Law and Justice

Formation The party was created on a wave of popularity gained by Lech Kaczyński while heading the Polish Ministry of Justice (June 2000 to July 2001) in the AWS-led government, although local committees began appearing from 22 March 2001.The AWS itself was created from a diverse array of many small political parties. In coalition government: 2005–2007 of Białystok, May 2019 In the 2005 general election, PiS took first place with 27.0% of votes, which gave it 155 out of 460 seats in the Sejm and 49 out of 100 seats in the Senate. It was almost universally expected that the two largest parties, PiS and Civic Platform (PO), would form a coalition government. In the 2006 Polish local elections that took place in November 2006, PiS narrowly lost the contest for the first place with Civic Platform. However, the coalition partners of Law and Justice, Samoobrona and LPR, lost roughly two-thirds of their supports in the elections, questioning the stability of the coalition. On 6 September 2007, the Sejm was dissolved and the 2007 snap election was called. In opposition: 2007–2015 and Andrzej Duda, 18 April 2013 In the 2007 general election, PiS managed to secure 32.1% of votes. Although an improvement over its showing from 2005, the results were nevertheless a defeat for the party, as Civic Platform (PO) gathered 41.5%. The party won 166 out of 460 seats in the Sejm and 39 seats in Poland's Senate. The two partners of PiS from the 2006-2007, Samoobrona and LPR, fell below 5% and lost all theirs seats, despite polling around 5% shortly before the election. Jarosław Kaczyński became the sole leader of the party. He was the presidential candidate in the 2010 elections. In the 2010 election, Jarosław gathered 46.99% of the vote, losing to Civic Platform candidate Bronislaw Komorowski, who won with 53.01%. In majority government: 2015–2023 demonstration in Warsaw against the ruling Law and Justice party, on 7 May 2016 The party won the 2015 parliamentary election, this time with an outright majority—something no Polish party had done since the fall of communism. In the normal course of events, this should have made Jarosław Kaczyński prime minister for a second time. However, Beata Szydło, perceived as being somewhat more moderate than Kaczyński, had been tapped as PiS's candidate for prime minister. The party supported controversial reforms carried out by the Hungarian Fidesz party, with Jarosław Kaczyński declaring in 2011 that "a day will come when we have a Budapest in Warsaw". PiS's 2015 victory prompted creation of a cross-party opposition movement, the Committee for the Defence of Democracy (KOD). Law and Justice has Proposed 2017 judicial reforms, which according to the party were meant to improve efficiency of the justice system, sparked protest as they were seen as undermining judicial independence. While these reforms were initially unexpectedly vetoed by President Duda, he later signed them into law. In 2017, the European Union began an Article 7 infringement procedure against Poland due to a "clear risk of a serious breach" in the rule of law and fundamental values of the European Union. The party has caused what constitutional law scholar Wojciech Sadurski termed a "constitutional breakdown" by packing the Constitutional Court with its supporters, undermining parliamentary procedure, and reducing the president's and prime minister's offices in favour of power being wielded extra-constitutionally by party leader Jarosław Kaczyński. After eliminating constitutional checks, the government then moved to curtail the activities of NGOs and independent media, restrict freedom of speech and assembly, and reduce the qualifications required for civil service jobs in order to fill these positions with party loyalists. The media law was changed to give the governing party control of the state media, which was turned into a partisan outlet, with dissenting journalists fired from their jobs. Due to these political changes, Poland has been termed an "illiberal democracy", "plebiscitarian authoritarianism", or "velvet dictatorship with a façade of democracy". The party won reelection in the 2019 parliamentary election. With 44% of the popular vote, Law and Justice received the highest vote share by any party since Poland returned to democracy in 1989, but lost its majority in the Senate. In opposition: 2023–present The United Right alliance placed first for the third straight election and won a plurality of seats but fell short of a Sejm majority. The opposition, consisting of the Civic Coalition, Third Way, and The Left, achieved a combined total vote of 54%, managing to form a majority coalition government. Although PiS would be unable to govern on its own, the Polish president Andrzej Duda stated his intention to re-appoint the incumbent Mateusz Morawiecki as prime minister due to the existing albeit unofficial convention of nominating a member of the winning party. The four opposition parties criticized Duda's decision as a delay tactic. The opposition parties subsequently signed a coalition agreement on 10 November, de facto taking over control of the Sejm, and agreed to nominate former prime minister and European Council President Donald Tusk as their candidate. Morawiecki's new cabinet, dubbed "two-week government" and "zombie government" by the media due to its anticipated short-livedness, was sworn in on 27 November 2023. As expected, the Morawiecki's government was defeated in the Sejm on 11 December 2023, effectively ending its tenure. The party's endorsed candidate, Karol Nawrocki, won the 2025 Polish presidential election in an upset victory. On 7 March 2026, Przemysław Czarnek was named as the party's candidate for the office of Prime Minister for the Next Polish parliamentary election. 2024 party subsidy issue On 14 March 2024, the President appointed a new composition of the National Electoral Commission (PKW), selected by the Sejm in December 2023. While remained the chairman of the PKW, a position he held since 11 February 2020 and as his deputy, seven other members were recommended by different parties in parliament: KO recommended and , PiS recommended and , PSL recommended , PL2050 recommended , and Lewica recommended Ryszard Kalisz. On 29 August, the PKW ruled 5:3 to penalize PiS by refusing to return 10.8 million PLN for 36 million designated to it via party subsidy, alleging the party misused 3.6 million PLN of their provided campaign funds in the 2023 parliamentary election. Despite PiS appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court issued no verdict within the 60-day deadline. The party appealed to its members and supporters for financial aid in donations. The PKW tied in a vote on 23 September regarding whether the committee recognizes the Supreme Court as valid considering the ongoing constitutional crisis. Further penalizations by the PKW on 18 November occurred thereafter, with the Commission ruling 5:4 to deprive PiS of its entire 75 million PLN subsidy for the three next years. PiS likewise appealed this decision to the Supreme Court, which the Supreme Court ruled invalid on 11 December, obligating the PKW to return PiS its subsidy. The Commission voted 5:4 to adjourn the meeting on 16 December without recognizing the Supreme Court or its ruling. On 30 December, a re-vote was held on the matter of whether it recognizes the Supreme Court, ruling 4:3 in favor of recognizing its verdict on this matter, and accepting the Supreme Court's decision to return the funds to PiS. Subsequently, the matter was relayed to the Ministry of Finance, in charge of granting subsidies. In reaction to the ruling, several politicians commented. Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated on X that he does not recognize the PKW positively ruling on granting PiS its subsidy. Marshal of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia stated the need for a compromise that lets Poles decide on a President without the validity of the president-elect's mandate being disputed by different parties. On 8 January 2025 Minister of Finance Andrzej Domański refused to recognize the PKW's ruling affirming PiS is to be granted its subsidy, stating the verdict was written in a "self-contradictory" way. Sylwester Marciniak, the PKW chairman, responded by stating the verdict was written clearly and demanding the Ministry grant PiS its allotted funds. Prime Minister Tusk expressed doubt over the legal validity of the PKW verdict, defending his Minister. A poll suggests 47.1% of Poles (98% of PiS voters, 71% of TD voters, 53% of Lewica voters) support PiS receiving the funds, and 46.9% (85% of PO voters, 80% of Konfederacja voters) are against. Breakaways In January 2010, a breakaway faction led by Jerzy Polaczek split from the party to form Poland Plus. Its seven members of the Sejm came from the centrist, economically liberal wing of the party. On 24 September 2010, the group was disbanded, with most of its Sejm members, including Polaczek, returning to Law and Justice. On 16 November 2010, MPs Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, Elżbieta Jakubiak and Paweł Poncyljusz, and MEPs Adam Bielan and Michał Kamiński formed a new political group, Poland Comes First (Polska jest Najważniejsza). Kamiński claimed that the Law and Justice party had been taken over by far-right extremists. The breakaway party formed following dissatisfaction with the direction and leadership of Kaczyński. On 4 November 2011, MEPs Zbigniew Ziobro, Jacek Kurski, and Tadeusz Cymański were ejected from the party, after Ziobro urged the party to split further into two separate parties – centrist and nationalist – with the three representing the nationalist faction. Ziobro's supporters, most of whom were on the right wing of the party, formed a new group in Parliament called Solidary Poland, leading to their expulsion, too. United Poland was formed as a formally separate party in March 2012, but has not threatened Law and Justice in opinion polls. United Poland which would later become Sovereign Poland merged with Law and Justice on 12 October 2024 during PiS congress in Przysucha. ==Base of support==

. and Austrian Partition). Results of the 2015 Polish parliamentary election. . Like Civic Platform, but unlike the fringe parties to the right, Law and Justice originated from the anti-communist Solidarity trade union (which is a major cleavage in Polish politics), which was not a theocratic organisation. Solidarity's leadership wanted to back Law and Justice in 2005, but was held back by the union's last experience of party politics, in backing Solidarity Electoral Action. Since 2015, the borders of support are not as clear as before and party enjoys support in western parts of country, especially these deprived ones. Large cities in all regions are more likely to vote for a more liberal party like PO or .N. Still, PiS receives good support from poor and working class areas in large cities. Based on this voter profile, Law and Justice forms the core of the conservative post-Solidarity bloc, along with the League of Polish Families and Solidarity Electoral Action, as opposed to liberal conservative post-Solidarity bloc of Civic Platform. The most prominent feature of PiS voters was their emphasis on decommunisation. distinguishes three main voters groups that form the base of Law and Justice's support. The first group are conservative Catholics, which support efforts to empower the Church and embrace anti-progressive, conservative social norms. The second group are secular intellectuals which are committed to "Polishness" and an enhanced international position of Poland; they support PiS to push back against the influence of the European Union, which they regard as a tool for Western domination. The third group are the working-class and poor voters that support PiS because of its economic policies which address the economic insecurity and wealth inequality of Poland. The workers that are particularly supportive of PiS are industrial workers and unionized labor, "where classic labor traditions are strongest." These workers also tend to be culturally conservative, which further aligns them with PiS. The trade union Solidarity has emerged as a staunch ally of Law and Justice in 2015, when the party's presidential candidate Andrzej Duda signed a pledge to implement the economic reforms proposed by Solidarity. Ost wrote: "In its first two years in power, as already noted, PiS essentially delivered on each of the promises.The reduction of the retirement age, the increases in the minimum and hourly wage, the fight against “junk contracts,” the commitment to do battle with the EU in order to subsidize national industrial champions, the greater respect accorded to unions: All of this has made full-time manufacturing employees PiS’s most loyal working-class constituency." Ost also notes that given the decline of trade unions in Poland, the PiS' vote potential lies in marginalized labor: ==Ideology==

The party is commonly placed on the right wing of the political spectrum. Many observers have also classified it as a far-right party, while others placed it on the centre-right of the political spectrum. The party's economic ideology has been described as left-wing, or left-leaning. It has also been described as left-authoritarian, as it represents "left-wing positions on economic policy combined with authoritarian, conservative and nationalist positions on cultural policy issues". It combines conservative, egalitarian and populist elements in its ideology. It is considered to combine policies from the right and left. On foreign policy, PiS is Atlanticist and less supportive of European integration than Civic Platform. and opposes a federal Europe, especially the Euro currency. In its campaigns, it argues that the European Union should "benefit Poland and not the other way around". It is a member of the anti-federalist European Conservatives and Reformists Party, having previously been a part of the Alliance for Europe of the Nations and, before that, the European People's Party. Although it has some elements of Christian democracy, it is not a Christian democratic party. Early ideology The ideological roots of Law and Justice go back to the late 1980s to a Christian-democratic and nationalist wing of the Solidarity movement. The party derives from a dissident faction of Solidarity which felt alienated from the economically liberal policies of the post-communist Polish establishment. This faction was centered around Jarosław Kaczyński as well as President Lech Wałęsa, and was powerful, albeit briefly, in the early 1990s when the capitalist transition was in its early stages. However, it suddenly lost all influence when Kaczyński's party, Centre Agreement, failed to reach the newly-established 5% electoral threshold in the 1993 Polish parliamentary election. This led the political movement that would later form PiS to spend the rest of the 1990s with only marginal political influence. It slowly started to re-establish itself in the late 1990s, as this period marked the strongest and most persistent wave of public dissatisfaction with economic liberalism and corruption. For the first years after its foundation, Law and Justice was characterized as a moderate, single-issue party narrowly focused on the issue of 'law and order', appealing to voters concerned about corruption and high crime rates. In its 2002 assessment of Poland, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate led by the UK government described Law and Justice as "basically a law and order party". In 2003, German political scientist Nikolaus Werz classified Law and Justice as a centrist, law-and-order party that "advocates a strong state, the fight against corruption and the tightening of criminal law". Werz contrasted the moderation of PiS with the radicalism of League of Polish Families, which he described as a nationalist and 'Catholic-fundamentalist' party. In 2003, political scientists Wojciech Sokół and Marek Żmigrodzki classified PiS as Christian democratic. Initially, the party was broadly pro-market, although less so than the Civic Platform. It had adopted the social market economy rhetoric similar to that of western European Christian democratic parties. According to Michał Krzyżanowski and Natalia Krzyżanowska, the 2000s PiS was "right-centrist and Christian-democratic", and described its core tenets as political Catholicism, strong conservatism, anti-liberalism, nationalism, Euroscepticism, and socio-economic welfare protectionism. Shift towards modern program In 2005, Law and Justice made Civic Platform its main ideological opponent despite their previous closeness - Law and Justice posed a difference between Civic Platform's "liberal Poland" and its "social Poland". The former was marked by economic liberalism, austerity, deregulation and "serving the rich". In contrast, Law and Justice stressed its "social" character, pledging policies that would help the poor. The party attacked Civic Platform's flat tax proposal and advocated a much more active role of the state in the economy. Law and Justice also made "an offer to the left", stressing its economically left-wing policies. The party's pivot towards the economic left led the leader of far-left Samoobrona, Andrzej Lepper, to endorse Lech Kaczyński in the 2005 Polish presidential election, arguing that left-wing voters must vote against the neoliberalism of Civic Platform; Lepper also justified his decision on the basis of Kaczyński's declarations in support of funding social welfare, fighting unemployment and taking a tougher stance towards the European Union. Law and Justice had undergone a radical ideological change, abandoning its centrist position towards an increasingly populist and nationalist political orientation. This change was also marked by a pivot on the party's position towards the European Union - initially strongly supportive of European integration, PiS became an Eurosceptic party that criticized the EU from nationalist, protectionist, and anti-neoliberal perspectives. Law and Justice then started radicalizing and broadening its program following its victory in the 2005 Polish parliamentary election. In 2006, Chicago Tribune wrote that "President Kaczynski's Law and Justice Party ran on a populist reform platform but veered sharply to the right after its victory". The same year, Polish journalist wrote: "When they started out, the Kaczynski brothers were fairly mainstream … but now they've gotten into bed with the League of Polish Families and Samoobrona. They are moving to the right, and it's a pretty intolerant right." According to Polish political scientists Krzysztof Kowalczyk and Jerzy Sielski, Law and Justice had moved from a single-issue party in 2001 to a staunchly and broadly conservative one by 2006. They noted that by 2006 the party started calling for a "conservative revolution" that would restore traditional values to Poland, and gradually adopted right-wing populist rhetoric characterized by a "somewhat leftist" economical policy to undercut the appeal of far-right anti-capitalist League of Polish Families (LPR), agrarian socialist Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland (Samoobrona) and the agrarian Polish People's Party (PSL). The populist pivot of PiS is credited with causing the electoral blowout of Samoobrona and LPR in the 2007 Polish parliamentary election. In 2015, the party was said to have shifted further left economically, adopting "a more social and less patriotic/conservative" program. In 2024, Marko Zilovic of the George Washington University argued that by 2019, PiS and Hungarian Fidesz have been "rarely thought of as belonging to the mainstream right anymore" because "The combination of left-leaning economic policies and strong cultural conservativism separates them from most other mainstream right parties and puts them in the proximity of the left-conservative parties". In 2025, the German political scientists Sarah Wagner and L. Constantin Wurthmann classified PiS as a left-conservative party, comparing it to the German Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance. ==Party factions==

The party has two factions that are engaged in power struggle for the dominance in the party — the Scouts (), and the Butter-Makers (). The Scouts represent the political environment of former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, and the name refers to the fact that many members of the faction were in the Scouting Association of the Republic in their youth. The Butter-Makers do not have a single leader. The faction's name was coined by one of the Scouts, PiS MEP Waldemar Buda, and refers to a social media post by Bocheński in which he expressed outrage about being offered German butter on a LOT Polish Airlines flight; under popular pressure, LOT published an explanation stating that it supports Polish producers, but uses the catering services of destination airports for logistical reasons, which in Bocheński's case was Frankfurt. The Scouts are described as centre-right and technocratic. They believe that PiS must focus on investing in infrastructure, energy, and economic growth, and de-emphasize "culture wars". The members of this faction include Piotr Müller, Waldemar Buda, Olga Semeniuk-Patkowska, Krzysztof Szczucki, Anna Gembicka, Michał Dworczyk, Paweł Jabłoński, Marcin Horała and Janusz Cieszyński. Key representatives of this faction are Patryk Jaki, Przemysław Czarnek, Jacek Sasin, and Tobiasz Bocheński. There are also two factions that are now considered historical — the Monks (), and the Ziobrists (). The Monks were the "old guard" of the party and were also known as the "Order of the Centre Agreement", as it referred to the closest environment of Jarosław Kaczyński and consisted of people who were members of the Centre Agreement, a 1990s party led by Kaczyński brothers that preceded PiS. People who used to be the members of this faction, such as Mariusz Błaszczak, are considered to have been absorded by the Butter-Makers. Ziobryści were, in turn, supporters of the former Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro, and included the members of his party Sovereign Poland. Members of this faction included Jacek Ozdoba, Sebastian Kaleta, and Patryk Jaki. They have since become a part of the Butter-Makers instead. ==Platform==

Economy and LPR are shown as very similar ideologically to PiS. The party supports a state-guaranteed minimum social safety net and extensive state intervention in the economy, and argues that a "more socially sensitive and less market-dominated" economic system is necessary. It seeks to increase healthcare spending to 6% of the Polish GDP, and nationalize hospital debts. During the 2015 election campaign, it proposed tax rebates related to the number of children in a family, as well as a reduction of the VAT rate (while keeping a variation between individual types of VAT rates). In 2019, the lowest personal income tax threshold was decreased from 18% to 17%. Its policies have been described as redistributive, and that its 2015–2023 government marked "the first time in over two decades that a government had taken steps to curb the neoliberal dismantling of social services" in Poland. Law and Justice is described as state-interventionist and anti-privatisation, opposing flat tax and favoring a welfare state based on extensively developed state-run health service. In its 2006-2007 government, it committed to expanding welfare spending and the role of the state in the economy, often at expense of foreign investors and the European Commission. It halted the construction of foreign-owned supermarkets and prevent the existing ones from opening on Sundays in an effort to prevent monopolization. In 2006, it also set up commissions to investigate and scrutinize sale of Polish banks to foreign entities after 1989, and to investigate the role of the Polish Central Bank in privatization. And subsequently on an annual basis starting in 2020. A 14th pension was introduced on 21 January 2021 and is now paid out with 13th pension. PiS opposes cutting social welfare spending, and also proposed the introduction of a system of state-guaranteed housing loans. The party also opposes foreign ownership of crucial industries and businesses, and proposed buying back the largest convenience store chain in Poland, Żabka, from its foreign owners. It also supports state provided universal health care. PiS has been also described as statist, protectionist, solidarist, and interventionist. It also holds agrarianist views. Given the redistributive and protectionist agenda of the party as well as its focus on welfare and nationalization, political scientists classify Law and Justice as economically left-wing. Reuters, and The Routledge Handbook of East European Politics. Political economist Cédric M. Koch wrote that PiS combines "political communitarianism with neo-socialist economic views". The economic policies of Law and Justice marked a notable departure from the economically liberal policies of other Polish governments. The party rallies against the "Republic of the Rich", highlighting the wealth inequality in Poland and the need for redistribution and welfare expansion. The party's former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated: "It turns out that the rules of capitalism are not sacred, inviolable and uniform... in the new Polish economic and social model we are demonstrating to Europe how social solidarity can be coupled with dynamic economic development. Solidarism should be that economic system." Morawiecki also asserted that the "socialist working-class thought is deeply rooted in the philosophy of Law and Justice". Jarosław Kaczyński in turn argued: "The left has completely lost its social sensitivity (...), social sensitivity is here today, among other places, right where I am at this moment. And if it were to be associated with left-wing politics — because it is obviously not true that social sensitivity has ever been the monopoly of the left — then it has to be said that the left is here, not there." Political scientists Haris Dajč and Natasza Styczyńska write of a political realignment that Law and Justice embodies: Writing on the economic policies of Law and Justice and their character, American political scientist wrote: Political scientists Michał Zabdyr-Jamróz, Olga Löblová, Alexandru D. Moise, and Iwona Kowalska-Bobko argued that PiS is ideologically "a combination of Christian conservatism in cultural policies and social-democratic welfare policies". They noted that PiS generally refrained from welfare chauvinism, "making it look almost social-democratic in comparison to the chauvinism of Western European parties". Law and Justice's return to power in 2015 marked a departure from neoliberalism, and made PiS a competition not only to the nominally left Lewica, but also even more economically left-oriented groups. Its economic approach has been described as left-wing, "neo-Weberian", and social-democratic; it focused especially on expanding healthcare access and guaranteeing free-of-charge services. and wrote: The economic views and policies of Law and Justice derive from the Polish political party Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland (Samoobrona) led by Andrzej Lepper. Law and Justice appropriated the economic rhetoric and views of Samoobrona following its complete collapse in the 2007 Polish parliamentary election. Samoobrona is an economically far-left party, much further left than parties of post-communist origin such as the social-democratic Democratic Left Alliance. After Samoobrona and the far-right anti-capitalist League of Polish Families (LPR) formed a coalition with PiS in 2006 in order to prevent the neoliberal Civic Platform from coming to power, Law and Justice managed to claim the voters of both parties by "taking up economically inclusionary discourse from the originally left-wing Self-Defence and outbidding the LPR on cultural conservatism". Similarly, Polish political scientist Marek M. Kamiński described PiS as "culturally conservative, economically social democratic". Foreign Affairs remarked that the program of PiS "amounts to a very leftist (or, rather, a Catholic socialist) set of economic policies", listing policies such as increasing minimum wage, abolishing short-term job contracts, limiting self-employment contracts abused by employers to avoid benefit payments, decreasing retirement age, increasing family benefits, implementing social payments for large families, and enacting a special tax on foreign banks' assets and foreign big stores. Igor S. Putintsev wrote that "the political views of PiS are 70% right-wing and socioeconomic ones 100% left-wing", arguing that PiS pursuses a "proactive and consistent social policy", which included its 500+ state program, annulment of neoliberal pension reforms carried out under Civic Platform and reduction in retirement age. Putintsev credited PiS with constructing "a Polish model of a modern welfare state". The party claims to represent the "marginalised vast majority of Poles" who had to bear the costs of capitalist transformation, and states that its main goal is to provide the "common man its fair economic share of societal resources". Law and Justice is highly critical of neoliberalism, describing it as "anti-family" and arguing that neoliberal policies are responsible for social inequality, as well as maximizing profit at the cost of the "ordinary people" and "Catholic values". The party proposes increasing social benefit payments, raising the minimum wage, increasing expenditures on child nutrition and benefits to worse-off families. It also postulates more subsidies and state control of the Polish infrastructure, and expansion of the healthcare and education system. The party also opposes privatization, stating: "We cannot deprive the state of influence and responsibility for the social order, in particular for the weakest social groups whose situation as a result of the transformation has been rapidly deteriorating." The party moderated its policies in the wake of its coalition with far-left Samoobrona and far-right LPR in 2006, as both parties demanded withdrawal of Polish troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and distancing Poland from the European Union. Ever since its founding in 2001, Law and Justice had a catalogue of complex reforms in the sphere of defence and national security, which it also connected to economic matters. The party postulates a national security law that would expand the legal capabilities of special and public security services. Law and Justice proposed monitoring key industries such as energy, telecommunications, banking as well as stock exchange, including taking note of the ownership situation in these economic sectors and the main companies operating in these fields. The national security act and extensive monitoring of the economy were to provide the basis for the Polish government to safeguard economic security by partial or complete compulsory state buyouts of companies "whose operation on the market creates a direct or potential threat to national security". In this way, the party connected its anti-privatization views with its law-and-order proposals. although the party supports integration with the European Union on terms beneficial for Poland. It supports economic integration and tightening cooperation in areas of energy security and military operations, but is sceptical about closer political integration. It is against the formation of a European superstate or federation. PiS is in favour of a strong political and military alliance between Poland and the United States. In 2006, Kaczyński spoke of the EU: "My opinion of the EU is the following: A super state which polarizes countries' areas of competence but which at the same time is rather helpless because it only has a symbolic budget... The EU is an artificial creation." and anti-Russian stances. It has taken a hardline stance against Russia in its foreign policy since the party's foundation. The party vocally advocated for military aid to Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, but announced it would halt arms transfers in September 2023 following disagreements over the export of Ukrainian grain to Poland. The party has been described as divided between pro-Ukrainian and anti-Ukrainian factions. PiS has historically advocated for a pro-Israel policy, although relations with Israel deteriorated following the 2018 Amendment to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance and subsequent diplomatic incidents. In opposition, PiS called for the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador following the World Central Kitchen drone strikes, in which a Polish citizen was killed. The PiS government supported accession of Turkey to the European Union. PiS also advocates for a strong relationship with Hungary under Viktor Orbán, though they diverged over the Russo-Ukrainian War. Law and Justice criticised the Polish government's decision in 2008 to recognise the independence of Kosovo from Serbia. Social policies The party's views on social issues are much more traditionalist than those of social conservative parties in other European countries, and its social views reflect those of the Christian right. PiS has been described to hold right-wing populist views. The party presents itself as a champion of Catholicism, and in accordance with the Catholic social teaching, it opposes euthanasia and legal recognition of homosexual couples. It also supports strengthening restrictions on abortion. However, the party also took positions that conflicted with the Church's teaching, such as favoring the death penalty or demonstrating flexible stances on stem cell research and vitro fertilization. Family The party strongly promotes itself as a pro-family party and encourages married couples to have more children. Prior to 2005 elections, it promised to build three million inexpensive housing units as a way to help young couples start a family. Once in government, it passed legislation lengthening parental leaves. In 2017, the PiS government commenced the so-called "500+" programme under which all parents residing in Poland receive an unconditional monthly payment of 500 PLN for each second and subsequent child (the 500 PLN support for the first child being linked to income). It also revived the idea of a housing programme based on state-supported construction of inexpensive housing units. Also in 2017, the party's MPs passed a law that bans most retail trade on Sundays on the premise that workers will supposedly spend more time with their families. Abortion in Kraków (Five stars represent a common profanity, three represent the party name.) The party is anti-abortion and supports further restrictions on Poland's abortion laws which are already one of the most restrictive in Europe. PiS opposes abortion resulting from foetal defects which is currently allowed until specific foetal age. In 2016, PiS supported legislation to ban abortion under all circumstances, and investigate miscarriages. After the black Protests the legislation was withdrawn. In October 2020, the Constitutional Court ruled that one of three circumstances (foetal defects) is unconstitutional. However, many constitutionalists argue that this judgement is invalid. The party is against euthanasia and comprehensive sex education. It has proposed a ban of in-vitro fertilisation. Disability rights In April 2018, the PiS government announced a PLN 23 billion (EUR 5.5 billion) programme (named "Accessibility+") aimed at reducing barriers for disabled people, to be implemented 2018–2025. Also in April 2018, parents of disabled adults who required long-term care protested in Sejm over what they considered inadequate state support, in particular, the reduction of support once the child turns 18. As a result, the monthly disability benefit for adults was raised by approx. 15 per cent to PLN 1,000 (approx. EUR 240) and certain non-cash benefits were instituted, although protesters' demands of an additional monthly cash benefit were rejected. Gay rights The party opposes the LGBT movement and many of its postulates, in particular same-sex marriages and any other form of legal recognition of same-sex couples. In 2020, Poland was ranked the lowest of any European Union country for LGBT rights by ILGA-Europe. The organisation also highlighted instances of anti-LGBT rhetoric and hate speech by politicians of the ruling party. In Bączkowski and Others v. Poland, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that the ban of the parade violated Articles 11, 13 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The judgement stated that "The positive obligation of a State to secure genuine and effective respect for freedom of association and assembly was of particular importance to those with unpopular views or belonging to minorities". In 2016, Beata Szydło's government disbanded the Council for the Prevention of Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Intolerance, an advisory body set up in 2011 by then-Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The council monitored, advised and coordinated government action against racism, discrimination and hate crime. Many local towns, cities, and Voivodeship sejmiks comprising a third of Poland's territory have declared their respective regions as LGBT-free zones with the encouragement of the ruling PiS. During his successful 2020 election campaign, he pledged he would ban teaching about LGBT issues in schools; he also proposed changing the constitution to ban LGBT couples from adopting children. Nationalism Academic research has characterised Law and Justice as a partially nationalist party, but PiS's leadership rejects this label. Both Kaczyńskis look up for inspirations to the pre-war Sanacja movement with its leader Józef Piłsudski, in contrast to the nationalist Endecja that was led by Piłsudski's political archrival, Roman Dmowski. However, parts of the party, especially the faction around Radio Maryja, are inspired by Dmowski's movement. Polish far-right organisations and parties such as National Revival of Poland, National Movement and Autonomous Nationalists regularly criticise PiS's relative ideological moderation and its politicians for "monopolizing" official political scene by playing on the popular patriotic and religious feelings. However, the party does include several overtly nationalist politicians in senior positions, such as Digital Affairs Minister Adam Andruszkiewicz, the former leader of the All-Polish Youth; and deputy PiS leader and former Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz, the founder of the National-Catholic Movement. It has been also described as national-conservative. Refugees and economic migrants PiS opposed the quota system for mass relocation of immigrants proposed by the European Commission to address the 2015 European migrant crisis. This contrasted with the stance of their main political opponents, the Civic Platform, which have signed up to the commission's proposal. Consequently, in the campaign leading to the 2015 Polish parliamentary election, PiS adopted the discourse typical of the populist-right, linking national security with immigration. Following the election, PiS sometimes utilised Islamophobic rhetoric to rally its supporters. Examples of anti-migration and anti-Islam comments by PiS politicians when discussing the European migrant crisis: in 2015, Jarosław Kaczyński stated that Poland can not accept any refugees because "they could spread infectious diseases." In 2017, the first Deputy Minister of Justice Patryk Jaki stated that "stopping Islamization is his Westerplatte". In 2017, Interior minister of Poland Mariusz Błaszczak stated that he would like to be called "Charles the Hammer who stopped the Muslim invasion of Europe in the 8th century". In 2017, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Joachim Brudziński stated during the pro-party rally in Siedlce; "if not for us (PiS), they (Muslims) would have built mosques in here (Poland)." ==Structure==

Party leaders Vice-chairmen: • Mariusz Błaszczak • Joachim Brudziński • Tobiasz Bocheński • Przemysław Czarnek • Patryk Jaki • Anna Krupka • Antoni Macierewicz • Mateusz Morawiecki • Beata Szydło • Elżbieta Witek • Zbigniew Ziobro Treasurer: • Henryk Kowalczyk Spokesperson: • Rafał Bochenek Party discipline spokesman: • Karol Karski Chairman of the Executive Committee: • Piotr Milowański President of the Parliamentary Club: • Mariusz Błaszczak ==Election results==

Presidential Sejm Senate European Parliament • Currently 16: Zdzisław Krasnodębski is elected from the PiS register, but not a member of the party, Mirosław Piotrowski left PiS (08.10.2014), Marek Jurek is a member of Right Wing of the Republic. Regional assemblies County councils Mayors Presidents of the Republic of Poland Prime Ministers of the Republic of Poland Voivodeship Marshals Representation in regional assemblies Table last updated on 1 October 2025 ==See also==