The reforms of the Polish judiciary enacted between 2016 and 2018 “have considerably weakened the independence of the judiciary”, confirm the experts of the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in a report published on Monday 27 September.
They point out that “unfortunately, this situation is further exacerbated by the December 2019 amendments to the Law on Ordinary Courts, the Law on the Supreme Court and certain other laws”, and by subsequent changes to disciplinary procedures against judges, exposing them to increasing political control.
GRECO therefore urges the Polish authorities to respond to all its outstanding recommendations, in particular as regards the election and composition of the National Council of the Judiciary, the establishment of the Disciplinary Chamber and the Chamber of Extraordinary Appeals of the Supreme Court, the intervention of the executive in the organisation of the Supreme Court, the appointment and dismissal of court presidents and vice-presidents and disciplinary proceedings against judges.
The report also assesses the implementation of recommendations dating from 2012 concerning parliamentarians and prosecutors. Regarding parliamentarians (ethical standards and rules of conduct, conflicts of interest, lobbying), no significant progress can be reported, deplores GRECO, which calls for a report on the implementation of its recommendations by 30 September 2022.
Link to the report: https://bit.ly/3ALb6ze (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)