Polish court steps up legal standoff with government

Poland’s highest court has dismissed as unconstitutional new rules governing how it goes about its business, the latest twist in a nine-month standoff with Warsaw’s national conservative government.

A revised Bill on the constitutional court, the second since the Law and Justice Party (PiS) took office in November and passed by parliament last month, was dismissed by judges on Thursday for containing measures that represent an unacceptable political interference in their judicial independence.

In a closely-watched ruling, the judges dismissed a proposal to allow four judges in the 15-member court block rulings for six months as well as another innovation requiring the court to examine complaints in the order they were received.

The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party says the legislation is necessary to shake up what it views as an overtly political tribunal and streamline the legislative process. PiS has refused to publish tribunal rulings that dispute the government position and, ahead of Thursday’s constitutional court ruling, declared its revised justice Bill as constitutional, due to come into effect on August 16th.

Unimpressed by the political pressure, the tribunal judges picked apart the Bill and renewed a demand for the government to swear in three judges appointed by the previous government – the origin of the judicial standoff last year.

EU investigation

Since then the European Commission has opened its own investigation into the rule of law in Poland. Last month it warned of a “systemic threat to the rule of law in Poland” and set a three-month deadline for Warsaw to comply with its remedial measures.

If Warsaw fails to comply it could theoretically, with unanimous EU member state backing, face financial sanctions from Brussels.

“The division of powers is not respected anymore, so democracy isn’t working,” said Mateusz Kijowski, leader of the Committee for Defence of Democracy that led a demonstration outside the court on Thursday.

Ahead of the ruling, Poland’s influential PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said the tribunal – the legal guardian of democratic Poland’s constitution – must “fall in line with” the constitution.

“Today the tribunal is a political body whose constitutional function is undefined, since it is difficult to explain what it is doing in constitutional terms,” said Mr Kaczynski. “We need to find solutions which ultimately mean that the constitutional tribunal will have to fall in line with the constitution, and begin to work.”

The standoff between the Polish government and its highest judiciary has caused worldwide concern, with US president Barack Obama voicing his concern on the sidelines of last month’s Nato summit in Warsaw.