pro bono - Labour and employment law

Also in cooperation with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, we represented three journalists from a Polish public radio station in court proceedings challenging their disciplinary termination. The fired journalists were legally protected trade union activists. They were fired when, to support journalists from Polish Radio 3 removed from the air, they became involved in the social media campaign on silenced journalists, #kogoniesłychać. The cases were conducted as part of the foundation’s Free Media Observatory programme, devoted to monitoring the protection of freedom of expression in Poland and instances of infringement.

We defended a photo journalist who reported in the summer of 2017 on protests by activists in the Białowieża Forest. He was accused of crossing forest land at a prohibited location and refusing to leave the site when demanded by an authorised person. He was convicted by a summary judgment, which he appealed against. During the court proceeding the firm took the position that the photo journalist had not met the elements of the offences he was convicted of, as the prohibition on entering the forest was defectively issued. Moreover, in reporting on the situation from the Białowieża Forest and memorialising in photos the defence of one of the best-preserved natural forests in Europe, while archiving measures aimed at cutting the timber in the forest, he was serving the society in his role as a journalist. The journalist’s presence ensured that the anti-logging protests would be accurately reported and the society would be precisely informed of the events. The court acquitted the journalist, finding that his actions did not constitute the offences charged. The judgment is legally final. The case was conducted pursuant to a project of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights devoting to providing legal assistance to journalists and bloggers.