The First President of the Supreme Court Małgorzata Gersdorf, on Monday in Sofia, expressed her opinion regarding the situation of the Polish justice system. Poland's Chief Justice was invited to Bulgarian capital by the President of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Lozan Panov.
Panov, who is critical towards the Bulgarian governement and part of the judges, has organised a debate entitled "When the Polish Supreme Court refused to submit to politicians". He invited judge Gersdorf and the chairman of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court Dariusz Zawistowski from Poland, as well as some of his fellow-judges from Bulgaria.
The debate took place in the Palace of Justice in Sofia and was attended by members of the judiciary, NGOs and journalists. There was a quite big media interest in the debate, as there isn't much information about Polish judiciary in Bulgaria, and whatever emerges, comes from EU sources and pertain to the procedures launched against Poland.
"In the countries that were in favour of suspending Poland's membership in the ENCJ (European Network of the Councils of Judiciary), apparently, the separation of powers is not a mere formality, and so they assessed correctly the dangers of rising populism in Poland, which isn't only Polish phenomenon," Panov said in the introductory speech before the debate.
He introduced Małgorzata Gersdorf as a lawyer, who by refusing to abandon her post, gave an example how to safeguard the independence of the judiciary and separation of powers.
Judge Gersdorf presented the situation in the Polish justice system reaching back to December 2015, up to the recent opinion issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) regarding the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. "The independence of courts protects the citizens, not judges," she said. "It's very heartwarming that there's still someone who wants to listen to me," she added.
Gersdorf underscored that she enjoyed support of independent media and part of the public opinion, and that Polish "society strongly supports" judges protecting the independence of courts.
Furthermore, she stressed the importance of communication between judges and the society, of legal education of citizens, but most importantly, explaining people what the judicial independence means for them.
An adviser to Europe's top court said on Thursday (27 June) that a supreme court reform in Poland could undermine the independence of its judiciary, adding pressure on the Warsaw government to row back on changes that EU authorities say threaten the rule of law.
The advocate general also said that a newly-created Supreme Court disciplinary chamber "does not satisfy the requirements of judicial independence under EU law".
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP