Jarosław Kaczyński, Poland’s de facto leader, has accused the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of working together with the Polish opposition to “attack Poland”. But he promises that his government will continue to tackle “pathological” elements in the judiciary.
The CJEU “supports the opposition”, said Kaczyński, chairman of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, in an interview with right-wing newspaper Gazeta Polska. “There is no doubt that EU institutions are encouraged by opposition politicians to attack Poland.”
The CJEU has issued a number of rulings against actions taken by the Polish government, including one that recently paved the way for Poland’s Supreme Court to declare parts of PiS’s judicial reforms to be illegitimate. This triggered the latest stand off between the ruling party and the judiciary, with the prime minister asking the Constitutional Tribunal to assess the validity of the Supreme Court resolution.
In the interview, Kaczyński said there was “a rebellion [by] a large group of judges…against the democratically elected legislative and executive authorities”, the “aim of which is to preserve the privileges enjoyed by this professional group”, including their immunity from punishment.
The most recent dispute over the judiciary has concerned the government’s introduction of a strict new disciplinary regime for judges, who can now be punished – including with dismissal – for refusing to accept the validity of contested judicial reforms. The measures have been condemned not only by the domestic opposition, but also by the EU institutions as well as representatives of the OSCE, Council of Europe and the UN.
Kaczyński, however, told Gazeta Polska that “reform of the justice system must be continued” despite this outside pressure. “We cannot tolerate the pathology…[of] a significant proportion of judges [who] do not comply with the law…It is an obstacle to the development of Poland.”
The PiS chairman admitted, however, that these plans hinge upon May’s presidential elections. Were the incumbent, PiS candidate Andrzej Duda, to lose to an opposition rival, it would signal the end of any “bold changes” planned by the government, said Kaczyński.
The president has the power to veto laws passed by parliament. This can only be overturned by a three-fifths majority in the lower house Sejm, something PiS cannot muster.
In previous extracts from the same interview, Kaczyński called on the separate parties and factions within his ruling coalition to put their ambitions and differences aside to unite around Duda’s bid for reelection.
Main image credit: Piotr Drabik/Flickr (under CC BY 2.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
