Since 2017, a series of protests against judiciary reforms have occurred in Poland. Since

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

took power in Poland in 2015, its influence rapidly extended to the judicial branch, through contended nominations that produced the

2015 Polish Constitutional Court crisis Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

. The

party argues that the reforms are needed to improve the efficiency of the judiciary, but the opposition, supported by a significant number of members of the judiciary, has been very critical of the reforms. The reforms have also been criticized by a number of international bodies. The European Commission invokes the Article 7 of the

European Treaty The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union (EU) member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures a ...

against E.U. member Poland, denouncing recent judiciary reforms putting it under the political control of the ruling majority and citing ''"serious risk othe independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers"''. The Polish judicial disciplinary panel law, approved by the Sejm on 20 December 2019. The bill empowers the Disciplinary Chamber at the Supreme Court of Poland to punish judges who engage in "political activity", including questioning the political independence of the panel. Punishment of judges may be a fine, reduction of salary, or termination from their position. The bill also changes the manner in which the head of the Supreme Court of Poland is appointed. Giving the government, in effect, the ability to control and sack judges the legislation violates EU judicial system legislation. Donald Tusk warned the bill might force Poland out of the EU. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and the Committee for the Defence of Democracy organized protests throughout Poland against the bill. In February 2020, former Constitutional Tribunal judges, including former Constitutional Tribunal presidents Andrzej Rzepliński (2010-2016), , , , and Andrzej Zoll described the tribunal as having "virtually been abolished". By 2020, fourteen out of the fifteen judges had been appointed to the Constitutional Tribunal by the Sejm since the return in power of PiS in 2015, which was seen by the former tribunal presidents and judges as one of the signs of a lack of checks and balances against PiS' domination of three branches of government power.

References

Legal history of Poland Controversies in Poland Protests in Poland {{Poland-stub

See also

References