Krzysztof Jan Śmiszek (born 25 August 1979) is a Polish lawyer, politician, human rights activist and university lecturer. He has been a member of the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

since 2019 and Deputy

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

since 2023.

Biography

Education

In 2003, he graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields o ...

. In 2006, he graduated from the Postgraduate Studies in European Law at the University of Warsaw. In 2016, he obtained the degree of doctor of legal sciences in the discipline of law at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw based on the thesis entitled ''European equality standard and Polish law. Material and institutional aspects'', written under the direction of Mirosław Wyrzykowski, specializing in European law.

Professional activity

In the years 2003–2005, he worked as a lawyer in the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Status of Women and Men Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka and Magdalena Środa, where he was involved in the analysis and practical application of anti-discrimination legislation. For several years, he was the head of the Legal Group of the

Campaign Against Homophobia Campaign Against Homophobia (actual name: ''Kampania Przeciw Homofobii'', abbreviation: ''KPH'') is a Polish gay rights organisation, which aims to promote legal and social equality for people outside the heteronorm. It was founded in Warsaw in Se ...

Association. In the years 2008–2010, he worked in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

as a lawyer and program coordinator at Equinet - European Network of Equality Bodies. In the years 2011–2016, he was a researcher at the Human Rights Department of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. Since 2017, he is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Administration and International Relations at the Krakow Academy Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski. In 2018, he was a scholarship holder at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia. He gave guest lectures, including at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

and the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

at Austin.

Political activity

In 2019, he became involved in the political party

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

. In the elections to the European Parliament 2019, he unsuccessfully applied for a seat in the EP. In the parliamentary elections in 2019, he was elected a deputy to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland of the 9th term, gaining 43,447 votes. He was elected one of seven vice-chairmen of the Left parliamentary club. In November 2019, he was elected chairman of the newly formed LGBT+ Parliamentary Group on Equal Opportunity, in addition to being a member of the Justice and Human Rights Committee and the European Union Committee. He is also a member of the Polish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He was re-elected in the 2023 parliamentary election, gaining 34,577 votes. On 13 December 2023 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice in

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic ...

's third cabinet.

Personal life

Since 2002, he has been in a relationship with politician, political scientist, and

political party leader

Robert Biedroń Robert Biedroń (; born 13 April 1976) is a Polish politician, former mayor of Słupsk, and LGBT activist who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. Biedroń was a member of the Sejm during its 7th session (2011–2 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Śmiszek, Krzysztof 1979 births Living people University of Warsaw alumni Spring (political party) politicians Members of the Polish Sejm 2019–2023 Lawyers from Warsaw Gay politicians Polish gay men Polish LGBT politicians Polish LGBT lawyers People from Stalowa Wola Polish LGBT rights activists 21st-century Polish lawyers 21st-century Polish politicians LGBT legislators New Left (Poland) politicians Members of the Polish Sejm 2023–2027