On Thursday 26 May, the Polish Parliament paved the way for the release of European recovery funds by formally adopting the bill presented by President Andrzej Duda to dissolve the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court.
The law adopted by the Sejm provides for the powers of the now dissolved disciplinary chamber to be transferred to a newly established “Chamber of Professional Responsibility”, which will be composed of 11 judges appointed for 5 years by the President of the Republic from a pool of 33 judges drawn by lots from among all the members of the Supreme Court (except for the President of the Supreme Court), explains the Visegrad Post. Judges removed by previous reforms have also been reinstated.
The law still has to be approved by the Senate, but it is already being criticised by rule of law advocates and the Polish Judges’ Association, who speak of cosmetic changes and deplore the fact that illegally appointed judges remain in place.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will travel to Warsaw on 2 June to discuss this agreement, which will make it possible to release the €35 billion provided for in the European Recovery Plan.
Ms. von der Leyen invited to an urgent hearing in the European Parliament. The chairman of the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE), Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spain), has written to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, inviting her to an “urgent” hearing in the LIBE Committee, according to a letter revealed by Polish media.
The committee continues to be concerned about persistent problems with the rule of law in Poland and would like to discuss them with Von der Leyen before “a possible imminent decision” on the Polish recovery plan, the MEP wrote. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)