Judges and senators chide president and ruling PiS party for pushing court laws reform

Kantar poll: should Polish president sign reform of court laws

Polish senators and judges gave a strong rebuke on Wednesday (February 5) to President Andrzej Duda after he signed a controversial law aimed at disciplining judges who question government judicial reforms.

Senate speaker, Tomasz Grodzki, who has taken a prominent role in opposing the governing Law and Justice party's (PiS) judicial policies, said that the Senate will defend anyone who is disciplined for complying with the Polish Constitution or Supreme Court rulings.

Adam Strzembosz, former President of the Supreme Court said the new Disciplinary Chamber, appointed by the ruling PiS (Law and Justice) party to discipline the judges was illegal.

Bogdan Pęk, a PiS senator, said however that the reforms were necessary "in order to ensure the stability of the Polish justice system."

Echoing Pęk's comments, another PiS senator, Maria Koc, said that the law would prevent the legal chaos within the judiciary system

Waiting for response

Drafted by PiS and pushed through parliament by its lawmakers, the bill signed by Duda on Wednesday (February 4) has been widely criticised by the European Commission and top European legal bodies as undermining judicial independence.

The spokesman for the Supreme Court judge Michał Laskowski said on Wednesday that the law signed by the president would make a terrible impression on a European scale. "I think we will see a reaction to this law because it stands against the whole concept of EU law" - judge Laskowski added.

Civic Platform's delegation to the European Parliament wants the EU Commission to take Poland to the CJEU over the court reform ratified on Tuesday.

The ruling Law and Justice party members and supporters have been criticising Polish opposition for "telling on Poland", instead of dealing with the matter "at home".