Tusk government begins restoring judicial independence in Poland

The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has launched plans to reform the judiciary under the label of restoring the rule of law in Poland following the rule of the conservative PiS, Justice Minister Admar said in a presentation of the plan on Monday.

The plan includes an amendment to the Polish constitution, two other bills and one parliamentary resolution, which would facilitate the operation of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and ensure its independence from the executive power.

The Constitutional Tribunal has long been a bone of contention between the current pro-EU ruling coalition and its predecessor, the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS, ECR). After coming to power following the 2015 parliamentary elections, the PiS replaced the tribunal’s judges in a move that the then-new opposition and many experts said was partly illegal.

Questions over the legitimacy of judges, including three appointed to previously occupied posts, and the close ties of many to the PiS government also lie at the heart of the challenges facing Tusk’s cabinet.

During its eight-year term between 2015 and 2023, the PiS government passed a number of reforms to the judiciary, including the Constitutional Tribunal, which the EU Court of Justice ruled undermined the independence of judges in Poland.

The reforms met with opposition from the European Commission, which froze Poland’s European Refugee Fund and Cohesion Fund payments because of concerns about the rule of law. Restoring the independence of the judiciary was one of the milestones under which the EU executive agreed to release the money.

However, the previously ruling PiS denies that the tribunal is politicised and rejects any criticism of the way its judges are appointed. The party says its judicial reforms are aimed at improving the efficiency of the courts and removing remnants of communist influence.

Last month, Bodnar presented a plan EU ministers in Brussels with a plan for comprehensive judicial reform, which was welcomed by both the Commission and other bloc’s countries and prompted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to announce the release of €137 billion under the EU’s Next Generation Fund and the Cohesion Fund during her recent visit to Warsaw.

The Commission’s decision was criticised by some experts, as no law has been passed yet, and the state of the Polish judiciary has not changed significantly since the PiS government. However, nowhere in the Commission’s milestones is there any mention of laws that need to be passed, according to MEP Jan Olbrycht of Tusk’s Civic Platform party (EPP), a member of the Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee (CONT).

“The Commission expected Poland to draw up a credible reform plan that would lead the country to meet the milestones, and the plan has been delivered,” Olbrycht told Euractiv.pl.

Under the new reform of the Constitutional Tribunal proposed by Bodnar, the tribunal would consist of 15 judges appointed by parliament for a nine-year term. More importantly, a former MP, senator, MEP or minister would be appointed as a judge of the Tribunal only four years after leaving office.

The first debate on Bodnar’s proposal will take place in Parliament on Wednesday. All 15 judges currently on the Constitutional Tribunal are considered to be PiS allies by the current ruling coalition.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)