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The Polish president asks EU to review a bill that would reform the judiciary

The legality of the judicial reform legislation that Poland must pass in order to access EU funds has been questioned, according to Polish President Andrzej Duda, who on Friday decided to refer it to the Constitutional Tribunal for review.

 

According to the legislation that the Polish parliament approved this week, the Supreme Administrative Court will begin handling judge disciplinary cases. Such cases were previously heard by a contentious Supreme Court chamber, and detractors claimed that chamber penalised judges who opposed the government’s judicial reforms.

 

The bill would also prevent judges from being disciplined for questioning the impartiality of colleagues chosen by institutions that detractors claim are politicised. Duda had previously declared that he wouldn’t support legislation that would permit people to contest judicial appointments.

 

In an argument over Poland’s legal system, Brussels withheld 35.4 billion euros ($37.79 billion) in COVID-19 recovery funds and demanded reform on issues like judicial independence and green energy before handing the money to Warsaw.

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