NIK report blames lack of judges for failure to hear court cases in time
A Supreme Board of Inspection (NIK) report has revealed that in the first
nine months of 2000, a total of 601 court cases, including 371 criminal
cases, had to be thrown out because the time limit for holding the hearings
had passed. The report blames the problem on the lack of judges, and says
that the procedures for appointing a new judge are expensive, long and
complicated. The NIK report into Poland's justice system and general state
of the courts found that in Warsaw it takes on average five or six years
just to set the date for a trial. Court officials explain that the reasons
for the poor situation are many. Administrative workers employed by the
courts make very little money, and are therefore poorly qualified. Also, the
officials say, the courts do not have enough computers and software.
(Rzeczpospolita, p. A6) A.K.
