2024-10-15 21:53 update: 2024-10-17, 21:37
Photo PAP/Lukasz Gagulski
Judges deficiently appointed in Poland after 2018 may not be removed from their posts as a whole group, according to the Venice Commission, a legal advisory body to the Council of Europe.
At a plenary session on Saturday, the Venice Commission approved and issued its assessment of the draft legislation that would separate the roles of minister of justice and prosecutor general in Poland, brought together under the rule of Law and Justice (PiS), as well as of possible ways to regulate the status of so-called neo-judges.
The session was attended by Polish Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar, who requested the assessment, and Dariusz Mazur, a deputy justice minister.
The main conclusion of the assessment that was published on Monday night is that the automatic return of all neo-judges to their positions held before the appointment would be against European standards. Instead, the Venice Commission advises to adopt an individual approach to their verification and to ensure that they have the right to appeal in court against a negative assessment.
Also, the procedure should be "fairly rapid" and be conducted in reference to groups of appointments.
The Venice Commission recommends that the verification is performed by a body that is not "government-controlled", however it stops short from naming a specific institution and focuses on the need for judicial and individual review of each case.
In another opinion regarding the separation of roles of justice minister and the prosecutor general in Poland, the Venice Commission acknowledges the Polish government's view that this is a necessary change to correct the judiciary reform of 2016 and return the rule of law in the country.
Neo-judges are a group of around 3,000 judges who were appointed by the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), a body responsible for nominating judges, under the PiS-led government. According to Poland's current government and some lawyers, the KRS was defectively formed, as its members were nominated by politicians and not, as previously, elected by fellow judges. (PAP)
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