Written answers
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Freedom of Speech
Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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110. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Polish Government has introduced a new law which criminalises persons that reference Polish complicity or involvement in the Holocaust during the Second World War; his views on whether this is an attempt to rewrite history; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17188/18]
Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The legislation to which the Deputy refers is an amendment to Poland’s Act on the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation Act – which criminalises public claims of responsibility or co-responsibility by the Polish nation or the Republic of Poland for Nazi crimes. The amendment was signed by the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, on 6 February 2018. President Duda has also referred the amendment to Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal to examine whether freedom of speech is limited in an unconstitutional manner by the provisions of the amended law. It is not known when the Constitutional Tribunal will make a decision on this matter.
I am aware that concerns have been raised about elements of the legislation, and that a high-level dialogue on historical issues is in place between Poland and Israel. I hope that Poland and Israel can reach agreement on this matter through their ongoing dialogue.
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