2024-09-11 14:54 update: 2024-09-11, 20:29
Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell
Members of the Venice Commission, which serves as the advisory body for the Council of Europe (CoE), arrived in Poland on Wednesday to provide their assessment regarding the proposed division of the roles of justice minister and prosecutor general, as reported by the justice minister.
Adam Bodnar told the private broadcaster Polsat News that representatives of the commission would engage in discussions with officials and entities responsible for the prosecution service in Poland until Friday.
He said that the focus of the opinion would concern "the division of the roles of justice minister and prosecutor general," noting that the Venice Commission had conducted a visit to Poland in 2016 when these two offices were merged.
The justice ministry has stated that the proposed amendment to the Act on the Prosecutor's Office, along with other legislative measures, incorporates "various mechanisms designed to shield the prosecutor's office from executive interference and to promote its objectivity, apolitical character, and independence."
Founded in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall under the official name of the European Commission for Democracy through Law, the Venice Commission is a group of independent constitutional law experts advising the CoE. It is referred to as the Venice Commission due to its meeting place in Venice, Italy. The body convenes four times a year.
In prior years, during the rule of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, the commission had released numerous critical assessments regarding the judicial reforms implemented in Poland. (PAP)
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