The bill provides for the wholesale, on-the-spot dismissal of the entire cadre of 83 top judges currently sitting on Poland’s highest appellate panels. The purge will take place just a day after the law’s promulgation.
The exceptions from this mandatory “retirement” — applicable regardless of judge’s age — will be made in an entirely arbitrary fashion by the PiS-appointed minister of justice. The minister’s decisions will not be subject to any review. All seats thus emptied will be swiftly filled by the new, politically reliable Council of Judiciary.
The new Supreme Court will not only have the final appeal powers over all criminal and civil cases; its autonomous “Disciplinary Chamber” will make final determinations on disciplinary actions against all judges in the country. Disciplinary proceedings will be instituted whenever the minister of justice demands. [...]
Poland, however, is different. In 2015, PiS won a razor-thin majority, only 37.5 percent of the popular vote, the weakest parliamentary victory since 1997 (with the exception of PiS’s own previous, even more fleeting win in 2005). Even if one adds in the support for all illiberal and right-leaning “protest” parties, the total barely exceeds 50 percent.
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