On Tuesday June 26, the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (IAJLJ) filed an amicus brief with the Polish Constitutional Court in an effort to have the Polish government cancel an amendment to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance, also known as the “Polish Denial Memory Law” or “Polish Holocaust Law.”
The IAJLJ argued that the Polish Law was overly broad and had contradicted the Polish Constitution and its value of freedom of expression. Moreover, the IAJLJ felt this law severely hampered Holocaust study across the world.
On Wednesday June 27, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed an amendment to the law, downgrading the offense from criminal to civil. While no one can say for sure why law was changed because many countries including Israel and the United States and many organizations across the world lobbied for its cancellation, the “IAJLJ feels confident that the filing of their amicus brief aided in the pressure being put on the Polish government to cancel this law” said, iAJLJ Deputy President attorney Calev Michael Myers.
According to Myers, the filing of this brief is just one of the many legal issues IAJLJ has tackled during its 49 years of efforts to help the Jewish people and Jewish causes across the world.
The IAJLJ’s mandate specifically calls for combating racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, unjust condemnations of Israel and infractions of international law. The IAJLJ is a non-profit non-governmental organization and holds a Category II Status in the United Nations’ Economic and Social Counsel and in the European Parliament.
