Law and Justice
Law and Justice Prawo i Sprawiedliwość | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | PiS |
| Chairman | Jarosław Kaczyński |
| Founders | Lech Kaczyński Jarosław Kaczyński |
| Founded | 13 June 2001 |
| Split from | |
| Headquarters | ul. Nowogrodzka 84/86, 02-018 Warsaw |
| Youth wing | Law and Justice Youth Forum |
| Membership | 48,000 (2023 est.) |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing[A] |
| National affiliation | United Right |
| European affiliation | AEN (until 2009) ECR Party (since 2009) |
| European Parliament group | UEN (2004–2009) ECR Group (since 2009) |
| Colours | Blue White Red Cyan |
| Sejm | 180 / 460 |
| Senate | 34 / 100 |
| European Parliament | 20 / 53 |
| Regional assemblies | 258 / 552 |
| Voivodes | 0 / 16 |
| Voivodeship Marshals | 4 / 16 |
| City Presidents | 4 / 107 |
| Website | |
| pis.org.pl | |
^ A: The party is also considered economically left-wing, or left-leaning. | |
Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość [ˈpravɔ i ˌspravjɛˈdlivɔɕt͡ɕ] ⓘ, PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Reformists Group. Its chairman has been Jarosław Kaczyński since 18 January 2003.
It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct successor of the Centre Agreement after it split from the Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS). It won the 2005 parliamentary and presidential elections, after which Lech became the president of Poland. It headed a parliamentary coalition with the League of Polish Families and Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland between 2005 and the 2007 election. It placed second and they remained in the parliamentary opposition until 2015. It regained the presidency in the 2015 election, and later won a majority of seats in the parliamentary election. They retained the positions following the 2019 and 2020 election, but lost their majority following the 2023 Polish parliamentary election.
During its foundation, it sought to position itself as a centrist Christian democratic party, although shortly after, it adopted more culturally and socially conservative views and began their shift to the right. Under Kaczyński's national-conservative and law and order agenda, PiS embraced economic interventionism. It has also pursued close relations with the Catholic Church, although in 2011, the Catholic-nationalist faction split off to form United Poland. During the 2010s, it also adopted right-wing populist positions. After regaining power, PiS gained popularity with more populist and social policies. The party is sometimes labelled as "left-paternalistic".
It is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists, and on national-level, it heads the United Right coalition. It currently holds 190 seats in the Sejm and 34 in the Senate.
It has attracted widespread international criticism and domestic protest movements for allegedly dismantling liberal-democratic checks and balances.