German min open for EU Poland sanctions
Defend democracy: Walesa
BERLIN, July 23, (Agencies): Germany’s justice minister is welcoming possible European Union sanctions against Poland because of that country’s controversial judicial reforms.
Minister Heiko Maas on Sunday told the weekly paper Bild am Sonntag that “the independence of the judiciary is in danger in Poland.” He says “somebody who gives so little respect to the rule of law has to accept that he isolates himself politically.”
The minister added “the EU cannot stand and watch inactively. Rule of law and democracy are the bedrock of the EU.”
Poland’s court legislation, approved Saturday, has drawn condemnation from EU leaders and led to major protests across Poland.
Proposed by the populist ruling party, the law gives the justice minister and the president the power to appoint and assess Supreme Court judges. Critics say that will kill judicial independence.
Outrage over plans by Poland’s governing party to put the judicial system under its political control sparked another day of nationwide protests Saturday, with some people gathering outside the home of ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski and accusing him of being a dictator. Polish democracy icon and former President Lech
Walesa addressed a protest in Gdansk, urging young Poles to fight to preserve the separation of powers that his Solidarity movement helped to achieve more than a quarter century ago when Poland threw off communist rule.
Later, thousands of government opponents gathered in Warsaw, Krakow and other cities to urge President Andrzej Duda to reject legislation that would give Law and Justice, the conservative ruling party, control of the Supreme Court and the judiciary.
“We are all in danger. Every citizen is in danger now,” said Tomasz Gromadka, a 32-year-old playwright protesting in front of the home of Kaczynski, who is the power behind the government and presidency. “Because now they are taking the courts, then they will take the media, they will take everything. But we still have the streets. This is our power. I think we should do whatever we can.”
Experts
The European Union and many international legal experts say the changes would mark a dramatic reversal for a country that has been hailed as a model of democratic transition over the past quarter century, and move Poland closer toward authoritarianism.
The party “is about to finish democracy,” said Ewa Krasucka, a 32-year-old photographer. “Honestly I don’t think we will stop him now, but at least in 10 years, in 15 years, when we will still be with these people in the government I will feel good with myself for being here now.”
Many of the protesters then moved to the Supreme Court, where people sang John Lennon’s “Imagine” and held up candles.
Law and Justice won parliamentary elections in 2015 with nearly 38 percent of the vote, which translated into a slim majority in the parliament. It has maintained support of about 35 to 40 percent of voters, according to recent polls, with many supporting its cash handouts for families and its conservative and pro-Catholic worldview. The party says the changes are needed to reform a justice system that Kaczynski says was never purged of former communists after that system collapsed in 1989.
In Warsaw, 29-year-old lawyer Marzena Wojtczak disputed that logic, saying many judges working today had actually been anti-communist dissidents and others are too young to have been communists.
Demonstrations have taken place almost every day in Poland over the past week as lawmakers pushed forward with the legislation to impose greater control over the courts.
“This will sound strange, but this is the worst and best moment in Poland since 1989,” Tomasz Lis, the editor of Newsweek Polska and an outspoken government critic, said on Twitter. “A great nation is defending democracy and its own freedom.”
The Supreme Court’s powers include ruling on the validity of elections, and government critics fear the ruling party could use friendly judges to falsify future elections. They also fear the courts, under political pressure, will prosecute political opponents.
Power
After winning power in 2015, Law and Justice has acted quickly to cement its power, prompting numerous street protests.
The overhaul of the judiciary, coupled with a drive by PiS to expand its powers in other areas, has provoked a crisis in relations with the European Union and sparked one of the biggest political conflicts since Poland overthrew communism in 1989.
The United States, Poland’s most important ally in NATO, also expressed its concerns.
“We urge all sides to ensure that any judicial reform does not violate Poland’s constitution ... and respect the principles of judicial independence and separation of powers,” the US Department of State said in a statement. Poland’s foreign ministry dismissed those worries. “The fact that the legislative process is still under way makes any such pronouncements premature,” the ministry said, adding the bill protected judicial independence.
The largest US and British organisations of lawyers have disagreed, a stance mirrored by top judges in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia and other countries.
Chair of the Bar of England and Wales, Andrew Langdon, said he had asked the Polish president to veto “new legislation that will undermine the independence of the Polish judiciary”.
“Judges must be independent. History tells us that justice is not done well when it is influenced by political turbulence and populism”, Langdon said.
The European Network of Councils for the Judiciary has said the situation in Poland is “very grave”.
In neighbouring Germany, Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the independence of Poland’s judiciary was at risk, adding that he welcomed the European Commission considering sanctions.
“Those who show so little respect for the rule of law run the risk of isolating themselves politically”, he warned in German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
So far only Poland’s fellow eurosceptic government in Hungary has said it will stand by Warsaw against the threat of EU sanctions.