Jourova: so-called reform of judiciary in Poland may be irreversible

Vera Jourova, the deputy head of the European Commission said in an interview for Der Spiegel weekly that the so-called reform in Poland has reached a very dangerous moment because it may be irreversible”.

“(The reform) applies to all levels of the justice system. Currently, it concerns almost 400 out of 10,000 judges, but the situation is much more serious than the numbers suggest,” Jourova said.

The EU commissioner for values expressed concern that the system that the Polish government is building, of which the new law is part, opens up extremely wide possibilities of disciplinary action, which – as she estimates – is to threaten the independence of judges.

Asked if the European Commission has a new strategy to deal with "countries that sin on the rule of law," such as Poland or Hungary, the deputy head of the EC replied that new efforts were made to solve the problems.

(PAP)