Public apology concludes long-running court proceedings concerning false statements about the late Tadeusz Mazowiecki
 
The publication of a public apology for disseminating false information concerning the late Tadeusz Mazowiecki has brought to a close long-running court proceedings in which we represented Adam Mazowiecki and Wojciech Mazowiecki.
 
The case concerned the protection of our clients’ personal rights, in particular their right to cultivate the memory of a deceased person, in connection with public statements relating to the former Prime Minister of Poland. The claim was brought against a former member of the Lublin City Council who publicly commented on the late Tadeusz Mazowiecki while disseminating false information.
 
The proceedings required an in-depth legal analysis of the principles governing the protection of the honour and memory of a deceased person, taking into account the case law of the Supreme Court and the body of Polish civil law scholarship. After the Supreme Court set aside an earlier judgment in our clients’ favour and remitted the case for reconsideration, the Lublin Court of Appeal issued a final and binding judgment ordering the defendant to publish an apology. The apology was ultimately read out during a session of the Lublin City Council, bringing the proceedings to an end.
 
The case demonstrates that unlawful statements concerning a deceased person may infringe the personal rights of their closest relatives, including where the deceased was a public figure. Such protection must, however, always be assessed in light of the nature of the statement, its truthfulness, the context and the limits of public debate.
 
On behalf of SKP, the case was handled by Maciej Ślusarek, Katarzyna Lejman and Adrian Chodyna.