Andrzej Zybertowicz puts up a strong, if entirely illogical, defence of the law requiring journalists to swear to whether they did or did not cooperate with the secret services of communist Poland in Wednesday’s Rzeczpospolita. Journalists should sign the loyalty declarations beacuse they are “the fourth estate.” It’s that simple. I have scoured the constitution of Poland and I have not found any reference to the “estates.” In fact, I had always thought the division of society into the estates of king, clergy, nobility and scum was rather a medieval way of looking at things. And I’d love to see some of the privileges he claims journalists (remember that includes you if you hit the comments button) in Poland have. Nothing much – perhaps the occasional invite to an opening night or awards ceremony, free travel, access to politicians…

Zybertowicz also has recourse to principles. Refusal to declare whether or not you cooperated is not civil disobedience, which requires that at least two conditions be met: number the first — but wait a minute, Zybertowicz is making these principles up off the top of his head. No one is obliged to recognise his “conditions.”

As of today, the — at least nominally — independent courts no longer deal with the “lustracja” question. IPN, a government agency, does. Zybertowicz is a member of the IPN’s investigative team.