Polish parliament passes bill to eliminate disciplinary chamber, rejecting opposition amendments

The lower house of Poland’s parliament has given final approval to a bill that would eliminate the disciplinary chamber for judges, which is a requirement for unlocking billions in frozen European Union funds.

In passing the bill, the Sejm, where the Law and Justice (PiS) government has a majority, overturned almost all of the amendments added to the legislation by the upper-house Senate, where the opposition has a majority.

Some opposition politicians and commentators argue that, without those amendments, the law will not fulfil the milestones that the Polish government has agreed with the European Commission, and therefore mean Poland’s funds will remain frozen.

One of the rejected amendments stipulated that all previous rulings by the disciplinary chamber are to be considered invalid and devoid of any legal consequences. Another removed from the legislation a new disciplinary offence defined as “refusal to implement justice”.

A further rejected amendment would have required that candidates for the new “chamber of professional responsibility” – which will replace the disciplinary chamber – will be required to have at least seven years of experience in ruling in the Supreme Court.

Another stated that current disciplinary chamber judges would have to stop adjudicating on the Supreme Court completely on the date when the new legislation comes into force, without an option to retire.

The final version of the bill approved by the Sejm yesterday now passes to President Andrzej Duda, usually a PiS ally, who initially proposed the legislation himself in February. He can sign it, veto it, or send it to the constitutional court for assessment.

If the law goes into force, the government hopes that it will help unlock around €36 billion in Covid recovery funds for Poland that the European Commission has frozen over rule-of-law concerns.

However, opposition politicians yesterday warned that, without their proposed amendments, the bill will not meet the requirements set out by the commission.

“When the [recovery funds] are hanging in the balance, PiS gives the European Commission reasons to harden its position,” tweeted opposition MEP and former foreign minister Radosław Sikorski. “A suicide tactic or sabotage.”

Maciej Taborowski, a legal scholar specialising in EU law, told Gazeta Wyborcza that there is a risk Poland will not receive the funds, though he admitted that the commission’s decision will be “largely political”.

However, the spokesman for the Supreme Court, Aleksander Stępkowski, welcomed the Sejm’s rejection of the opposition amendments, which he told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) were “mostly unconstitutional or aimed at perpetuating destabilizing divisions in the judiciary”.

Last month, the Polish government announced that it had agreed with Brussels the “milestones” needed to unlock the funds. Those include liquidating the disciplinary chamber but also wider reforms of the disciplinary system and the restoration of judges previously removed from their positions.

During a visit to Warsaw last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that an agreement had been reached to release Poland’s funds, but she emphasised that this would only happen if and when Poland understakes the necessary reforms.

Yesterday the European Parliament adopted a resolution in which its expressed its “worry that the Commission’s milestones are not enough and stressed that full compliance with EU values is a prerequisite for funding”

Main image credit: Krystian Maj / KPRM (under public domain)

Agnieszka Wądołowska

Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna