Patryk Wachowiec

On 21 November, public opinion in Poland and the EU was surprised by the ruling Law and Justice’s (PiS) proposal “backtracking on controversial reforms it made to lower the retirement age of Supreme Court judges”. The amendment was issued in the morning and it went through the whole legislative process in the lower house of parliament for less than 3.5 hours. President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, waited until 17 December and finally signed the new law which is the 7th amendment to the act on the Supreme Court since its enactment in late 2017.

On 13 January 2016, exactly three years ago today, the Commission activated the so-called rule of law framework for the very first time with respect to Poland. This was justified by First Vice-President Timmermans primarily with regard to the situation of the Constitutional Tribunal and the fact that some of its key binding rulings were not being respected.

In November 2018, the Sejm received a deputies' bill amending the act on limiting trade on Sundays and public holidays and some other day. Within a few days, the first reading was carried out, the draft was discussed by the Sejm Social and Family Policy Commission which introduced minor amendments.

Last December and for the very first time, the European Commission activated a provision of the European Treaties (Article 7 TEU) in relation to the rule of law situation in Poland. According to the Commission – a diagnosis we fully agree with – there was and still is a clear risk of a serious breach of the rule of law by Polish authorities.

In its latest decisions, the Supreme Court mentioned that the provisions of the Act on the Supreme Court may be inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the EU treaties. This is also the position of the European Commission and important international organizations. It would be appropriate to wait for the judgment of the EU Court of Justice out of respect for the importance of the resolution of this matter.

This document has been drafted as a response to the non-paper “Polish judiciary regulations – current state of affairs” that is being distributed in Brussels among the EU actors by the Polish government.

Three months after Civil Development Forum (FOR) inquired the Minister of Justice about the judges who supported the candidates for the new National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ), we have received answers with mostly… blank pages. As the Minister did not provide all the requested information we face yet another legal battle (after the lawsuit against the decision of the Chief of the Chancellery of the Sejm – lower chamber of the Polish Parliament) in the administrative court for the openness and transparency of public life.

Three months after Civil Development Forum (FOR) inquired the Minister of Justice about the judges who supported the candidates for the new National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ), we have received answers with mostly… blank pages. As the Minister did not provide all the requested information we face yet another legal battle (after the lawsuit against the decision of the Chief of the Chancellery of the Sejm – lower chamber of the Polish Parliament) in the administrative court for the openness and transparency of public life.