New Ombudsman selected

Just days before the end of Prof. Marcin Wiącek’s term as Poland’s Commissioner for Human Rights, the Sejm elected his successor. The position will be taken over by Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram, an attorney and activist. Her candidacy was put forward by the Civic Coalition (KO) and The Left.

In Friday’s vote, the lawyer received 233 votes. She was also backed by MPs from Poland 2050, the Polish People’s Party (PSL) – with the exception of MP Marek Sawicki, who voted against both her and her rival Adam Borowski – as well as four independent MPs who had previously belonged to parliamentary groups forming the governing coalition.

Law and Justice (PiS) MPs voted against her. Confederation and Razem opposed both candidates. Marcelina Zawisza, an MP from Razem, said that neither candidate guaranteed a sufficiently high level of public trust in the office of Commissioner for Human Rights. She recalled that a candidate had been found for the position of president of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) whose appointment could have secured cross-party support. She was referring to Mariusz Haładyj.

PiS politicians, meanwhile, criticized the candidate for opposing the actions of the PiS government during its time in power from 2015 to 2023.

Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram elected Poland’s Commissioner for Human Rights

After the Sejm approved her appointment, Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram pledged that she was ready to represent citizens regardless of their views.

“I approach this with humility and a sense of responsibility. I believe that the future actions of the Commissioner for Human Rights will be the best measure of performance. I am a lawyer who has repeatedly represented people with different views from my own. This has never affected the way I act or distracted me from what matters most – protecting their rights and freedoms. The moment the Commissioner for Human Rights takes the oath of office, they put all their personal convictions aside,” Gregorczyk-Abram told journalists after the parliamentary vote.

Representatives of right-wing media outlets questioned her about her involvement in changes to Poland’s public media. The issue concerned motions submitted to prosecutors in December 2023, when changes at state television began following the change of government. As Wirtualna Polska portal reported in 2024, applications submitted to courts regarding attempts by PiS politicians to block those changes were allegedly prepared at the law firm Clifford Chance, where Gregorczyk-Abram was working at the time. The motions were filed by prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek, who is privately friends with the lawyer elected as Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday.

“I have never held a power of attorney to act on behalf of any public media organizations,” Gregorczyk-Abram said in the Sejm.

She was also asked whether Dr. Hanna Machińska could become her deputy. The lawyer and former deputy Commissioner for Human Rights, who served during Adam Bodnar’s term as commissioner, accompanied Gregorczyk-Abram in the Sejm gallery during the vote. The incoming Commissioner said she would decide on personnel matters after formally taking office.

The Senate will have to approve Gregorczyk-Abram’s nomination next week. Her term will last five years. This means that if there were a change of government in 2027, she would remain in office for almost the entire term of the next governing administration.

Who is the new Commissioner for Human Rights?

Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram is a lawyer and human rights activist. During the PiS government, she co-founded the Free Courts initiative, which opposed the judicial reforms introduced by Zbigniew Ziobro. She was also a co-founder of the Justice Defense Committee. She is a board member of the Prof. Zbigniew Hołda Association, an organization working to promote the rule of law and human rights.

Gregorczyk-Abram has also worked with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. She has appeared before the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, representing members of ethnic and sexual minorities as well as judges facing political pressure and disciplinary action.

After the change of government (in May 2025), she was appointed head of a commission investigating alleged repression against civil society organizations and social activists between 2015 and 2023. The commission was established by the Ministry of Justice.

During a public hearing for candidates for the post of Commissioner for Human Rights, she said she wanted to address issues such as the excessive use of pre-trial detention and lengthy court proceedings.

She also pledged to protect the rights of people with disabilities and older citizens, as well as to combat cyber threats. Although the opposition has accused her of being sympathetic to the current government, she has criticized the administration for restricting the right to asylum and allowing legislation providing assistance to Ukrainians to expire.

PiS candidate loses the vote

Adam Borowski also ran for the position of Commissioner for Human Rights. He is the head of the Warsaw branch of the Gazeta Polska club (a right-wing newspaper – ed.) and was a democratic opposition activist during the communist era in Poland. During the public hearing, he repeatedly expressed his opposition to the current government. He claimed that Poland has political prisoners and that the country is experiencing a state of lawlessness.

On issues such as the excessive use of pre-trial detention and restrictions on the right to asylum, his views were similar to those of his rival candidate. A significant part of his remarks echoed political narratives promoted by PiS. Examples included his defense of Constitutional Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and his refusal to recognize the replacement of the National Prosecutor, which took place after the change of government.

Adam Borowski declared that, if elected, he would represent not only his own political camp, although he openly acknowledged that he is a PiS voter. He has also run in several elections from PiS party lists.

During the parliamentary debate on the appointment of the Commissioner for Human Rights, independent MP Janusz Kowalski (until recently a member of PiS) supported Borowski’s candidacy while holding a copy of Borowski’s latest book. Its title is “Anything But TUSK. A Study of Treachery.”

Key Takeaways

1. Incoming Commissioner for Human Rights Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram is a lawyer and activist. During the PiS government, she protested against changes to the judiciary. She has appeared before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as a representative of various minority groups.
2. Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram received the support of 233 MPs. MPs from PiS, Confederation and the Razem party voted against her appointment. According to Razem MP Marcelina Zawisza, Gregorczyk-Abram is not a candidate who inspires trust beyond the political camp that supports her.
3. Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram’s rival was Adam Borowski, a former opposition activist and community organizer closely associated with PiS.