Poland

According to the reply of the Commissioner for Human Rights to the Questionnaire about EBCO’s Annual Report 2022 (e-mail on 10/02/2023):

According to the case law of the Polish administrative courts, the services for defense purposes (świadczenia na rzecz obrony) cannot be equated with military service and are not covered by constitutional and international norms on conscientious objection^[1]. Therefore, no exemption can be granted from them on grounds of conscience. This position has been lately confirmed in two rulings of the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland^[2]. Although it can be argued that the relationship between some national defense services and the military sphere may be sufficiently strong to attract the guarantees arising from Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights^[3], this line of argumentation has not been reflected in the Polish case law yet. Taking into consideration the legal practice to date, this may continue to pose certain problems particularly for Jehovah’s Witnesses.”