National Council of the Judiciary

Under a 2017 draft law aimed at reforming the National Council of the Judiciary, the 15 judges nominated by the self-governments would, instead, be elected by the Sejm.[5] On July 22, the upper chamber of parliament approved the bill by a vote of 55–23 with two abstentions.[6][7] It was advanced to President Andrzej Duda for promulgation, though Duda ultimately vetoed the measure.[8][9]

In November 2017 the measures were taken up again, earning "easy" passage the following month in parliament.[10][11] On December 20, the European Union moved to impose "unprecedented disciplinary measures against Poland" over a series of other laws enacted which it claimed allowed the government to "interfere significantly" with the judiciary.[12] The decision of the European Commission to call for implementation of Article 7 of the Treaty of the European Union marked the first time the process for stripping an EU member state of its voting rights had been initiated in the history of the European Union.[13] In "defiance" of the EU move, Duda immediately signed into law the legislation restructuring the National Council of the Judiciary.[14]

An opinion poll found that 63-percent of Poles thought "the judiciary needs to make some serious changes".[15] However, a separate poll by the TVN network in the summer of 2017 found that 55-percent of respondents said President Andrzej Duda should veto the then-proposed changes with 29-percent wanting him to sign them.[16] Pawel Kukiz, leader of Kukiz'15 – parliament's third-largest party – said he believed "the Polish judiciary requires 'thorough reforms and profound personnel changes'" and would not oppose the legislation, though also expressed doubt that it could deliver meaningful reform.[17]

The legislation was criticized by some who noted that all 15 currently serving judges on the National Council of the Judiciary would be removed and replaced using the new procedure, effectively giving the governing party the ability to select those members.[5] Domestic criticism of the legislation came from leading politicians of the opposition Civic Platform.[7] Donald Tusk and Andrzej Rzepliński also both called on the Polish government to scrap the proposed changes, as did Amnesty International and the Council of Europe.[2][5][18] Several protests in Poland against the legislation drew crowds of "tens of thousands" with one demonstration attended by former president Lech Wałęsa.[16] In the US, the Trump Administration stated that the legislation would "undermine judicial independence and weaken the rule of law in Poland".[19]

The legislation was supported by several leading Polish political figures including prime minister Beata Szydło, former All-Polish Youth president Adam Andruszkiewicz, Law and Justice Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Zdzisław Krasnodębski MEP, and others.[7] Some members of Kukiz'15 joined the governing Law and Justice Party in backing the proposal.[7] International support for Poland's position came from Hungary with prime minister Viktor Orbán stating that "the inquisition offensive against Poland can never succeed because Hungary will use all legal options in the European Union to show solidarity with the Poles".[16]