Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, has announced that he is submitting legislation to abolish the disciplinary chamber for judges that is at the heart of Warsaw’s ongoing rule-of-law dispute with the European Union.
However, at the same time he proposed creating a new “Chamber of Professional Responsibility” that would be tasked with holding judges to account.
“This bill…[will] give the government a tool to end the dispute with the European Commission and unblock the National Reconstruction Plan,” said Duda, referring to the fact that the Poland’s EU Covid recovery funds are being blocked due to concerns over the rule of law.
The president said that it was particularly important for Poland to end the dispute because “we are in a difficult international situation at the moment”. He acknowledge that “there will be a lot of criticism, but someone had to take this step”.
Wierzę w to, że ten projekt będzie mógł zostać szybko uchwalony i będzie mógł służyć polskiemu rządowi, aby uruchomić środki inwestycyjne z KPO, które są Polsce potrzebne 🇵🇱 – Prezydent @AndrzejDuda. pic.twitter.com/PVWr8JOqdk
— Kancelaria Prezydenta (@prezydentpl) February 3, 2022
Last April, the Court of Justice of the European Union ordered Poland to immediately suspend its system of disciplinary proceedings against judges. However, since then the disciplinary chamber that operates within the Supreme Court has continued to function.
As a result, in October the CJEU began issuing €1 million fines per day against Warsaw for as long as it refuses to comply with the ruling. While the Polish government has indicated it intends to comply, it argues that the necessary legislation will take time to implement.
Reaching a compromise has been made more difficult by the hard line of United Poland (Solidarna Polska), a junior partner in the ruling coalition led by justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, which has opposed compromise with Brussels. Ziobro accuses the EU of engaging in a “hybrid war” against Poland.
Presenting his proposals today, Duda said that they would result in the disciplinary chamber being completely “liquidated”. Judges who currently sit in the chamber would be offered the possibility of being transferred to any other chamber of the Supreme Court that they wish, or of taking retirement.
The president added, however, that it was still vital for judges to have “professional liability” for their actions and for the public to have confidence in this system.
As such, he said that his proposed legislation – which will be submitted to parliament for consideration – would create a “Chamber of Professional Responsibility” at the Supreme Court with a “completely different, new structure”.
Though Duda provided few details of the new chamber, he said that judges sitting on it would have the same status as those in other chambers. This would negate one of the criticisms of the current disciplinary chamber, which is that its judges have “special status”, said the president.
Asked today about President Duda’s proposed changes, European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said that the commission “does not react to announcements” and would wait to see “actual texts” before making any comment.
The commission has previously made clear that complying with the CJEU’s ruling to suspend the disciplinary chamber is a key component to unlocking Covid recovery funds.
However, Brussels’ rule-of-law concerns regarding Poland cover a number of other areas too. Last month, the commission launched its latest in a series of infringement proceedings against Warsaw, this time accusing the Polish constitutional court of violating European law.
Main image credit: Przemyslaw Keler/KPRP
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.
