12 December, 2017
On 5 December, the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) published a critical opinion on the planned amendments to the law on the National Judicial Council of Poland.
ENCJ expresses its deep concern regarding the newly developed amendments to the law, which would require that the members of the Judicial Council of Poland are elected by the Parliament on the basis of the proposal of 2000 citizens or 25 lawyers (judges, prosecutors, notaries and other lawyers). Election of members of the Judicial Council is planned by a majority or 3/5 votes of the Sejm representatives, which does not comply with ENCJ standards regarding the election of a majority of the members of the Judicial Council from the judges themselves.
In addition, there has been no consultation with the Judicial Council and the judiciary in drafting such amendments to the law. The current mandate of the members of the Judicial Council is scheduled to be terminated immediately after the entry into force of the new law, which is extremely disturbing according to the ENCJ.
The opinion of ENCJ of 5 December 2017 on the situation in Poland is available here:
https://www.encj.eu/images/stories/pdf/Members/krs_pl_opinion_encj_eb_5_dec_2017.pdf
Information prepared by
Dace Sulmane
Adviser to the Secretariat of the Council for the Judiciary
T.: +371 67020352; e-mail: dace.sulmane@at.gov.lv