Law and Justice

Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, 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 is Jarosław Kaczyński, since 18 January 2003. PiS 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). Despite a poor showing in the 2001 parliamentary election, where it came 4th, PiS won the 2005 presidential and parliamentary elections and formed the Marcinkiewicz and Kaczyński governments. The governments included coalition ministers from the League of Polish Families and Self-Defence before collapsing in 2007. The rival Civic Platform (PO) emerged victorious in the 2007 snap election and formed a coalition with the Polish People's Party, which served two terms, retaining a majority in the 2011 parliamentary election. PiS lost the presidency following the death of president Lech Kaczyński and administration officials in the Smolensk air disaster — acting president Bronisław Komorowski of PO was elected to the presidency in 2010, winning against Jarosław Kaczyński in the second round. Law and Justice concluded its period in opposition when it won an upset victory in the 2015 presidential election and an outright majority of seats in the 2015 parliamentary election, retaining its majority in 2019 and the presidency in 2020. It governed for eight years, forming the Szydło and Morawiecki cabinets, until losing its parliamentary majority in 2023 and returning to opposition despite winning the highest number of seats. The party's candidate, Karol Nawrocki, scored another upset victory in the 2025 presidential 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. During the 2010s, it also adopted right-wing populist positions. After regaining power in 2015, PiS gained popularity with more populist and social policies. It has also pursued close relations with the Catholic Church. The party is also described as "left-paternalistic", and left-conservative. It is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists, and on national-level, it heads the United Right coalition. It has been accused of authoritarianism and contributing to democratic backsliding, and attracted widespread international criticism and domestic protest movements.