Poland: Proposed Against Changes in the Judicial System

Hundreds of people have protested in Warsaw after Poland's Senate has adopted two judiciary bills, which, according to the opposition, are considered attempted by the ruling conservative party, for minimising the division of powers.

Calling for equality and freedom, protesters have marched outside the presidential palace and have asked Poland's president, Andreze Duda, to use veto on these bills.

The Wyborcza newspaper has said the protests are organised by left-wing opposition parties and several citizens.

The first bill awaiting President Duda's approval stipulates that parliament, currently controlled by the right-wing party, Law and Justice ( The PiS, will elect members of the National Court Council. The role of this council is to protect the court's independence. The second bill gives the Justice Minister authority to appoint judges of the Supreme Court. According to the same bill, judges of the Supreme Court may be forced to retire, except those the minister chooses to stay.

The opposition has considered that under these bills there will be no independence in the judiciary and rule of law in Poland will be violated. Some European Parliament members have said that these draft laws are an obstacle to judicial independence in Poland.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the party's lawyer and leader, the PIS, has defended the new initiative, saying radical “changes are needed to regulate the judicial system, which, according to him, has not been reformed by the time of communism.