January 28, 2020

Polish Judiciary reforms: raising concerns over rule of law and democracy

topic:	Democracy
located:	Poland
editor:	Magdalena Rojo

The ruling conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) in Poland has been putting in place changes that allow control of judiciary systems by politicians since 2015. In October last year, the party was re-elected, and it introduced further laws for the judicial system.

PiS is known in Poland as the party fulfilling its promises in terms of social welfare. It has also been curbing media freedom and the new laws passed in regards to the work of judges have provoked demonstrations and worries amongst the Polish, the European Commission, and judges from other countries.

The controversial law that was passed in 2018 allowed the lower house, which was and still is in control by PiS, to choose members of the council that appoint the judges. Critics have raised their voices and said that the judges elected within this system were not going to be independent from the political power. Earlier this month, even the Supreme Court passed a resolution stating that judges appointed according to the law were not sufficiently independent. Yet, the Justice Ministry dismissed the resolution.

Further legislation approved by the lawmakers allows the authorities to punish judges who criticise the reforms. Judges are also not allowed to form independent judicial bodies.

The lawmakers argue that the reform was necessary to reduce the corruption of judges and the recently passed bills are put in place to prevent legal chaos. Polish opposition as well as voices from abroad stress that democratic values are under threat in Poland.

In December, tens of thousands of people gathered in Warsaw to protest. Judges from 20 European countries came to support their Polish counterparts. Fears are that the Polish case would have implications for the whole European Union.

In the past few years, the EU has been observing the right-wing government in Poland, threatening the rule of law and democratic values that are key for the union. Yet, in the region, Poland is not the only country that has been putting challenges to these values. We have observed demonstrations in all Visegrad countries where many people do not want to accept the tendencies of their ruling parties to lead their states away from democracy.

On the other hand, a large part of the population across the region is willing to trade their democracy for the economic security that their ruling parties promise. Even if not fulfilled.

Image: Wojtek Radwanski/Getty Images

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