Despite days of mass demonstrations and after announcing that he would veto two other controversial bills that would severely impact the independence of Poland’s judiciary, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed a third into law this morning. The news was posted on the presidential website. The bill, one of three judicial reforms passed by parliament earlier this month, will give power to the justice minister to hire and fire the senior judges of all courts. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party said this move will help make the courts more accountable to the public. Critics, however, maintain that the bill will diminish judicial independence.
Duda, seemingly bowing to intense public pressure, said on Monday that would veto the other two bills that would have given the government the authority to determine the makeup of the country’s supreme court as well as the National Council of the Judiciary. “These laws must be amended,” Duda said in a TV address. This is the first time that Duda has publicly split from PiS head Jarosław Kaczyński. The president is expected to push alternative proposals to the bills he vetoed within the next two months, according to Reuters.
