The new Supreme Court Act came into effect on 1 January – the Supreme Court judges previously forced to retire are coming back to work. PiS ultimately gave up despite stalling for time until the last moment. Yet the fight for the rule of law continues, and Brussels has no plans to quit. In 2019, the Court of Justice will rule on the politicisation of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS)

Reporting to the European Commission on the implementation of its recommendations regarding rule of law, the Law and Justice government is demanding the end of the procedure implemented under Article 7 of the Treaty on the EU. In the report, the government makes unsubstantiated claims that the changes into judiciary are addressing ‘high public expectations’

Judge Stanisław Zabłocki, President of the Supreme Court and chairman of the Criminal Chamber, has announced his retirement in conjunction with recent modifications to the court’s rules that force heads of chambers to assign cases to appointees whose status is presently being questioned before the European Court of Justice.

The Justice Defence Committee (KOS) presented a report on radical changes in the system of disciplinary responsibility of judges, which appeared together with the Supreme Court Act of December 2017. The report documents the repression that the government applies to prosecutors and judges.

This report, prepared by the Polish Bar Council and the National Bar of Attorneys-at-Law, provides a general overview of the rule of law situation in Poland in 2018. 1 It focuses on actions taken by the ruling Government resulting in: reduction of independence of the Supreme Court, paralysis of the National Council of the Judiciary, […]

The expected ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal would confirm that the current Polish National Council of Judiciary (KRS), suspended from the European Networks of Councils of Judiciary in September 2018, is legal and capable of guaranteeing independence of judiciary, which critics claim it is not

56 per cent of respondents in Poland would like the European Commission to continue demanding that the Law and Justice party authorities observe the rule of law in Poland, while just 39 per cent would prefer it to “forgive the government”.

‘Why was the hearing cancelled? Either there is a problem with the unanimity of the judges, while the Tribunal likes to speak as one in political matters, or the leaders of the party and the government stopped the consideration of the case, fearing a suspected Polexit.’ argues Ewa Siedlecka in her article

3007 judges (91 p/c of all those who took part in the vote) are convinced that the new National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) is not performing the tasks it should and 2881 of them believe it should resign. These are the results of a referendum in as many as 139 courts to date. The referendum is underway in the remaining courts. Poland has ca 10 000 judges

The measures adopted by the ruling majority, the Government and the President appear to intend to ensure that the executive and legislative branch can take control of the judiciary and as such they raise serious concerns about the separation and independence of courts in Poland.