Poland's centre-right Law and Justice (PIS) party pledged sweeping judicial reforms after winning an election landslide in October 2015, arguing that the replacement of some Supreme Court judges was needed to ensure greater accountability. A proposal to give the Government the power effectively to push the country’s Supreme Court judges into retirement and replace them with government nominees was passed by the parliament in Warsaw on 20 July. However, Mr Duda vetoed it on Monday after mass protests in several Polish cities and warnings of sanctions from the European Union.
“I want to thank you for your decision concerning the Supreme Court and the National Council of the Judiciary. True democracy is only possible with the rule of law and the right concept of people´s personal rights,“ stated Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, president of the Polish bishops’ conference in his open letter to the president.
Earlier, the President of Poland's Supreme Court had criticised the Catholic Church's silence over the Government’s attempts to reform the judicial system. "If these court reforms came into force, there'd be no division of powers in Poland", said the court president Malgorzata Gersdorf. "The Church has an influence and can achieve things. But it's closely linked to the present Government, and this is why it hasn't said anything so far and won't say anything in future".
In an interview with Germany's 'Suddeutsche Zeitung', Ms Gersdorf said the new legislation would have placed "full power" in the hands of the Polish Justice Minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, who is also a public prosecutor. However, speaking before last week's parliamentary vote, the bishops’ conference spokesman, Fr Pawel Rytel-Adrianik, said the Church would not be issuing a statement on what it viewed as a "purely political dispute".
This position did not sit well with views in Rome. In an editorial last week, the Vatican's L'Osservatore Romano described the PIS Government as "right-wing, nationalist and anti-European", and accused it of attempting "effectively to liquidate the autonomy of courts".
In his open letter to the president, Archbishop Gadecki cited the words of the late Polish Pope St John Paul II regarding the balance between the judiciary, executive, and legislative branches, “each of which has its designated tasks and responsibilities, so that a one never dominates over the other, is a guarantee of the proper functioning of democracy”.
The Polish opposition and most legal experts in the country say the changes proposed by the PiS violate the Polish constitution. The move had also raised concerns from the EU and the United States. For days, tens of thousands of Poles have held candlelit vigils in major cities including Warsaw, Krakow and Poznan, demanding that President Duda - who is a former member of the Law and Justice (PiS) party - veto the reforms.
Archbishop Gadecki stated in his letter to Mr Duda that reforming the Polish judiciary remains a “responsibility” and that the democratically elected government, while controlled by the people, should have the freedom to pursue “worthy” goals it set for itself.
PICTURE: President of Poland Andrzej Duda at the Presidential Palace, Warsaw on 18 July
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