“Please remember who is in the Venice Commission (KW). Among the Polish representatives on the commission are individuals who, in my opinion, contributed to the erosion of the rule of law. Such individuals can engage in lobbying,” said Waldemar Żurek, the new Minister of Justice.
The Venice Commission, officially the European Commission for Democracy through Law, is a body of the Council of Europe dealing with constitutional law. During the PiS government, the then-opposition frequently referred to the KW‘s positions to support the narrative of alleged violations of the rule of law in Poland.
Now, as the Venice Commission voices opinions that are inconvenient for the Civic Coalition and its allies, it has suddenly become an enemy of the December 13 coalition.
This concerns, among other things, an opinion issued in October 2024, in which the Commission stated that it is not possible to reverse all appointments of so-called “neo-judges” – as the current ruling camp refers to judges appointed after 2018 – to their previous positions. The KW pointed out that there are no judgments from international courts or tribunals that would annul judicial appointments, and that deeming a judge’s nomination invalid is inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
The issue of so-called “neo-judges” is one of Prime Minister Tusk’s government’s top priorities. The newly appointed Minister of Justice, Waldemar Żurek, said today on RMF FM that he has imposed a “very high work pace” on the drafting of a law meant to “regulate” the status of judges appointed after 2018. He assured that “the bill will be ready by October 1.”
Żurek recently withdrew from the Venice Commission the request to issue an opinion on the draft law concerning the so-called “neo-judges,” which had been submitted by the previous leadership of the Ministry of Justice.
Speaking about the Venice Commission, he said:
“Please remember who is in the Venice Commission. Among the Polish representatives on the commission are individuals who, in my opinion, contributed to the erosion of the rule of law. Such individuals can engage in lobbying.”
Who was Żurek referring to? Poland’s representative in the KW is Justyn Piskorski, and the deputy member is Joanna Lemańska. Piskorski is a criminal law judge, professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and since 2017, a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal. Lemańska is a judge of the Supreme Court, former president of the Supreme Court’s Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs, and a doctor habilitated in legal sciences.
Żurek’s opinion appears to be shared by former Constitutional Tribunal president Jerzy Stępień, known for his criticism of the Law and Justice government. In a recently published column on the portal monitorkonstytucyjny.eu, he stated that “the Commission has entangled itself in a trap with no reasonable way out.”
“Minister! Go ahead, the decision to withdraw the draft laws from the Venice Commission, which would prefer to dilute the problem of neo-judges into a distant future, is entirely justified – also in light of the constitutional principle of equality,” wrote Stępień.