Application of EU Law on Equal Treatment in Poland. État de choses in 2020
After more than sixteen years of Poland’s membership in the EU, Polish equality law is far from the principle of effectiveness. The institutional setting is weak and the case-law is mostly disappointing. Within the last five years, state authorities have made significant efforts to deprive anti-discrimination instruments of practical effect - which was infamously demonstrated by e.g. the so-called “LGBT-free zones”. This article explores major areas of equality law in Poland (e.g. the Labour Code, penal law, and administrative law) in order to analyse the case-law and the functioning of the institutional mechanisms. The conclusion is that in practice Polish law does not assure full implementation of EU equality law.