In five years, Poland has made no significant progress in terms of the independence and transparency of the legislative process, notes the Council of Europe Group of Experts against Corruption (GRECO), which expects a report on significant progress by 31 December 2020 at the latest.
In a follow-up assessment on the prevention of corruption of parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors published on Monday 16 December, GRECO notes that the level of implementation of its recommendations has remained "globally unsatisfactory" since a previous compliance report in 2014.
Indeed, Poland has implemented only seven of the sixteen general recommendations and only one of the six issued in a more recent 'ad hoc' procedure covering judicial reforms launched between 2016 and 2018.
With regard to parliamentarians, "the situation remains unchanged" GRECO complains, and calls for "more transparent interactions by parliamentarians with lobbyists and other third parties, and improving ethics guidance regarding conflicts of interest".
With regard to prosecutors, GRECO "regrets" that the Office of the Prosecutor is still not in a position to provide specific advice on ethical issues and instructions to be followed in the event of a conflict of interest.
With regard more particularly to the judges to whom GRECO had applied its 'ad hoc' procedure, progress has been made, GRECO points out, welcoming the repeal of the provisions on early retirement of judges together with the possibility of extending their term of office by the President.
But the shortcomings remain very worrying: no measures have been taken to modify the provisions relating to the election of members of the National Council of the Judiciary, which, in its current composition, does not meet Council of Europe standards. Furthermore, no measures have been taken to reduce the participation of the executive in the internal organisation of the Supreme Court, to modify the disciplinary procedures applicable to judges of the Supreme Court, to modify the procedures for the appointment and dismissal of presidents and vice-presidents of the ordinary courts or to modify the disciplinary procedures applicable to judges of the ordinary courts.
"The current system - with the strong involvement of the executive in these proceedings - leaves judges increasingly vulnerable to political control, thereby undermining judicial independence", says GRECO, which urges the Polish authorities to "amend as a matter of priority the disciplinary procedures applicable to judges, so as to exclude any potential undue influence from the executive powers therein".
See the evaluation: http://bit.ly/2sy2pd4 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)