The measure passed in a 96-0 vote with no abstentions in the upper house of parliament late on Tuesday, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
The legislation, which was earlier backed by the lower chamber of Poland's bicameral parliament, now reverts to the lower house for a final vote after the Senate made 14 modifications to the proposal.
The planned judicial overhaul is then expected to go to President Andrzej Duda for signing into law.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in December that his country’s dispute with the European Union over the rule of law must be resolved so that Poland could receive billions of euros from the bloc’s pandemic relief fund amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Morawiecki told reporters at the time: “The dispute with the European Commission must be resolved. Today, the real conflict is taking place to the east of Poland, while the [EU] funds from the National Recovery Plan mean more money for the Polish army.”
According to Poland's governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, the bill would change rules for disciplining judges and testing their independence, in line with the expectations of the European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union of which Poland has been part since 2004.
Officials have told reporters that the 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 Poland's National Recovery Plan.
The Polish president said in December that the country should receive pandemic relief funding from the EU, and that he would support measures designed to help make it possible, but added that "such proposals must comply with the Polish constitution.”
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Source: IAR, PAP, TVP Info