The VoiCEE podcast: The rule of law versus the rule by law

In this episode, Reporting Democracy editor and host Nicholas Watson discusses the issue surrounding the deterioration of the rule of law in the region, the condition of which the European Union is becoming increasingly worried, especially in Poland and Hungary. The rule of law is mentioned twice in the preamble to the Treaty on European Union. In Article 2, it stipulates that: “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights…” In this, the EU seeks to distinguish the rule of law — where the law applies equally and everyone is subject to it — with its antithesis the rule by law — where those in power can arbitrarily create and apply the law as they choose, with no accountability. The EU Commission already had several arrows in its quiver to deal with rule of law infractions among member states, namely infringement procedures and – if there was no resolution – the triggering of Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union. But in the past couple of years, Brussels has been adding new arrows to its quiver as worries rise that the deterioration in the rule of law will spread to other member states. How effective these new measures will be and what the future holds for those in the EU’s crosshairs ia discussed by guests: Piotr Buras – a journalist, author and expert on German and European politics who is the current head of the Warsaw office of the European Council on Foreign Relations; and Stanisław Burdziej, professor in the Department of Sociology at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, and co-founder and Member of the Board of Court Watch – a not-for-profit organization supporting positive changes in the Polish justice system through citizen court monitoring.