Zbigniew Ziobro
Ziobro in 2019
Minister of Justice
Public Prosecutor General
In office
16 November 2015 – 27 November 2023
PresidentAndrzej Duda
Prime MinisterBeata Szydło
Mateusz Morawiecki
Preceded byBorys Budka
Succeeded byMarcin Warchoł
Minister of Justice
Public Prosecutor General
In office
31 October 2005 – 16 November 2007
PresidentAleksander Kwaśniewski
Lech Kaczyński
Prime MinisterKazimierz Marcinkiewicz
Jarosław Kaczyński
Preceded byAndrzej Kalwas
Succeeded byZbigniew Ćwiąkalski
Member of the European Parliament
for Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie
In office
19 July 2009 – 1 July 2014
Personal details
Born
Zbigniew Tadeusz Ziobro

(1970-08-18) 18 August 1970 (age 53)
Kraków, Poland
Political partyLaw and Justice (2001–2011)
Sovereign Poland (since 2012)
SpousePatrycja Kotecka
Children2
Alma materJagiellonian University
Signature

Zbigniew Tadeusz Ziobro (Polish: [ˈzbiɡɲɛf ˈʑɔbrɔ] ⓘ; born 18 August 1970) is a Polish politician. He served as the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Poland in the Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki until 27 November 2023.[1] He previously served in the same role from October 2005 to November 2007, simultaneously serving as the Public Prosecutor General. He was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005 in the 13th Kraków district, running on the Law and Justice party list. He received over 120,000 votes in the parliamentary election, the highest percentage constituency results in the election.

Ziobro graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration of Jagiellonian University. He did not complete his PhD.[2] He was a member of the Lower House (Sejm) legislature from 2001 to 2005. Due to his proclaimed "battle against corruption", he became one of the more popular, but also polarizing, politicians in Poland. His uncompromising approach and publicized prosecutions earned him the title Man of the year 2006, awarded by Wprost magazine. However, some of his policies were repeatedly characterized as partisan and overzealous by local and international press, including The Economist.[3][4]

In 2007, the former Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Janusz Kaczmarek, allegedly linked to the Andrzej Lepper bribery case, was forced to resign. He subsequently made a series of attacks on members of the government, especially Ziobro.[5] In a media confrontation with the vice-PM Andrzej Lepper, Ziobro revealed that he had secretly recorded a conversation with Lepper.[6] In 2009 European Parliament election in Poland, he was elected in the Kraków constituency as an MEP. He received 335,933 votes, representing the second highest score in the country.[7]

Justice Minister of Poland (2017–2023)

Since 16 November 2015 Ziobro has been the Justice Minister of Poland in the cabinet of Beata Szydło. In February 2016 he became the Prosecutor General as well, which was the result of new law unifying both positions.[8]

On 20 August 2019 Ziobro's deputy Łukasz Piebiak resigned following allegations of "arranging and controlling" an online and offline smear campaign against judges critical of the government's efforts to put more political control over the judiciary. In private correspondence revealed by Onet.pl Piebiak claimed to be reporting his actions to an unnamed "boss".[9][10][11]

Ziobro was the architect of controversial reforms to the Polish judiciary, which were condemned by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Ziobro has announced Poland can not comply with EU rulings.[12] Ziobro has referred to EU rulings as "blackmail", saying Poland should not remain in the EU at all costs.[13]

In November 2023 he was succeeded by Marcin Warchoł.

Political views

Ziobro is a Catholic Integralist,[14] believing that Poland is a Catholic nation and should be guided by traditional Catholic morality.

Ziobro is opposed to the Istanbul Convention against gender violence. In July 2020 Ziobro declared he will begin preparing the formal process to withdraw Poland from the treaty.[15][16][17][18] He said that the treaty is harmful because it "requires that schools teach children about gender in an ideological way and de-emphasizes biological sex."[19] In 2012, when in opposition, Ziobro had referred to the treaty as "an invention, a feminist creation aimed at justifying gay ideology".[20]

Ziobro is against same sex marriage, with him saying in 2020 that it would be unacceptable for EU institutions to "force Poland to legalize gay marriage so it can get EU financial aid."[21]

In March 2021, Ziobro's justice ministry prepared a bill banning same-sex couples from adopting children, saying, “This solution corresponds to the views of the vast majority of Polish society”, favoring the traditional family.[22][23]

In August 2021, in the context of the years-long dispute between Poland and the EU over the Polish judicial reform, in particular over the Polish judicial disciplinary panel law, Ziobro said Poland should stay in the EU, but ‘not at any cost’.[24][13][25]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Zbigniew Ziobro poza rządem. Wiemy, kto go zastąpi". wydarzenia.interia.pl (in Polish). Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  2. ^ Zbigniew Ziobro. Determinator z wytycznymi. Krzysztof Burnetko. Ludzie Roku 2007. Polityka. 27 grudnia 2006.
  3. ^ Bad habits, The Economist, September 27, 2007
  4. ^ Squeaky if not clean, The Economist, September 6, 2007
  5. ^ "Szokujące przecieki z przesłuchania Kaczmarka" [Shocking leaks from Kaczmarek's interrogation]. gazetapl. August 22, 2007.
  6. ^ "Lepper: To Ziobro rządził dyktafonem, nie odwrotnie" [Lepper: It was Ziobro who ruled the recorder, not the other way around]. gazetapl. August 13, 2007.
  7. ^ "Wybory do Parlamentu Europejskiego 2009" [2009 European Parliament elections]. pe2009.pkw.gov.pl.
  8. ^ "Połączenie stanowisk ministra sprawiedliwości i prokuratora generalnego przegłosowano" [The merger of the positions of Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General was voted through]. Parlamentarny.pl (in Polish). Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  9. ^ Wanat, Zosia (August 20, 2019). "Senior Polish official quits in the wake of internet trolling allegations". POLITICO Europe. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  10. ^ Shotter, James (August 20, 2019). "Polish minister resigns over alleged judges smear campaign". Financial Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  11. ^ "Polish deputy minister targeted judges in hate campaign". EUobserver.com. August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  12. ^ "Polish justice minister says Warsaw cannot comply with EU's court ruling". Reuters.com. July 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Poland should not stay in EU at all costs, says minister". Reuters.com. August 6, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  14. ^ Nelson, Guth, Brent, James (2015). Religion and the Struggle for European Union: Confessional Culture and the Limits of Integration. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 9781626160712.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "Poland to quit treaty on violence against women, minister says". The Sydney Morning Herald. July 26, 2020.
  16. ^ "Poland to withdraw from treaty on violence against women". Aljazeera.com.
  17. ^ "Istanbul Convention: Poland to leave European treaty on violence against women". BBC News. July 25, 2020.
  18. ^ "Poland to quit Istanbul convention to curb gender-free agenda". Daily Sabah. July 25, 2020.
  19. ^ Murray, Shona (July 27, 2020). "'Pathetic': Poland's plan to quit domestic violence treaty slammed". euronews. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  20. ^ Santora, Marc (July 27, 2020). "Poland Considers Leaving Treaty on Domestic Violence, Spurring Outcry". The New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  21. ^ "Polish Justice Minister: 'Unacceptable' for EU to Force Poland to Embrace Gay Marriage | Voice of America - English". Voanews.com.
  22. ^ Mojak, Monika (March 12, 2021). "Poland prepares bill to ban same-sex couples from adopting children". Euractiv.com. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  23. ^ "Justice ministry wants ban on homosexual adoptions". Thefirstnews.com. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  24. ^ "Polish minister: Poland should not stay in the EU 'at any cost'". Politico.eu. August 6, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  25. ^ Warsaw, James Shotter in. "Poland should not stay in EU at 'any price', minister says". The Irish Times. Retrieved November 21, 2021.

External links

Ministers of Justice of the Republic of Poland
The Cabinet of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
The Cabinet of Jarosław Kaczyński
Cabinet of Beata Szydło
Cabinets of Mateusz Morawiecki
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