Polish judges protest against judiciary reforms

Judges in Poland on Thursday stopped the proceedings for 30 minutes in protest against planned reforms to the judiciary system. Since, according to Polish law, judges are not allowed to strike, the judges went on a break during which they've discussed the proposed changes to the system. The proposed bill would end the terms of the current National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) members and allow the parliament to select 15 of its 25 representatives. The Council has powers to nominate judges, who are later appointed by the president. Its members are currently mostly selected by the judges themselves for four-year terms, the parliament has a right to choose four of them.“This way, the government wants to decrease the meaning of judges in favor of politicians. The scope of changes which breach Polish constitution means that by adopting this draft into the law in its current form will result in changing the nation's political system,” KRS wrote in a statement back in March. Deputy Justice Minister Michał Wójcik appealed to judges not to make life difficult for people whose cases were being heard. According to the government, the changes are necessary in order to make courts work faster and more efficient and destroy the “judiciary establishment.” “This is a reform and we will not back down,” Wójcik said.