The Marshal of the Polish Senate Tomasz Grodzki has sent a letter to the Venice Commission, in which he asks for an opinion regarding changes to Polish law on courts recently passed by the lower house - deputy chief of the Senate Information Centre (CIS) Anna Godzwon informed on Thursday.
According to CIS, the Marshal sent the letter on Monday, December 30th. It conveys a request for an opinion regarding amended laws on Polish courts (among others: law on common courts, and law on the Supreme Court) passed by the lower house in December.
Private broadcaster Radio RMF was the first to inform about Marshal Grodzki's letter to the Venice Commission.
Poland's lower house of parliament approved the latest reform of the judiciary on December 20, despite the European Commission calling it to hold off adopting a law which it says would imperil the rule of law.
The European Commission believes the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has been politicising the judiciary since it came to power in 2015 and it has launched unprecedented legal steps against Poland to preserve the courts' independence.
Commission spokesman Christian Wigand told reporters that Commision Vice President Vera Jourova had written to Polish authorities on Thursday expressing concern about the draft law.
In the letter, Jourova "strongly encouraged" Poland to consult the Council of Europe's Venice Commission of legal experts and "invited" state organs not to take forward the draft legislation before the necessary consultations.
Still, PiS, which has a majority in the lower house of parliament, approved the bill and the government spokesman said that the commission probably issued its opinion "without having reliable information" about the changes.
The ruling party slightly watered down its proposals, by removing from the bill rules that would require judges to reveal the names of social media accounts they use under pseudonyms.
The legislation will still allow the punishment of judges who question their peers' legal status or the validity of other courts, for example, by cutting their salaries or dismissing them.
The legislation will now be discussed in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, which has been controlled by anti-PiS parties. The opposition can delay the legislation, but has no power to derail it, experts say.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, Reuters