Judicial Mobilisation 2.0 - Judicial Independence While Rebuilding Rule of Law

The role of judges and judicial associations during the rule of law backsliding has been already a topic of legal and socio-legal research. Their role was mostly defensive – using legal tools in order to prevent the capture of judiciary. It turned however out to be also pro-active – it allowed to built a case-law of ECHR and CJEU on judicial independence standards, which already seem to be important in the context of transition to the rule of law. Shift of power in late 2023 in Poland seemed to be a challenge for judges, judicial associations and judicial independence. The paper discusses judicial involvement in rebuilding the constitutional order and aims at analysing new tools of judicial mobilization (drafting legislative acts among other things) and how it might affect judicial independence.