The move was announced by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party on Thursday afternoon, an hour before MPs were due to start debating the judicial bill, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Law and Justice spokesman Rafał Bochenek said the document had been withdrawn in response to President Andrzej Duda’s appeal “to process the bill in a prudent way.”
Bochenek added that “there were similar calls from other political circles.”
“The bill requires in-depth analysis and consultation,” Bochenek stated.
Judicial bill
According to the ruling party, the bill changes Poland’s rules for disciplining judges and testing their independence, in line with the expectations of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, officials said.
As such, the draft legislation meets a key “milestone,” bringing Poland a step closer to receiving EUR 23.9 billion in grants and EUR 11.5 billion in loans from the EU’s pandemic relief fund under the National Recovery Plan, reporters were told.
The bill has been drawn up by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Minister for European Affairs Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, the IAR news agency reported.
President’s concerns
At a news conference earlier on Thursday, President Duda called on lawmakers to process the judicial bill “in a calm and constructive manner.”
The head of state said that Poland should receive the pandemic relief funding from the EU, and that he would support measures designed to help make it possible, but added that such measures “must comply with the Polish constitution.”
Duda said this would be “the main criterion according to which I will be assessing the bill.”
The president added that the new regulations must make sure that “Poland is able to determine the shape of its judicial system in a sovereign way, as guaranteed by EU treaties.”
He added that the new legislation must safeguard citizens’ legal security and the stability of court decisions, the IAR news agency reported.
Further consultation
Meanwhile, the Polish prime minister said on Thursday that the judicial bill would be discussed by the ruling coalition and consulted with the president over the next two to three weeks, according to Polish state news agency PAP.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Morawiecki said: “The president has every right to be kept informed every step of the way.”
At the same time, Morawiecki offered assurances that “the head of state’s powers to appoint judges won’t be affected” by the judicial bill, the IAR news agency reported.
Polish lower-house Speaker Elżbieta Witek announced on Thursday that MPs would debate the judicial bill at a sitting planned for January 11-13.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, wnp.pl