen included: Judge Igor Tuleya, Judge Dariusz Mazur, Lawyers Paulina Kieszkowska-Knapik and Michał Wawrykiewicz from Wolne Sądy (#FreeCourts), Journalists Anna Wójcik and Mariusz Jałoszewski and academic Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias. Online we were joined by Professor Wojciech Sadurski and Professor Adam Bodnar. The proceeds from the ticket and merch sale were donated to an independent Polish newspaper Oko.Press (1446 Euros).

The event was sponsored by the Law Faculty of the University of Groningen and supported by partners such as Meijers Committee, Netherlands Helsinki Committee, Amnesty International, NGIZ, ELSA Groningen and Nexus Groningen.

The event gathered great interest among students from the University of Groningen and beyond. This inspired us to continue our project and expand our focus to Europe as a whole.