Tag: Venice Commission

Rebuilding the rule of law is both a challenge and an opportunity to demonstrate to other countries emerging from authoritarianism that it can be done. Where do we stand now? What picture emerges from the legal changes and battles, as detailed in OKO.press?

Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar has requested the Venice Commission’s opinion on two proposed models for addressing the neo-judges problem. Dr. Anna Wójcik explains the nature of the dispute and the potential significance of the Venice Commission’s opinion.

The Senate has voted on the amendment to the KRS Act. Several dozen amendments have been introduced to the draft, including a very important one – granting newly appointed judges the right to stand for election to the Council. This is the result of the Venice Commission’s opinion. But discussions with President Duda also concerned this issue.

“The amendments of December 2019 diminish judicial independence and put Polish judges into the impossible situation of having to face disciplinary proceedings for decisions required by the ECHR, the law of the European Union, and other international instruments.”

We publish the translation of the opinion published on the Ministry of Justice website for consideration of Rule of Law in Poland readers. This is of course not endorsement.

Provisions subordinating the judiciary to the executive (including disciplinary proceedings against judges), which are completely incompatible with European standards, are still in place.