Poland’s parliament passes law to give control of the Supreme Court to the government News
Poland’s parliament passes law to give control of the Supreme Court to the government

On Saturday, Poland’s upper house of parliament, the Senate [official website], passed a law [PDF, in Polish] that would give the government control over the Supreme Court. The law still needs to be approved [CNN report] by President Andrzej Duda [official profile]. The law would allow the president to force Supreme Court judges into retirement and appoint new judges. The president has 21 days to approve the law. Proponents of the law say that it is necessary to reform the judiciary system. Opponents of the law say that it removes the independence of the judiciary. The US Department of State [official website] has called upon Poland to “ensure that any judicial reform does not violate constitution and respects judicial independence.” The EU has voiced the possibility of sanctions against Poland if the law is enacted by the president.

Poland has been criticized recently for a number of resolutions which have been accused of undermining democracy in the country. The Supreme Court law was passed [JURIST report] by Poland’s lower house of Parliament [official website] on Thursday. In August 2016 Polish prosecutors began an investigation [JURIST report] into Constitutional Tribunal [official website] head, Andrzej Rzeplinski, to determine if he abused his power in preventing judges appointed by the ruling party to take part in decisions. In June of last year the European Commission issued [JURIST report] a warning to Poland over the appointment of the three judges. The EU began examining Poland’s decision regarding the Constitutional Court [JURIST reports] in January 2016. That February the Polish government passed a controversial surveillance law [JURIST report] that grants the government [press release, Polish] greater access to digital data and broader use of surveillance for law enforcement. In December 2015 the leader of the European Parliament [official website] compared the Law and Justice (PiS) party’s rise to power in Poland to a coup [BBC report], leading to Parliament calling for an apology. PiS has rejected [DW report] criticisms that its policies are undermining democracy in Poland.