Speaker of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty has announced that the president’s draft law on the judiciary has been referred to the Venice Commission for review, along with what he described as “broad consultations” on the proposal. He assessed that, according to legal experts, the draft allegedly “violates judicial independence and the principle of the separation of powers.”
President Karol Nawrocki on Thursday announced that he had vetoed the amendment to the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) – and had prepared his own draft bill. Its purpose is, among other things, “to effectively counter unlawful attempts to undermine judicial appointments granted at the request of the KRS due to a practice of adjudication inconsistent with the Constitution and the case law of the Constitutional Tribunal.”
The Speaker of the Sejm stated at a press conference in parliament that, in the opinion of legal experts, the draft “violates judicial independence and the separation of powers.” He added that it provides, among other measures, for “prison sentences of up to 10 years for judges who refuse to participate in a judicial panel.”
“I have decided to hold broad consultations on this bill and to submit it to the Venice Commission for an opinion,” Czarzasty said.