Poland passes contested judiciary laws in first test for new PM Morawiecki

The lower chamber of the Polish parliament, the Sejm, passed laws on December 8 making the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party the decisive influence on appointing judges in the country’s judiciary.

کد خبر: ۷۵۴۳۰۳

تاریخ: ۲۰ آذر ۱۳۹۶ - ۱۱:۰۹

The passing of the laws looks likely to be an immediate test for the new Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. The new PM, who is scheduled to win the confidence vote this week, was put forward by PiS’ chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski in an apparent attempt to improve Poland’s tarnished image abroad, which threatens investment. Morawiecki has so far given the judiciary reforms strong support at home.

However, the issue of the PiS-sponsored reforms of the judiciary is Poland’s biggest problem in its relationship with the EU. Brussels is probing the reforms for potentially breaching the bloc’s rule of law principles to which Poland agreed when joining in 2004. In effect, Poland might be the first member state to face the so-called “nuclear option”, or being stripped of its voting rights in the bloc.

One of the passed laws concerns the new organisation of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), a body that decides judge appointment in Poland’s courts. The passed law gives PiS a majority in the KRS and the resulting power to control judge nominations. Critics fear this will lead to favouring of PiS functionaries in court cases while citizens’ right to a fair trial could be compromised.

The other passed law gives PiS power to change the line-up of the Supreme Court to its favour. Critics argue the PiS could now be able to compromise issues such as the fairness of elections without the check provided by the Supreme Court.

The Council of Europe’s Commission for Democracy through Law – the so-called Venice Commission – said on December 8 that the “cumulative effect of proposed reforms puts at serious risk the independence of all parts of the Polish judiciary".

All eyes are now on President Andrzej Duda who can veto the laws. He vetoed PiS’ previous attempt at passing the laws on the KRS and Supreme Court and proposed his own legislation. PiS however altered Duda’s proposals considerably.