Thinking Democratically: A Comprehensive Approach to Countering and Preventing Shrinking Space
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create a parallel court system under the direct control of the Minister of Justice, who would be<br />
empowered <strong>to</strong> appoint judges <strong>and</strong> decide on budgets without any oversight. 58 In Pol<strong>and</strong>, a similar law<br />
was passed in 2015 <strong>to</strong> give the Ministry of Justice the exclusive power <strong>to</strong> dismiss <strong>and</strong> appoint<br />
Presidents <strong>and</strong> Vice-Presidents of courts, <strong>and</strong> the retirement age of judges was changed <strong>to</strong> purge the<br />
supreme court. 59 In response <strong>to</strong> pressure from the EU, which is investigating breaches of the rule of<br />
law in Hungary <strong>and</strong> Pol<strong>and</strong>, Hungary withdrew the law. The figure below illustrates the gradual<br />
regression in judicial independence in Hungary <strong>and</strong> in Germany, as well as a sharp decline in recent<br />
years in Romania <strong>and</strong> Pol<strong>and</strong>.<br />
All scoring runs from 0 <strong>to</strong> 1, with 1 representing the highest achievement.<br />
Source: International IDEA, Global State of Democracy Indices. Available here.<br />
Impunity<br />
Such a crackdown on the independence of the judiciary is especially harmful when it goes h<strong>and</strong> in<br />
h<strong>and</strong> with impunity for human rights violations <strong>and</strong> crimes against human rights defenders,<br />
journalists, civil society leaders <strong>and</strong> other public figures (as in Honduras, El Salvador, Indonesia). In<br />
Honduras, out of 68 violent deaths of people in the media sec<strong>to</strong>r in 2001-2016, 62 cases have gone<br />
58<br />
Human Rights Watch (2018): Hungary’s latest assault on the judiciary. Available here.<br />
59<br />
Netherl<strong>and</strong>s Helsinki Committee (2019): Struggle for the Rule of Law in Pol<strong>and</strong> Continues. Available here.<br />
28